I'm always a bit of a sucker for a list or ranking of sorts. Either it be sports, movies, TV shows, etc. You list it, give it some sort of value as to why that item is ranked a specific way, and chances are you will have hooked me into either reading all about it or participating in the selection that determines a score based on those rankings.
Well, ESPN has put out a new Sports Misery Index to help determine which fanbases are in the biggest state of misery. Their claim is that there is no AI involved, it is down to the user's selection and some other key data points.
We do this using a number of key data points, including regular and postseason success, as well as a team’s expected success going into a season. After all, a team that just won a championship might feel very differently about a .500 season than a team that just finished in the basement.
To get started, you give the program your overall feeling toward your teams today. The higher the score, the higher the misery index.
Given that I'm doing other teams that I support in other leagues, I'm going with the "Meh" rating. Then you begin selecting one team from each league available. This is all professional sports, so no college teams are included (though that could drastically change how these ratings would go for some folks like myself).
I was surprised to see that they included MLS teams in this Index. But I won't bore you with my results since my teams will be mostly different from yours outside of FC Dallas.
After the Index runs your numbers, you get a score and then you are presented with the Misery Index per league. For those who are wondering how miserable the FC Dallas fanbase in, we came in 8th with a 76 rating.
Seven clubs are deemed more miserable than FC Dallas today. I think that is fair when you really examine the seven above FC Dallas. Only Vancouver and maybe Real Salt Lake have something to say about their spot in this Index being as high as it is, but in Vancovuer's case I would argue they'd be a tad lower based on this year's performance out of the Caps.
The bottom of the list had four teams with a 0 misery index, both LA teams, Seattle and Columbus. Honestly, I find it hard that any MLS fan base feels that good.
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I went back and opted to do one more run with only FC Dallas and the 'meh' rating. And yikes...
Quick BDS Take
What can I say, I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff. Do I fully agree that we're that miserable as a fanbase? No.
I know some of you may argue differently, and that is perfectly fine.
What kind of rating did you get on this Misery Index? Let's discuss it all below.
