Last year I presented the official Sports in a Can list of the Worst-Run Organizations in Sports. It's time to see where the teams stack up one year later.

With the Arizona Cardinals improbably making a run to the Super Bowl last year, I have moved them off the list (they were #5 last year). But their .373 winning percentage since 1999 and a history of repeated failure could land them right back where they've always been next year. And last year I noted that the Tampa Bay Rays made the leap off the list by advancing to the World Series. But their trade of pitcher Scott Kazmir (a noted Red Sox and Yankees killer) when the team was just 4½ games out of the Wild Card almost put them back on the list.

Beyond the Cardinals and Rays, there are plenty of bad organizations out there deserving of our attention. It's time to take a look at the Top 10 list no team president or general manager wants to be a part of: the Worst-Run Organizations in Sports. (Ranking in parentheses is last year's ranking.)

10. (7) The National Hockey League

Last time the general public cared (before this year): 2002
Highest rated Stanley Cup Finals of the last 15 years: 2009, 1997
Organization's biggest failure: Two words: Gary Bettman

The Stanley Cup Finals generated the best ratings for the league since 2002 and the outdoor games played in baseball stadiums on New Year's Day are phenomenal. But let's be honest for a moment. The NHL lucked out with a great match-up in the Finals (Pittsburgh-Detroit) and New Year's Day comes but once a year. And Commissioner Gary Bettman--who, as I detailed last year, presided over the near-demise of the NHL--is still the commissioner. The games are still on Versus and teams play in Nashville, Columbus, and San Jose, but none are in Quebec and Winnipeg. The league stays on this list until Bettman is gone and they start righting the ship.

9. (X) Buffalo Bills

Last playoff appearance: 2000
Record since last playoff appearance: 61-88 (.409)
Organization's biggest failure: Thinking small and blaming much of their woes on being in Buffalo

Welcome to the list, Buffalo! Here's what the Bills have done in just the last year: traded two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters and replaced him with Demetrius Bell--who leads the league in penalties committed; signed Terrell Owens (and thought it would be a good thing); and gave a contract extension to Dick Jauron, who is 58-80 as an NFL head coach and has guided just one team to the playoffs. Things are so bad in Buffalo that fans are raising money to rent billboards out of protest. If the Bills miss the playoffs this season, they will have missed the playoffs in every year of this decade (they made the playoffs in the 1999 season, which took place in 2000). 30 different NFL teams made the playoffs during that stretch, and the only other team that didn't--the Houston Texans--did not exist until 2002. It's been a bad stretch for the Bills, and it looks to only be getting worse in the short term.

8. (9) Baltimore Orioles

Last playoff appearance: 1997
Most wins in a season since last playoff appearance: 79 (1998)
Record since last playoff appearance: 855-1087 (.440)
Organization's biggest failure: Wasting one of the best ballparks in baseball (along with countless millions of dollars)

The Orioles just completed their 12th straight season with fewer than 79 wins, and their 3rd consecutive season with fewer than 70. They've replaced Tampa Bay in the AL East cellar and continue to waste one of the best ballparks in the game. It's not for lack of money spent that's the problem in Baltimore--it's who the Orioles have spent money on. The Orioles routinely land in the top 10 in overall payroll, but big name (and money) flops such as Miguel Tejada and Albert Belle have set the organization back for years. This year's squad was a particularly depressing collection of has-beens and never-will-bes, and nothing coming out of Baltimore tells me that next year will be any different.

7. (2) Cincinnati Bengals

Last two playoff appearances: 2006, 1991
Record since 1991: 105-187 (.360) 
Organization's biggest failure: A history of incompetence and a lack of a clear plan for the future.

Before the season started, there was little indication that the Bengals would move out of the top 3 on this list. Their performance on HBO's Hard Knocks threatened to move the Bengals to #1. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Bengals' funeral--they started winning. The defense has gelled and the offense has put together game-winning drives in three straight games. But before I move the Bengals off the board, I need to see them finish the book on this season in style and show that they have a plan for the future. After all, the Bengals made the playoffs as recently as the 2005 season--and then followed that up by going 19-28-1 over the next 3 years.

6. (4) Kansas City Royals

Last playoff appearance: 1985
Most wins in a season since last playoff appearance: 92 (1989)
Record since last playoff appearance: 1732-2085 (.454)
Organization's biggest failure: Bad free agent decisions

49 games. That's how many the Royals won this year in games not started by phenom Zack Greinke. You almost have to try to be this bad, don't you? But the Royals do have the afore-mentioned Greinke, along with 3 other starting pitchers under the age of 30 and 7 position players who are starters and not yet 30. It's possible that the Royals could turn this thing around. Possible. But in the meantime they suffered through a 65-win season--which was actually worse than their 68-win average from the previous 13 seasons. The Tampa Bay Rays proved last year that even small market teams can compete against the Yankees and the Red Sox--if they manage their organization correctly. The worst part of recent history for the Royals is that they actually have been players in the free agent market, but every signing turns into a disaster. If they don't turn things around--and fast--Zack Greinke will be calling another locale home in a few seasons.

5. (6) New York Knicks

Last two playoff appearances: 2004, 2001
Most wins in a season since 2001: 39 (2004)
Record since 2001: 250-406 (.381)
Organization's biggest failure: Waiting...and waiting...and waiting...for LeBron James

The headline in the New York Daily News last Saturday read, "New York Knicks show midseason form in preseason loss to Boston Celtics." That just about sums things up, doesn't it? While division rival Boston made moves to put the team back in contention, the Knicks have sat back and waited for LeBron James to come save the franchise. Of course, that's probably not going to happen. If you were James, would you want to play for the Knicks? (See stats above.) Meanwhile the Nets are trying to make a move to Brooklyn which would invigorate the franchise and give the team a base in New York. And it might even be more attractive to James. If they lose out on LeBron with no discernable plan in place, it could be many more years of 23- to 39-win seasons in the Knicks' future.

4. (8) Pittsburgh Pirates

Last playoff appearance: 1992
Most wins in a season since last playoff appearance: 79 (1997)
Record since last playoff appearance: 1166-1518 (.434)
Organization's biggest failure: Stingy ownership

The Pirates move up 4 spots because I decided I had them too low last year. How many more trade deadline moves in which the Pirates give away their best players only to receive low-level prospects in return need to occur before someone steps in and puts the poor Pittsburgh fans out of their misery? I detailed last year how well teams that built new stadiums have done since 1992. But not the Pirates. If baseball ever contracted, the Pirates would be the first team to go. Which is sad, considering the tradition of baseball in Pittsburgh and the fact that their other two teams--the Steelers and Penguins--are defending champions in their leagues. The organization is stingy and could be bad for a long, long time.

3. (3) Los Angeles Clippers

Last two playoff appearances: 2006, 1997
Most ever wins in a season: 49 (1975)
Record since moving to Los Angeles (1985): 701-1317 (.347)
Organization's biggest failure: They are the anti-Lakers

The Los Angeles Clippers are one of the worst bad franchises of all time. Their best-ever season occurred 39 years ago. Thirty-nine! They are based in Los Angeles, so there are no small market considerations. You'd think by osmosis alone they would learn how to be a better franchise from their cross-town rival, the Lakers, who have now won 10 championships since moving to Los Angeles. The Clippers, meanwhile, have been to the playoffs just twice in 23 years in LA. Draft pick after draft pick is a bust for the Clippers (Michael Olowokandi anyone? How about Yaroslav Korolev?). After last year's abysmal 19-63 season, they selected Blake Grffin in the draft. Will Blake be the start of a new era for the Clippers or will it be the same old story in LA? And I haven't even touched on the fact that their coach, Mike Dunleavy, is 194-298 (.394) with the team. And he spent part of his summer having a verbal battle with the Clippers' most famous fan--ESPN's Bill Simmons, who had drafted an Open Letter to Blake Griffin about how bad the Clippers' franchise is.

2. (1) Detroit Lions

Last playoff appearance: 2000
Record since last playoff appearance: 41-108 (.275)
Organization's biggest failure: The worst general manager in sports history ruled the roost until Week 4 of last season

What a minute, an 0-16 record last season and a 1-14 record since I named them the worst-run organization in sports last year and the Lions moved out of the #1 spot? It will all be clear in a moment when I unveil the new #1. But first, the Lions. Matt Millen was finally fired last year after going 31-84 in 8 years as general manager. Since then they've still only won one game. They drafted well and possibly hired well, but their future is still unclear. Until the team can put a better product on the field and win consistently, they are locked in to the top (or near the top) of this list.

1. (10) Oakland Raiders

Last playoff appearance: 2003
Record since last playoff appearance: 25-76 (.248)
Organization's biggest failure: Insane owner

The Oakland Raiders have a head coach that beat up an assistant so badly that the assistant thought he was actually going to die, and there might be charges brought against the head coach. They made a trade before the first week of the season (a 1st round draft pick in 2011 for Richard Seymour) that can only be described as moronic. With the #7 overall pick in last year's draft, the Raiders selected Darrius Heyward-Bey even though all experts would have taken Michael Crabtree, and in the 2nd round, they traded up 7 spots to select Mike Mitchell, who was not even on the board of several draft analysts. They are starting a quarterback whose quarterback rating is 35th in the NFL (and yes, there are still only 32 teams), and they steadfastly refuse to try something different. And all of this has occurred since I had them ranked 10th on this list last year. Year after year of mistakes, a 4-11 record since last year's rankings, and no discernable hope for the future is enough to move the Raiders up 9 spots to #1 on the list of the worst-run organizations in sports.

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Week 6 NFL Picks

CINCINNATI (-5) over Houston
GREEN BAY (-13½) over Detroit
JACKSONVILLE (-9½) over St. Louis
Baltimore (+3) over MINNESOTA
NEW ORLEANS (-3) over NY Giants
Cleveland (+14) over PITTSBURGH
Carolina (-3) over TAMPA BAY
Kansas City (+6½) over WASHINGTON
Philadelphia (-14½) over OAKLAND
SEATTLE (-3) over Arizona
NEW ENGLAND (-9) over Tennessee
NY JETS (-9½) over Buffalo
Chicago (+3½) over ATLANTA
SAN DIEGO (-3½) over Denver

Last week: 7-7

Season: 42-34