Despite the debut of Donald Bradman, the inexperienced Australians, led by Jack Ryder, were heavily defeated, losing 4 – 1.

Despite strenuous efforts, Captain Hood's isolated ship came under heavy fire and was unable to cut off the trailing Justice as the French survivors escaped seawards, Zealous being struck by a number of French shot and losing one man killed.

Despite Confucianism losing popularity to Taoism and Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism combined those ideas into a more metaphysical framework.

Despite losing fan favorite Grace to free agency, and the lack of production from newcomer Todd Hundley, skipper Don Baylor's Cubs put together a good season in 2001.

Despite making the race very close, in the 161st game of the season, the Dodgers snapped their five-game losing streak – and the Rockies ' five-game winning streak – to clinch the West title.

Despite losing this match, Essendon's performance was good enough for its players to be awarded Brownlow Medal votes – best-on-ground was Brent Stanton ( 3 votes ), followed by Jason Johnson ( 2 votes ) and Andrew Lovett ( 1 vote ).

Despite Stephenson's losing some routes to competitors due to his caution, he was offered more work than he could cope with, and was unable to accept offers for additional work.

Despite playing in five losing Grand Finals, four between 1989 – 1995, its fans waited 44 years until it won another premiership — an AFL-record 119-point victory in the 2007 AFL Grand Final.

Despite recording the most successful home and away season in the game's history, the club went one win short of back-to-back premierships in losing the 2008 AFL Grand Final, but won the 2009 Grand Final against St Kilda.

Despite the return of Harris as manager from 1935 – 42 and again from 1950 – 54, Washington was mostly a losing ball club for the next 25 years, contending for the pennant only during World War II.

Despite yet another losing season, the Mets made history in 2011 when Jason Isringhausen converted his 300th save with the team, the third player in franchise history to reach the milestone while with the organization behind John Franco and Billy Wagner.

Despite initial excitement, the guidance of longtime baseball executives, Eddie Leishman and Buzzie Bavasi as well as a new playing field, the team struggled ; the Padres finished in last place in each of its first six seasons in the NL West, losing 100 games or more four times.

Despite losing the election, Tancredo managed to secure major party status for the Constitution Party in Colorado, as that state requires a party to surpass 10 % in a gubernatorial election to qualify for such status.

Despite the growing pressure to abandon production of war films, Warner continued to produce them, losing money in the process.

Despite losing a long battle with the Associated Press, called " Rox " by UPI employees, United Press International's legacy was recognized by AP when it made the UPI mantra " get it first but get it right " a cornerstone of a branding campaign launched on ap. org.

Despite losing all his money gambling at Monte Carlo, Flo charms Anna into signing with him instead.

Despite having a part in arranging Amer's suicide, Nasser spoke of losing " the person closest to ," and did not fully recover from the psychological blow.

Despite losing two general elections in one year, Heath aimed to continue as Conservative leader.

Despite losing as much as $ 4 million on the CBL, Mallett initially promised to bring the league back in 2004.

Despite winning Game 6 on the late-game heroics of Primeau and winger Simon Gagne, the Flyers came up short once again losing Game 7 in Tampa, 2 – 1.

Despite standing, and losing convincingly, against Thatcher in the second round, Whitelaw managed to maintain his position as Deputy Leader until the 1979 general election, when he was appointed Home Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister in Thatcher's new government.

Despite losing key members of their bench during the offseason ( including Okur, Mike James and Corliss Williamson ), the Pistons were considered a strong contender to win a second consecutive title in 2005.

Despite a lopsided comparison in terms of the two teams ' win-loss records, three of the four Pacers losses were close, losing games 1 – 3 by an average of just 5 points.

Despite losing in the first round in their first seven attempts, the Timberwolves won their first division title in 2004 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals.

Despite losing leading scorer Tom Gugliotta for half the season, the Timberwolves went on to post their first winning season at 45 – 37, making the playoffs for the 2nd straight season.

Despite being outscored over the season, the Diamondbacks posted the best record in the NL with 90 wins and 72 losses.

Despite the acquisitions, the team failed to improve and finished with a record of 82 – 80, in second place behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Despite his ill health, Haley began compiling notes for possible use as a basis for either a biographical film based on his life, or a published autobiography ( accounts differ ), and there were plans for him to record an album in Memphis, Tennessee, when the brain tumor began affecting his behavior and he went back to his home in Harlingen, Texas, where he died early in the morning of February 9, 1981.

Despite being well out of playoff contention the Cubs went 24 – 13 under Quade, the best record in baseball during that 37 game stretch and was hired as manager on October 19.

Despite the club's poor record, several Rockies hitters gained notoriety for their exploits at the plate, assisted by the thin and dry air of Denver, which purportedly allows balls to carry farther than they would at sea-level ballparks.

Despite entering December with a record of 8 – 3, Dallas lost its slim grip on 1st place in the division with losses to the New York Giants and San Diego.

Despite his by now well established superstardom, Bowie, in the words of biographer Christopher Sandford, " for all his record sales ( over a million copies of Ziggy Stardust alone ), existed essentially on loose change.

Despite ceasing to record new material between 2002 and ( most of ) 2005, Brooks continued to chart with previously recorded material, including a top 30 placing for " Why Ain't I Running " in 2003.

Despite the early predictions for success, the Astros had a mediocre 44 – 44 record at the All-Star break.

Despite a fallout from record sales, Brown enjoyed something of a resurgence in this period starting with cameo roles in the feature films The Blues Brothers, Doctor Detroit and Rocky IV, as well as guest starring in the Miami Vice episode " Missing Hours " ( 1988 ).

Despite the good news off the field, and winning four out of five games to start the season, the Wizards just missed out on a playoff berth with a loss to the New York Red Bulls on the final day, finishing with a 10 – 14 – 8 record.

Despite his new record deal, he had a falling out with The Beast Crew when he signed over fellow member Champtown ( the two have become friends again since ).

Despite an AL-worst 63-99 record, the team drew over three million fans for the second consecutive year.

Despite the team's 2-14 record, they sold out six of their eight home games in 2006.

Despite finishing with a 6 – 10 record in the 2005 – 2006 season, the Eagles ranked second in the NFL in merchandise sales, and single-game tickets for the next season were sold out minutes after phone and Internet lines opened.

" Despite the difficulties in recording the album, Crow told the BBC in 2005 that: " My favorite single is ' My Favorite Mistake ,' it was a lot of fun to record and it's still a lot of fun to play.

Despite questions lingering about the team's struggling offense, the team compiled a 49 – 39 record by the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, good enough for second place in the NL West.

Despite self-confessed lack of vocal talent, he released horror-themed singles during the early to mid -' 60s, the most popular " Jack the Ripper ", covered live and on record by garage rock bands including the White Stripes, the Gruesomes, the Black Lips and the Horrors for their debut LP.

Despite the album's record sales it wasn't able to top the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 2.

Despite this, they still finished the 1973 season giving up fewer points ( 150 ) than in 1972, and recorded a 12-2 record, including their opening game victory over the San Francisco 49ers that tied an NFL record with 18 consecutive wins.

Despite their defensive flaws, the Dolphins ' powerful offense led the NFL in scoring ( 513 points ) and total yards gained ( 7, 064 ), and helped the team reach an AFC best 14-2 regular season record.

Despite their defensive problems, the Bills finished the season with an AFC best 13-3 regular season record.

Despite poor record sales ( due to the elongated period of inactivity by the band ) the album is favored by critics and fans alike.

Despite the disappointing reaction to Y Kant Tori Read, Amos still had to comply with her six-record contract with Atlantic Records, who in 1989 wanted a new record by March 1990.