Lopsided victories are often seen when one team is simply less superior to another in any sport. In any given week, you can probably see at least one highlight of a blowout on Sportscenter. But there are some blowouts that were just so ridiculously lopsided that they simply have to be exposed. I don’t want you to think I am making fun of the teams on the other end of these one-sided victories, but technically, I guess that’s unavoidable.
We will start with the most one-sided victory in sports history. In college football, at the beginning of the season, powerhouse teams will play lower caliber teams in order to prepare for the season. Georgia Tech once played a game against Tennessee’s Cumberland University early in the season to get them ready for their tough schedule.
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According to the Alumni Association of Georgia Tech, the game was played in 1916. Georgia Tech took home a 222-0 victory. No, there was no typo in that sentence, Georgia Tech ACTUALLY scored 222 points in a regulation football game.
The Alumni Association at Georgia Tech said the team broke many records that day, including most yards gained (978), most extra points scored (18), most points scored in one quarter (63) and most players scoring a touchdown (13). Scoring 222 points in a football game is just absolutely ridiculous. I have to assume that Cumberland not only put forth the worst effort ever in college football, but I am also inclined to believe that they didn’t even step foot off the bus that day.
Upon further research, I found that Cumberland University actually almost didn’t get off the bus that day. According to ESPN “Page 2,” Cumberland University had discontinued its football program at the beginning of the 1916 season. But it would have been charged $3,000 had the team not showed up to play Georgia Tech that day. ESPN “Page 2” said Cumberland sent 14 players to face one of the best college football programs of that time, coached by legendary NCAA football coach, George Heisman, thus receiving an embarrassing beatdown.
The worst beatdown in professional football was not nearly as lopsided but I am sure it was embarrassing nonetheless. The ESPN Uncyclopedia said that in 1940, the Chicago Bears beat the Washington Redskins, 73-0.
This game wasn’t just any game though, it was the NFL championship game, according to the History Channel. The 73-point deficit was the largest margin of victory in NFL history.
According to Pro-Football-Reference.com, the Chicago Bears scored seven rushing touchdowns that day, rushing for 381 yards on 51 attempts. The History Channel said that on the first play of the game, Bears running back Bill Osmanski scored a 68-yard touchdown, setting the tone for the day.
One of the most interesting things about this lopsided victory is that just three weeks before the NFL championship game, the Bears and Redskins played a regular season game against one another. In this game, the Redskins took home a 7-3 victoy.
According to the History Channel, following the regular season game, Redskins owner at the time, George Marshall, called the Bears “cry babies” and “quitters” due to their complaints about certain calls by the referees. Using this as fuel for its second match-up, the Bears ran all over the Redskins. Just goes to show that people will remember what you say about them. And in this case, George Marshall could be considered partially responsible for the beatdown that took place in the 1940 NFL championship game.
The ESPN Uncyclopedia said that the largest margin of victory in an MLB game was 25 runs. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the game was played on June 8, 1950 at Fenway Park in Boston, M.A., between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Browns.
The game looked like every other when it first started out. At the top of the second inning, the score was tied 0-0. But the Red Sox exploded in the second inning and didn’t stop there. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Red Sox scored multiple runs in every inning after the second, except the sixth inning. The 1950 Red Sox team included two future hall of famers, Ted Williams and Johnny Pesky. Pesky had three runs on five hits. Ted Williams had five RBI’s, one home run and three runs in the game. No other Major League Baseball game has had such a lopsided victory.
Another landslide victory in professional sports included the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. According to NBA.com, the Cavaliers defeated the Heat by 68 points, 148-80 on December 17, 1991.
But the NBA largest margin of victory wasn’t nearly as bad as the largest margin of victory in an NCAA basketball game. The ESPN Uncyclopedia said that on December 7, 1995, Tulsa University defeated Prairie View A&M by a score of 141 to 50. This 91-point margin of victory is the largest in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history.
The most lopsided victory in NHL history came on Jan. 23, 1944, according to the ESPN Uncyclopedia. The match-up was between the Detroit Red Wings and the New York Rangers. The Red Wings took home the victory, 15-0. According to QuantHockey.com, the average number of goals scored, per game, during the 1944 NHL season was 4.6 per team. So not only did the Red Wings triple this average, but they also shut out the Rangers.
According to Hockey-Reference.com, the Red Wings and the Rangers met again in the 1944 season. This time, on Feb. 3, 1944. The result was almost the same. The Red Wings took home another victory, defeating the Rangers, 12-2. But hey, at least the Rangers scored this time, right?
Although this landslide didn’t occur in America, it still has to be recognized for its sheer brilliance. According to BleacherReport.com, during the 1998 Asia-Oceania Junior Hockey Championships, South Korea beat Thailand, 92-0. Again, there was no typo here. South Korea beat Thailand, 92 to nothing.
A forward on the South Korea national team, Dongwhan Song scored 31 goals. Just to put that into perspective for you, Tyler Seguin, the Bruins’ leading goal scorer last year, scored 29 goals, in the entire season. The leading goal scorer for the KSC club hockey team last year, Pat Sullivan, scored only 23 goals throughout the entire season.
Michelle Berthiaume can be contacted
at mberthiaume@keene-equinox.com