Voting Station

Ted Stepien

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Sports Executive

The Resume

    (June 25, 1925-September 10, 2007)
    Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    Advertising executive
    Owned the Cleveland Cavaliers (1980-83)

Why he might be annoying:

    He complained that the Cavaliers had too many black players and said he wanted half the players to be white (1979).
    He fired popular team play-by-play announcer Joe Tait after Tait criticized him on the air.
    He went through four coaches in the 1981-82 season.
    He traded away so many high draft picks on mediocre players that the NBA instituted the 'Stepien rule' prohibiting a team from trading away its first round pick in consecutive years.
    The New York Times called his Cavaliers 'the most poorly run franchise in professional basketball.' (1982)
    He was fined $50,000 by the Continental Basketball Association for failing to cooperate with an investigation into salary cap violations (1987).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He served with the Air Force during World War II.
    He did not follow through on threats to move the team to Toronto, selling to a local businessman instead.
    He said, 'I don't feel I failed. I rescued a bankrupt organization.'
    The NBA awarded the Cavaliers bonus first round picks for 1983-86 to compensate for the ones Stepien traded away.
    Thanks to Art Modell moving the Browns to Baltimore, he is at best a distant second among Cleveland's most-hated sports figures.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 88.89% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 17 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 60 Votes: 68.33% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 63 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 35 Votes: 74.29% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 92 Votes: 77.17% Annoying