Some people have made the comment that the New York Yankees are the greatest sports franchise of all time having won more championships than any other team in any other sport (that anyone cares about anyway). There are problems with this argument. The Yankees do not have the best winning percentage of all teams. Consider the following winning percentages:
Team____Winning Percentage in Championship Games
San Francisco 49ers..........100%
Florida Marlins..............100%
Toronto Blue Jays............100%
Arizona Diamondbacks.........100%
Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels...100%
Pittsburgh Steelers...........86%
Green Bay Packers.............75%
New York Giants...............75%
New York Yankees..............68%
How can one say they're the greatest when they don't have the best winning percentage. The argument usually goes on to say that it's because they've appeared in the most championship games by a wide margin. The Yankees have appeared in 38% of all World Series while the San Francisco 49ers appeared in only 11% of all Super Bowls. The problem with that line of reasoning is that the sport of football was built for parity, while baseball was designed to favor teams with great wealth. The Yankees have appeared in so many World Series because they have played in the biggest city in the U.S. for the longest time, over a century, and because of this they have spent the most amount of money.
I argue that the San Francisco 49ers are the greatest sports franchise of all time because they are perfect in championship games in a sport that is based on parity.
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