Number 2
Chick Hearn
3,338 consecutive games broadcast

Chick Hearn, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the American Sportscaster Hall of Fame, was the play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1961 to 2001.

On November 20th, 1965, he missed a broadcast due to severe weather conditions. No harm, no foul, though, as Hearn started a new streak that lasted until 2001 and encompassed 3,338 consecutive games.

Hearn was known for his creative language and coined a number of catch phrases, such as "slam dunk" and "finger roll," which are very much a part of the basketball lexicon today.

What are the chances that somebody tops his phenomenal record? As Hearn would say it himself, “They have two chances: slim and none -- and slim just left the building.”

Number 1
Northwestern Wildcats
34-game losing streak

The Northwestern Wildcats set an NCAA Division I-A record when they lost 34 consecutive football games from 1979 to 1982.

The key year in that time frame was 1981, which was the season the Wildcats failed in each game en route to being outscored by a margin of 505-82. As the Wildcats broke the previous record for consecutive losses with a 61-14 drubbing at the hands of Michigan State, the Wildcats’ fans rushed the field in a mocking celebratory fashion, shouting “We’re the worst!”

On September 25, 1982, Northern Illinois became the answer to the trivia question as the Wildcats ended their streak of futility.

Streaking in Sports
Statistics are a valuable part of professional sports that allow us to measure the athletes and teams and put everything into context. Even though the great streaks in sports are constantly lauded, don’t overlook the weird ones. In many cases, they are just as difficult to accomplish.

< < Previous