Embracing losing

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03/30/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only perfect team in major professional sports history.

In fact, many believe the '72 Dolphins should be regarded as the best team ever. "Perfection ends a lot of arguments," the team's Hall of Fame fullback, Larry Csonka, once said.

I never bought that line of thinking. After all, it's impossible for an NBA or NHL team to go through an 82-game regular season and an entire playoff run without a blemish. Baseball teams have to tee it up 162 times every year before even embarking on a playoff run. No matter what you think, however, the '72 Dolphins certainly deserve credit for a remarkable accomplishment that has never been matched.

Another team that tipped things off that very same year is similarly remembered for being the polar opposite of that Miami team as perhaps the worst in pro sports history.

By March 25, 1973, the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers had compiled 73 losses and just nine wins, a hearty .110 winning percentage.

Led by guard Fred Carter and forgettable players like John Block and Bill Bridges, those Sixers lost their first 15 games of the season. A few months later they embarked on a a then-NBA record 20-game skid. At one point during the nightmare of a season, Philly lost 34 of 35 games and eventually finished an NBA-record 59 games behind the Atlantic Division champion Boston Celtics.

The notoriously tough Philadelphia media forever christened the team the "Nine and 73ers".

Although threatened a few times, the 73 losses remain the all-time low-water mark for any NBA franchise nearly 40 years later.

The New Jersey Nets gave it quite a run this season but officially avoided the mark on Monday when they topped the San Antonio Spurs for their 10th win.

"I'm happy for the guys. I'm happy they continued to work hard and improve," interim head coach Kiki Vandeweghe said after officially avoiding the dubious mark. "We were playing for pride. We stepped up and fought as hard as we could."

Surprisingly, Carter was not all that disappointed. He wasn't popping corks on the champagne like some members of the '72 Dolphins do when the last undefeated NFL team falls each season, but Carter has embraced his own place in history.

"It took me 20 years to learn to deal with it," Carter told The Philadelphia Daily News. "I resented being called the MVP of that team. I resented it when I was called the best player on the worst team ever.

"I had played in the Finals, so it took me a long time to accept that. I finally decided there are a lot of ways to gain immortality, and that it's better to be remembered than to not be remembered at all."

That's a very healthy way to look at things.

No one remembers the '92-93 Dallas Mavericks or the '97-98 Denver Nuggets.

Five years from now, no one will remember this year's Nets but everyone knows the story of "Mad Dog" Carter and his '72-73 Sixers.

Author Randolph Bourne may have described it best...

"History remembers only the brilliant failures and the brilliant successes."

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Problem with Bears?

Chicago, IL - New Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and star linebacker Brian Urlacher shot down reports of a rift, saying they're simply not true.

"There's nothing between us," Cutler said Thursday, when he reported to training camp. "I just want to put that to rest. There never has been anything between us."

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Urlacher added: "I never said what I was quoted as saying and that's it. I have a lot of respect for Jay. I think Jay knows that."
Former Bears receiver Bobby Wade caused a stir when he told Minneapolis radio station KFAN-AM that Urlacher used a profanity while questioning Cutler's manhood during a conversation in Las Vegas last weekend. Wade, who now plays for the Vikings, said Urlacher used a profane version of the word "wimp" during the interview that had to be edited out.
go radio station WSCR-AM also reported that Urlacher had to be restrained from confronting Cutler during organized team activities.
"I wouldn't go face-to-face with Brian, anyway," Cutler said. "No, that's never happened. I've hung out with Brian away from the facility numerous times and we've always gotten along."
Urlacher, noting he was limited by a groin injury, denied the reports in an interview with the Chicago Tribune and did it again when he reported to camp.
"I didn't practice this summer, so I don't know how I would fight the guy if I didn't practice," Urlacher said. "We have no problems. I'm excited about football starting. I'm excited to have him as our quarterback."
Why would Wade say that?
"I don't know," Urlacher said. "Maybe he's jealous because we have a good quarterback now."
Cutler said the first he heard of any friction was when he got a call from Urlacher to clear the air. Urlacher, however, said he had already taken several calls from teammates wondering if the reports were true when Cutler phoned.
"He called me and I said, What's up (expletive), what are you doing?'" a grinning Urlacher said, uttering the same word he allegedly used with Wade. "It's so dumb to me that this even got to this point, but it did and then here we are."
better place after going 9-7 and missing the playoffs for the second straight year. They have a franchise quarterback for the first time in decades after acquiring Cutler in an offseason trade with Denver. But there are questions about his attitude following a fallout with Broncos management and new coach Josh McDaniels.
His critics include former Bears coach Mike Ditka and former Indianapolis and Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy, one of Smith's mentors. Smith, however, said Cutler has been a model teammate so far while denying any animosity with Urlacher.
"There's no issue with Jay and Brian, except Brian and Jay are both excited about being teammates for our club this year," coach Lovie Smith said. "No more than that. We can't spend a whole lot of time on something that isn't true. I have talked to the players. Whenever something comes out, you have to address it, but it's a non-issue."
In some ways, Cutler is getting a second chance in Chicago, an opportunity to repair his reputation.
Smith said another quarterback - Michael Vick - deserves one, although he doesn't see it happening with the Bears, who lack an experienced backup. The former Atlanta Falcons star, who served a 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring, said Thursday he is getting close to signing with a pro football team.
"A second chance, like everyone in society who has paid their debt to society," Smith said. "He deserves a second chance. As far as we're concerned, we like this team that we have right now."
Particularly the new quarterback.
"Me and Brian have been on a good relationship since I've been here, and I expect it to continue that way," Cutler said.

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