Do you love sports? If you're like many kids, you probably enjoy playing a number of different sports throughout the year. Soccer in the fall is followed by basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring. Or perhaps your favorites are football, volleyball, softball, bowling, or golf!
Whatever sport you play, you always have heroes to look up to. Young soccer players, for example, might admire the skills of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. Future hoops stars might want to shoot like Stephen Curry or dunk like LeBron James.
While only a very small, elite group of players ever make it to the big leagues, many youngsters play their favorite sports throughout high school, and some even choose to be student-athletes when they go to college. If you love to play sports, there's nothing quite like the feeling when your team sets its sights on and ultimately achieves a lofty goal: a championship.
Of course, after your playing days are over, you can continue to enjoy your favorite sports as a fan of professional teams. Some people, for example, like to follow all the sports teams in their favorite town. If you live in Chicago, you could root for the Bears, Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks, or Fire.
If there's one thing that sports fans love to do almost as much as watching their favorite team play live in their home stadium or arena, it's arguing about which professional sports team is the best. While we all have our favorite sports teams, there can only be one "best" team, right? So what is the most successful sports team?
It will come as no surprise to any sports fan that there is no shortage of disagreement about the most successful sports team. Part of the problem is that there are so many ways to define success. Is the most successful sports team the one that has won the most games in its history? Or is it the team that has won the most world championships? Some people even want to narrow the definition to a single team at a particular time in history.
Instead of settling upon a specific definition of success, let's look instead at some of the most successful teams in sporting history, regardless of how you define success. For example, some experts have calculated the winning percentage of sports teams over the course of their histories.
There are several sports teams that have amassed overall winning percentages of over 55% of their games. Some of these famous teams include the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, New York Yankees, Green Bay Packers, Boston Celtics, and San Antonio Spurs. One team, though has won over 60% of its games: the Los Angeles Lakers.
Do those winning percentages impress you? Or does perfection sound even better? Some might argue that the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the most successful sports team, since they're the only National Football League (NFL) team ever to win the Super Bowl after finishing the season unbeaten.
For many sports fans, that season-capping world championship victory is what it's all about. By that standard, each sport would arguably have its own most successful team ever. Football fans can look to the Green Bay Packers, who have won nine NFL titles and four Super Bowls. Basketball fans can celebrate the Boston Celtics, who have won 17 titles. And New York Yankees fans won't let you forget that their team has won an incredible 27 World Series titles.
So who would you say is the most successful sports team? It all depends upon how you define success. Some sports fans might argue that the greatest sports team in any sport ever might by the New Zealand All Blacks. The most successful rugby team ever, the All Blacks boast an overall winning percentage of 76% against all opponents!
