You can remove time as a variable if you've been as irrelevant as the Royals had been for as long as they had. Same thing with the Pirates and Cubs.
The younger generation of Braves "fans" have been ready to jump off the ledge when the team hasn't made the playoffs recently, and many of them (including quite a few posters here) swore they'd never watch the team play again the minute the Heyward trade was announced.