After losing 452 games in its first four years, the expansion club managed a 66-95 record in 1966 before backsliding to 101 losses in 1967.
The brain has a limited capacity for self-regulation, so exerting willpower in one area often leads to backsliding in others.
American officials have argued during the last few days that while the number of countries with democratic attributes has vastly increased -- by their count from 30 to 120 since 1974 -- much needs to be done to consolidate democratic gains in the weakest nations and stop backsliding in others.
In many other parts of the country, recycling is in the doldrums — and in some cases backsliding — despite the sounding of environmental alarms about global warming and shrinking resources.
After the talks this week, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., who led the administration team here, said that the United States had made significant progress in getting China to open its economy despite "backsliding" in many areas.
And the progress in Iraq may have come at the cost of backsliding in Afghanistan.
The consequences are not just the obvious ones – more poverty, setbacks in education and healthcare, further marginalisation of the downtrodden, backsliding in economic development.
Humanity is always in danger of backsliding into barbarism, so we should respect customs in sexuality, religion and public propriety, even if no one can articulate their rationale, because they are time-tested workarounds for our innate shortcomings.
Juggling his two jobs, the busy writer begins backsliding in his unofficial third, "being a loving, giving, emotionally available boyfriend".
As soon as the public was distracted by the threatened war with Iraq, they began backsliding in earnest.
