# Most painful sports memory. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437 "2002-05-16T19:42:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/21 "2002-05-17T13:09:45Z")
Wide right! Wide right! As a Bills fan, these words make me break out in hives. You would not believe how many people who, upon learning I am a Bills fan, say “Wide right!” and grin like a maniac, as if that’s the least bit amusing. Intellectually, I believe that the wide right kick was probably the least painful part of that game. Norwood should never have been in a position to win or lose that particular game – I place the blame on Kelly for failing to get enough points up on the board. But “wide right” still sums up the entire emotion. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/22 "2002-05-17T22:03:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*1985 NLCS. Where Jack Clark effectively ended Tom Neidenfuhr’s career with his homer to lift the Cards over the Dodgers. \*\* And now he’s your batting coach. Is nothing sacred? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2002, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/23 "2002-05-17T22:33:01Z")
The agony of defeat guy is, although my spelling could be off, a Slovenian ski jumper by the name of Vinko Bogataj. (Your spelling may vary). Most painful memory: having a goal in a street hockey game disallowed in the 5th grade vs 6th grade game because the street hockey ball took a bad hop over the goalie’s head. The 6th graders said it was unfair because it hit a rock. I’ve nursed that grudge for 25 years now. ---
**Author:** ![Semp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Semp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Semp)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/24 "2002-05-18T00:18:37Z")
I don’t think it’s painful, but it is bitterly ironic. In the early 90’s I decided I really liked the Patriots (when they really, really sucked). I was sure they were destined for greatness, and so sure of this was I that I got into smack talking via desktop grafitti. I guaranteed that they’d be in the Superbowl within five years (this was 1992). Now, I’m from Milwaukee, and the first team in my heart is, of course, the Packers. So what happens? Five years later the Patriots make the Superbowl. And so do my Packers. Fortunately for my prognosticating I only said they’d _be_ in the game, I said nothing about winning, but you can tell where my heart was when I wrote it. So of course they actually win it another five years down the road, so I feel somewhat better, but that first go round was like selling your soul to the Devil, who then goes on to make you look like a sucker. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/25 "2002-05-18T06:36:51Z")
Two more words: [Tim Tschida](http://espn.go.com/media/mlb/1999/1017/photo/a_stretch.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/26 "2002-05-18T07:13:45Z")
Well colour me stupid, but I thought this thread was going to be about _personally experienced_ sports injuries, and I was going to add the time I ran into the high-jump support-frame and broke my toes and how much it hurt. But I won’t now. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/27 "2002-05-18T12:55:58Z")
Staying away from genuine tragedies involving deaths or serious injuries: My Rice Owls getting thoroughly pasted by the Houston Cougars at the Astrodome in the last game of the '92 football season. Now, getting our butts handed to us on the football field was pretty much old hat at that time, so it wasn’t just that. The week before, we’d beaten Navy to go to 6-4, clinching our first winning season in _29 years_. Rice was on the upswing, and UH was on the decline - reliable rumor had it that there was a bowl bid awaiting us if we could finish out at 7-4. Ah, anticipation was in the air - a very rare thing. 🙂 I don’t remember the score, but it was ugly. I sat there in the stands, trying to will this flirtation with respectability on, but 'twas not to be. I was genuinely surprised at just how disappointed I was. ---
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/28 "2002-05-18T13:49:37Z")
We lost a game after 5 overtimes to out district rival. We had a two point lead with 12 seconds left in regulation. They scored at the buzzer to tie and from there 5 overtimes. Unbelievable and disappointing / sickening. This was a “defining” moment for us, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/29 "2002-05-19T02:24:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*Ruffian. > > Watching that poor horse hobbling around with her leg broken was the by fair the most painful and heartwrenching sight in sports. Everything else was just losses; this was death. \*\* Fortunately, in a way, I was too young to have witnessed that personally. I have read a great deal about her and, obviously, have been greatly impressed by it. The most tragic and painful sports memory I have witnessed live is similar–Go For Wand’s grotesque breakdown in the 1990 Breeder’s Cup Distaff. This mare not only broke her leg, she did a complete somersault…then got up and hobbled away on her three working legs, the catastrophically injured one dangling uselessly and disturbingly from her ankle. It is said the only thing holding the hoof onto her leg was the skin–all else was obliterated. Her breakdown could not have happened in a more dramatic time in the race–the homestretch, some 100 yards from the wire, while engaged in a neck-and-neck showdown with a fellow champion, Bayakoa. The trainer of Bayakoa (Ron McNally) was visibly disturbed and choked back tears during a post-race interview. I remember him saying, “These animals give their lives for our entertainment.” I never watched another horse race for 5 years. **Ruffian** , in comparison and contrast, had managed to stay upright, although her walking on the shattered ankle was a disturbing sight (I’ve seen video). She did have a slight chance of survival and managed to come through a surgery that reattached everything; but, as many horses do, she panicked coming out of anesthesia and finding herself in a sling. Her thrashing around sealed her fate. Go For Wand was doomed from the get-go and was euthanized on the track. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/30 "2002-05-19T04:37:59Z")
Most recent. Giambi hiiting a damn grand slam in the 14th to beat my Twins. Most painful…Watching Joe Theismans leg break. Hell…that hurt me. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/31 "2002-05-19T04:53:41Z")
Game 7 of the NBA World Championship, The Utah Jazz vs The Chicago Bulls. Jordon is sick all game with the flu. He’s literally grey. The final seconds of the game. The Jazz are up by one point. Jordon pushes off of Russel, shoots the 3. And makes it. Ripped my heart out. I can’t even watch basketball anymore. It’s just too painful. Far too painful. ---
**Author:** ![knock\_knock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/22d042/32.png) [@knock\_knock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/knock_knock)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/32 "2002-05-22T05:22:21Z")
Him playing for the Washington Wizards. And the worst part is, it’s not just a one-time thing. It’s every game. And it’s still happening. Everybody leaving in 1998 was pretty bad also. Just a minor correction- the shot over Bryon Russell was game 6. The Bulls never went to 7 in the finals. And the game he had the flu was game 5 of the previous year. And he didn’t really push off - Russell was already falling down. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/33 "2002-05-22T10:23:13Z")
I’ve got another one. Marco van Basten doing a lap of honour around AC Milan’s San Siro stadium, saying goodbye to the fans. At that stage, he hadn’t played a competition match in over a year. His doctors had told him his ankle was too fucked up to keep on playing, and he was forced to retire at the age of 27. I’ll admit I had to fight my tears when I saw him applauding his home crowd. ---
**Author:** ![manwithaplan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@manwithaplan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manwithaplan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/34 "2002-05-22T11:16:24Z")
Jimmy White missing the black when 50-odd points up in the deciding frame of the 1994 World Snooker Final. Robot Hendry cleared up to win, leaving Jimmy to savour his sixth world final defeat. The whirlwhind has never really recovered and in a very small way, neither have I. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/35 "2002-05-22T11:25:06Z")
Ooooh, I remember that one!! I was thinking, “MAN, this means you’ll never win it. EVER”. That was the easiest championship shot in the history of Snooker, and he fucked it up. ---
**Author:** ![Zoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6de8d8/32.png) [@Zoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoff)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/36 "2002-05-22T13:35:32Z")
Italy losing to Argentina in the semifinals of the 1990 World Cup. For some reason, this is even more painful than the Italians losing in the 1994 World Cup final. As a player, my most painful moment was losing the championship game the one year I played Little League baseball. We were up by a run in the bottom of the last inning and a player from the other team tried to score on a single. We got the ball to the catcher who was half-way between third and home when he tagged the runner out. The runner was crying as he touched home plate. We started walking off the field and the other team and coach started coming out of the bullpen to shake hands when the umpire calls the runner safe. He said the catcher missed the tag. The other team rallied and won the game. It’s not painful now and I look at it as a good lesson in how bad things can happen, but at the time it was incredibly painful to get screwed out of what we had earned. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/37 "2002-05-23T00:46:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Most painful…Watching Joe Theismans leg break. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Eyed\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Green\_Eyed\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Eyed_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/38 "2002-05-23T01:21:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy \* > > > [@](#): > > > > Most painful…Watching Joe Theismans leg break. > > \*\* > Ditto. \*\* Which in itself would have been bad enough, but they had to show it over…and over…and over…and look here it is in slow motion…and from another angle…from another angle in slow motion. So, that’s what a broken leg looks like :rolleyes: GES ---
**Author:** ![Riddick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@Riddick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riddick)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/39 "2002-05-23T15:24:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Big Kahuna Burger \* > \*\*April 13, 1997. The last Whalers game ever. I was there with my father, Section 301, Row B, seats 11 and 12. Nobody was crying, but all 15,000 people were so depressed that the whole game was just one big downer. At least we won. \*\* Fear not, my friend…it appears that they Whalers (now the Carolina Hurricanes) could be Cup bound yet…I know, I know, it’s not the Whalers, but in spirit, it is 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Riddick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@Riddick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riddick)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2002, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437/40 "2002-05-23T15:47:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Flymaster \* > \*\*Two more words: [Tim Tschida](http://espn.go.com/media/mlb/1999/1017/photo/a_stretch.jpg) \*\* I can’t believe you have that picture…that is definitely my most painful sports memory (as well as the other HORRIBLE calls during that series). Every time I see Knobloch, I think of that…they need instant replay in baseball 🙂 LOL Aside from that, Bill Buckner…I was 6…ouch…very ouch… Watching any XFL game, especially one game where I saw 3 guys break their legs. Apparently the guys in the booth thought that the audience on tv would like to see those horrific injuries over and over and over again…from 10 different angles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-painful-sports-memory/109437.md?page=3)