How about the final play in last year’s Super Bowl? Wasn’t it dumb for the Titans not to throw the final pass directly into the end zone, rather than risk letting the receiver be tackled just short of it? John Madden is always complaining about teams that need to make 10 yards throwing 8 yard passes, and isn’t that what the Titans foolishly did?
It was 1968. Roberto De Vicenzo shot a final round 65 to finish at 11 under, but he turned in a score card showing 66, putting him at 10 under. Bob Goalby ending up winning by a final score of 11 under instead of having a playoff. De Vicenzo finished second for the tournament, but he wasn’t disqualified.
BTW, Tommy Aaron won the Masters in 1973. De Vicenzo finished at 12 over that year.
Patrick, I agree its not always the safest choice to make, but while Madden is correct most of the time, there are several cases where this strategy turns into a touchdown. Basically its a hindsight is 20/20 thing. And 2 out of 3 times I bet Dyson is able to break that one tacklers attempt for an extra yard. There are certain times where its a worse decision that others, mainly when you have both time and down and distance against you. Anyone who’s played would agree that this isn’t quite as simple as it seams, especially in the red zone. Nevertheless, not even close to “dumbest” even if it is a little ricky or unwise.
The plays I’ve persoanlly seen have mostly been mentioned.
Bill Buckner (granted I agree it wasn’t mental error, and non-metal errors are always excusable)
Leon Durham made virtually the exact same error at first base for the Cubs in the bottom of the ninth in 1984 vs the Padres in the playoffs. There are a dozen other details in this one which I say make it worse then the Buckner one, but only a Cubs fanatic would be able to relate. Durham was a star and had a much larger impact on getting the Cubs there in the first place than Buckner.
The Leon Lett perfecta, the Super Bowl celebration flub, in which local HS fave Don Beebe batted the ball away. Of course the game was clearly decided at this point, so it really isn’t quite so notable. The second was Leon Lett’s second idiot play in the following Thanksgiving game versus the Miami Dolphins. A field goal in the fourth quarter is partially blocked in a close game played on a snowy slick Dallas field. By rule a partially blocked kick that clears the line of scrimmage is not allowed to be advanced by the offense, and is returned to the spot of the kick once its dead. Lett however runs downfield and slips on the snow and busts through a crowd of 4 Dolphins around the ball. He kicks the ball which the 'Phins recover and advance for a score. The Cowboys lose this game. Granted it was only a regular season game, so it isn’t the biggest gaffe. Both these plays however perfectly fit the bill of really really dumb play. Raise the stakes and we’d have had a winner, easy.
Honorable mention the the refs in the Steelers-Lions Thanksgiving game a few years ago when they blew the overtime coin flip.
IIRC Lenny Dykstra had a situation just like Pyscho Lyon’s where he dropped his pants to clean out some dirt, but his was endearing to the hometown Philly crowd, especially considering his reputation and attitude.
Re: Mora’s decision to kick, I didn’t persoanlly hear any of the announcers bashing the call to kick, and I think that anyone who does is a complete moron. Every single piece of information points to that being the right call. You have the arguably best kicker in the league, you give him the shot to win in the favorable conditions.
OK, I’m not a Cubs fan, but according to the stats, this statement isn’t true. Billy Buck played in more games and had more RBI than Durham, though Durham had him beat in avg (by 12 points) and HRs (23-18). Buckner was a “star,” though admittedly not a superstar, and was an essential part to the '86 Sox. There is no way they would have made the playoffs without him.
Both were bad plays, but physical errors are physical errors. I wouldn’t include these on the list any more than I’d include a basketball player missing a shot. It happens. “Dumb” plays, by definition, I think, are of the mental-mistake variety.
(Everything I have said may be ignored, since as a Sox fan, I clearly have very little common sense.) 
Okay, this isn’t the dumbest play in sports history, but it was a really dumb play in recent Giants history, so please allow me to bitch about it.
It’s game two of the NLDS between the Giants and the Mets this last October. Giants won the first game, everything is going beautifully. Shawn Estes is pitching for the Giants, which has me on the edge of my seat. Although he’s a superb pitcher when he’s on, Shawn often looks like he has no idea what he is doing at all, like he was sleepwalking and suddenly woke up to find himself pitching in a major league baseball game. Or, in this case, running the bases in a major league baseball game. I can’t recall how he got to first, but there he was, not really sure of what was happening, when a double-play ball is hit to short. Estes slides into second, and the Mets’ second baseman drops the ball. My first feeling was one of elation, that the double play had been broken up. My next feeling was one of absolute horror as Shawn, in pain from smashing his ankle into the bag, gets up and starts hopping around the infield. Of course he didn’t call time out! He’s tagged out, and worse, he’s too injured to continue pitching. Shawn! Do you not understand the concept of staying on the bag? How did you get to be a major leaguer, you numbskull? I don’t care if you hurt your ankle, don’t leave the bag without calling time out!
I could feel the momentum of the game change with this play, and ultimately the series as well. In short, if Shawn Estes had the IQ of a pigeon, the Giants would be the World Series champions and all would be well with the world.
Ladies and Gents, you disappoint me. When you’re talking about the most horrific blunders in sports history, there is one category of sports, up till now untouched, that definately deserves it’s own chapter.
I give you: AUTO RACING.
A few examples:
I’ll come back later to weigh in with more incidents. A few teasers: we will be discussing Ricardo Rosset, Giovanni Lavaggi, and David Coulthard.
Howz about when Jeffrey Meyer reached over the railing in Yankee Stadium, interfered with a fairly batted ball (by Derek Jeter), and the RIGHT OUTFIELD umpire insisted it was a home run? I think the ump’s name was Ritchie something, but I don’t remember exactly. What’s the point of having umpires in the outfield during the playoffs if they can’t pay attention to what’s going on?
Couple of comments on previous replies, then my own. Regarding Leon Lett’s TD-that-wasn’t, does anyone else remember Saturday Night Live spoofing that the following month? Since February was Black History Month, they had a skit called, I believe “Sad Moments in Black History” and debuted with the clip of Leon Lett “being run down my Don Beebe, a WHITE MAN. Leon Lett should be ashamed.”
As for the reply about Daly refusing to hit around water and instead repeatedly hitting into the drink … wasn’t that in Tin Cup? Or whatever that Costner golf movie was? I caught the end of it once and seem to recall that playing a part. Or am I mistaken? Or perhaps, did it happen first to Daly, and then get stolen from the movie?
Okay, my own nomination. Since there seems to be a few Redskins fans here, how about Gus Frerotte a few years back scoring a TD against the Giants – and then headbutting the wall in celebration, jamming his neck. Gus leaves the game, Redskins lose, and Gus is on the quick bus out of town after the season. Truly unbelievable.
How about the Oklahoma/Washington Orange Bowl game in the early 80’s? OU kicked a field goal to take the lead but was called offside. As the kick went thru the posts the Sooner Schooner (a covered wagon) came whipping out onto the field to celebrate what they thought was a good field goal. The refs called a 15 yard penalty on the schooner which caused OU to be out of range for a kick. Game over. Washington wins.
At the 1985 US Open, TC Chen was leading Andy North on the fifth hole of the final round. He found himself in the tall grass. He chipped out and double-hit the ball, i.e. he hit the ball on the ground and in the air on his follow through. He bogeyed the hole, North birdied and went on to win the Open.
I don’t know if this is the dumbest, but it’s the most lethal. I guess the dumb part was going back to Colombia.
1994 World Cup (soccer)
Colombian defender Andres Escobar, for whatever reason, kicked the ball into his own goal contributing to Colombia’s loss to the USA. He was later murdered in Medellin, Colombia.
The dumbest I’ve ever seen was right here in college. Dartmouth vs. Cornell hockey. Lynah Rink, Ithaca, NY. last season.
As a member of the Lynah Faithful (CU fans), we repeatedly rip on the goaltenders of every team that skates into our little town. We’ve got a reputation as the most raucous fans in college hockey. What a home ice advantage. Anyway, most players just block us out, but we really got to the Dartmouth goalie. He would take time to come over and mock us when they scored.
Anyway, we weren’t playing well that night, but still continued to rag on him. We pulled our goalie for the extra skater, and immediately turned over the puck. Our goalie wasn’t off the ice yet and went diving towards the net to prevent the empty netter. The Dartmouth guy shot the puck. From the other end of the ice, it appeared that the puck hit the back of the net and shot back out. In reality, it hit the post and came out…no goal. Everyone on that end of the ice kept playing, but good old Nick Boucher (Dartmouth’s goalie) came over to our section to taunt us about the EN ‘goal.’ While he was laughing at us, one of our guys picked up the puck, and threw it into HIS empty net from the red line to score. Hehe… Too bad we still lost.
If you would like to see this wonderful play in action, you can see it right now! Go to This Page and click on either link to the QT movie. this is the last Cornell goal…it’s the second one down on the right side (in the red, Cornell 2, Dartmouth 3). If you want a direct link to the big movie (1.8MB), Click Here
Jman
Here are a few (some of them real old):
At the turn of the century, there was a play called a “John Anderson” named after a very good player from the turn of the century by that name.
It seems that Mr. Anderson was on first base and thought he could steal second off the pitcher. After carefully timing the pitcher, he took off and slid into second… only to find that a teammate was already on the base.
Of course, there was the time that three Brooklyn Dogers (one was Babe Herman, I can’t remember who the others were) ended up on third base on one play.
Then there was the Dan Ford incident for the Twins in the 70s. Ford was standing on third with another teammate (I can’t remember who) on second. When the batter hit a long shot to the outfield, Ford packpedaled home, waving his teammate (who, unlike Ford, had to run to score on the play) home. As he stood by home plate, the teammate scored. Ford then realized that he never touched home plate and touched it as well. Of course, by then it was too late. The teammate was called out for passing a runner on the basepaths. It hurt even more when the Twins lost by one run.
There are others too, but I’ll post them later.
Zev Steinhardt
Mack, the “for whatever reason” is quite simply it was an accident. “Own goals” happen quite often in soccer, and it was simply a ricochet/errant clear at the wrong time.
You are correct about his murder, and from what I recall it WAS in fact directly related. If I remember the newspaper accounts, he was murdered by mafia-types who lost money on the game, with bystanders reportedly hearing “this is for the own goal” before he was killed.
Orioles vs. Blue Jays, 1983. Because of various player switches, infielder Lenny Sakata was catching (his first time playing that position since high school), and I forget who was doing the pitching. The Blue Jays got three runners on base, one at a time. They were so anxious to steal second base that each of them was picked off first! This may be the only time in MLB that three runners were picked off in one inning!
I didn’t read all the posts, so maybe this one was mentioned, but I doubt it. I was listening to a Cub game as a kid, back in the early 50’s. I don’t remember the exact year, but Andy Pafko was still playing CF, he of the World Series notoriety, after losing a ball in the sun. (That’s not dumb and that’s another matter.)
Anyway, there were runners on 1st and 2d and the batter hit a liner into CF. Pafko ran in and made an almost shoe-string catch, or maybe he actually did. Who knows? As I said, it was on radio. The ump said he trapped it. Pafko argued about it, but instead of throwing the ball in, he kept it in his glove and argued long enough for every body to score, including the batter. Now, that’s **DUMB[/B}
Damn, I think you’re right. I’m the one who posted the thing about Daly, and now I think I got it confused with that movie. I still remember Daly doing something like that, but the exact sequence I described I’ll bet was from the movie, or at best a combination of the two. My bad. Hopefully there is some incident similar to this with Daly, but for now, I feel like an idiot.
I can contribute someting about auto racing however. (I am also at best a casual racing fan, and I sincerely hope this happened in real life and not in Days of Thunder or any other movie.) Didn’t a driver, Robereto Guerrero I believe, crash on the warm-up lap in an Indy 500 in the early '90s? I believe that he had won the pole, but he swerved off the course trying to heat up his tires before the race even went green. He finished 33rd.
Blunt - Correct. He was officially “DNS”, for did not start, which was the first time I ever saw that designation, BTW. At the risk of sounding cliche, that HAD to hurt.
Suppose, just SUPPOSE that, at the end of the “Ice Bowl” between the Cowboys and Packers, Bob Lilly stuffed Bart Starr at the line of scrimmage and kept him out of the end zone.
IF that had happened, I guarantee that, 34 years later, Green Bay fans would still be talking about how stupid Vince Lombardi was for passing up an easy field goal to tie the game and force an overtime.
As it is, Starr scored the winning touchdown, and Lombardi is universally hailed as a genius.
Remember that, when you throw around words like “idiot” and “genius.” Sometimes, the difference isn’t as great as you think.