SORRY, NO ACCOUNT: You may have noticed the other day that I referred to the team the Twins just swept as "the sorry, no-account Detroit Tigers." I use this phrase in homage to one of my favorite sportswriters, Michael Wilbon, who regularly says it on PTI and in his Washington Post column. Indeed, a Googling of the phrase turns up three different Wilbon columns, just on the first page.
While Wilbon usually says it in reference to the Cubs, Bears, Bulls, and even some teams not from his native Chicago like the Bengals, I suppose the modifier can also be used in reference to music ("the sorry, no account Backstreet Boys"), politics ("the sorry, no account Democratic presidential field"), or even romance ("my sorry, no account ex-girlfriend.")
But what does it mean, literally? I guess that the team sucks so much that they're not credit-worthy, so when they go to the bank to the loan officer gives them the bad news: "sorry, no account."