In chronological order: the Knicks losing the 1994 NBA Finals after being interrupted by a white Ford Bronco car chase that derailed a 3-2 series lead. John Starks going 2-for-18 one game after nearly single-handedly winning the Knicks their first championship since 1973, and Pat Riley keeping him in the game (which was a single digit deficit most of the second half) while Hubert Davis the sharpshooting backup sat on the bench.
The Mets losing the last 5 games in a row in 1998 to throw away the wild-card lead. There wasn’t one particular game that year that killed me, just an increasing sense that they were going to blow it, even as the other 2 teams in the wild card race also continued to lose (the Cubs and the Giants).
The Mets posting a stunning Game 5 victory after trailing 3-0 in the 1999 NLCS, only to blow the lead in the 7th and 8th innings in Game 6 and ultimately seeing Kenny Rogers WALK IN THE WINNING RUN in the 12th inning.
At least that was an away game, in Atlanta. In 2000 the Mets made an improbable and what should have been a very memorable run to the World Series, with an outfield of Derek Bell, Benny Agbayani and Jay Payton and Bobby Jones pitching a complete game one-hitter along the way… But they got there to play the crosstown Yankees. I could stand the Mets winning the NL Pennant and losing in the World Series. But I still cannot stomach the memory of Shea Stadium being about 1/3 full of fans of the OPPOSING TEAM celebrating a WS victory over the Mets (I was in the ballpark for that game). I was never a Yankee-hating Mets fan until that day.
Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. They lost in seven games to a team that had won all of 83 games in the regular season, the St. Louis Cardinals. On top of that, it was after Endy Chavez made one of the great over-the-wall outfield grabs of all time, stealing a HR from Scott Rolen and also doubling off the runner from first base for an inning-ending double play in a tie game. The Mets then loaded the bases with 1 out in the bottom of that inning, but never scored again in the game, where Carlos Beltran (who had posted nigh MVP numbers in 2006) took strike three LOOKING with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. (I was in the ballpark for that game.)
The Final Week Collapses of 2007 and 2008. Especially 2007. And, again, I was in the ballpark for both of the final games that ended in losses.
While I gave up on the Knicks several years ago I’m still a season ticket holder for the Mets. I need some pain in my life.
Oh, and also seeing the Knicks blow a 3-2 series lead in 1997 to the Heat in the Eastern Conf Finals after half the team was suspended for walking onto the court during a fight (though not joining). It’s not just that they lost to the Heat, thought that was a bitter rivalry in those days, I love the game enough to respect losing to an opponent in a fair game (like the 1994 Finals, painful though it was). It was that the team was not allowed to play.
I have a frozen-in-time memory of the very moment I heard the news. It was on the radio in my car as I drove up to Boston that weekend to pick up my girlfriend who had just completed the semester at Harvard. I was on I-95 in Rhode Island when the announcer came on to read NBA Commissioner David Stern’s decision on the penalties for 2/3rds of the Knicks team (including all the starters) walking on to the court a couple of feet and milling about after PJ Brown essentially dwarf-tossed the Knicks point guard Charlie Ward the day before, who bounced up and charged him.
Charlie Ward was suspended for the remainder of the series, as was the principal involved in the brawl from the Heat side, PJ Brown. I had no problem with that, that made sense.
But then Commissioner Stern wanted to make an example of how tough he was going to be in enforcing a new rule, imposed earlier mid-season due to some nasty brawls, calling for mandatory suspensions for “coming onto the field of play” during a fight. So even though none of them laid a finger on any player, coach or fan (other than Charlie Ward the starting point guard of course), all the other starting Knicks players were suspended. No Patrick Ewing or Allan Houston for Game 6. No Larry Johnson or John Starks for Game 7.
What a joke. Rule #1 about being the commissioner of a sports league in the playoffs has to be: as much as possible, you let the players play. This was the first time the rule was being invoked. It was the time to set parameters of reasonable intent, not to lay down the letter of the law in a way that seriously distorts the balance of the matches.
And that was, IMHO, the best, most balanced Knicks team I have seen in my life… And their best chance for an NBA title was taken away on what to me still seems like a complete technicality of a ruling.
This. I can take Waddle missing (effete twat) but Psycho? Psycho never missed penalties. Never ever ever.
But you are lucky you are that young and missed 1986’s quarter final. Losing to the cheating dwarf’s “Hand of God” goal. And his second goal looked fantastic, but Terry Fenwick should have chopped the bastard down. Then we bough Barnsie on, pulled on back, and at the death Barnes put in a perfect cross, the boy Linacre was underneath poised to put the game into extra time, and some bastard Argie defender rabbit punches him into the goal, right in front of the (obviously bribed) referee.
17 and 21. My heart broken twice. No wonder I can’t ever maintain a stable relationship.
NCAA football, the 1991 UW Huskies were ridiculously dominating and had a perfect season, crushing all opponents.
Well, Miami also had an undefeated season, but with some struggles.
By all respects, UW should have had an unquestioned #1 championship, but the pollsters wimped out and caved to East-coast bias and gave a shared #1 title between the two schools. I knew Miami friends, rabid 'canes fans, that openly admitted “dude, UW totally deserved their own #1”.
It was a big reason I stopped caring about NCAA football or school rankings.
But you had another one just the other week, didn’t you? India are batting, they need 216 to win, but they’ve lost eight batsmen and are still 92 short. By rights they’re dead and buried. Then VVS Laxman, batting with a bad back, and tail-ender Ishant Sharma, knock off all but 11 before Sharma’s out (to a shocking decision) and the last man comes in. With six runs wanted, a much more plausible LBW shout is turned down (karma, evidently) but substitute fielder Steven Smith spots a chance to win the game with a run-out. He misses, the ball speeds away to the boundary for four free runs, and moments later it’s all over.
Well, one of the consequences of living in the United States for a decade is that i’ve become rather disconnected from the world of cricket. While i periodically check up on results, the fact that i can’t watch the games means that i don’t have the sort of investment in the results that i would have if i lived in Australia or the UK r somewhere else where cricket is actually part of the culture.
Also, i was more concerned about Australia winning when i was a kid. Not only did i have a kid’s emotional investment in the team, but the fact that Australia regularly got beaten by England and by the West Indies meant that seeing them win was something special.
On the other hand, from my late teens through to the time i left to live in the United States, the Australian team swept just about all opposition before it. They consistently crushed the English in the Ashes, and also began to smack the formerly-unbeatable West Indies all over the park. During that time, the team itself also seemed to develop into a bunch of egomaniacs and assholes. While it was good to see them win for a while, i think that it’s more interesting when one team isn’t winning all the time, and i also got to the stage where i was actually happy to see them lose, just because i lost patience with their on-field and off-field antics.
Since then, i’ve lost touch due to living in the United States. I couldn’t name more than four or five members of the current team, and right now i’m much more interested in the Major League Baseball playoffs than i am in an Australia-India test series.
With all respect to everyone’s heart, I’m going to post a ‘almost’ story that wasn’t actually heartbreaking, but I still feel disappointment about.
1994 World Cup. The US team had over the last decade clawed its way up from lower-tier to middle tier, and the US had won the bid to host. US plays well enough to make it to the elimination round, and draw Brazil. As the US was still middle-tier, this was expected to be 4-0 or 5-0 for Brazil.
So, an upstart US team is playing at home against the best team in the world, and manage to keep the fabled Brazilian offense to only one goal – just one goal from the US and they’ve got a shot at advancing the farthest they’ve ever gone in the world cup, at home, over a traditional power. I think it was a well into the second half and as a result of good US pressure, a ball came to a US player (I don’t remember who) in the box who executed a perfect backwards- over-the-head flame-shooting rocket of a bicycle kick that the Brazilian keeper had zero chance on. As it left his foot, already in my mind it was replaying on Sports Center for the next six months-- not only the most significant accomplishment of US soccer in its history, but such a truly spectacular and athletic highlight (especially as the bicycle kick was kind of a Brazilian trademark at that point). it would have been a top-ten highlight of the year for all sports.
When I was in 8th grade around 1975 or so, the Milwaukee Brewers (my team) were playing the New York Yankees. (This was when the Brewers were still in the American League.) The Brewers weren’t very good, but they were my team and I loved them. I was the only one in my family that liked sports.
I got home from school early and since I was the only one home, I was able to turn the kitchen radio to the Brewer - Yankee game and raid the fridge with impunity.
The game came to the 9th inning with the Brewers losing to the Yankees by 3 runs. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Don Money hit a grand-slam homerun to win the game for the Brewers!!! I was dancing in the kitchen!! Never in my life had my team won a game like that.
All of a sudden, Billy Martin, the Yankee’s manager (may he rot in hell eternally with food and beer and pretty girls just out of his reach) comes out of the dugout claiming that he had called time-out before the pitch was thrown. NOTE: In baseball, it doesn’t matter if the manager called time or not. If the umpires did not call time - there was no time-out.
The umpires had a conference and agreed that Billy Martin had indeed called for time-out, but they hadn’t seen it. Alex Grammas, the Brewers’ manager argued loudly that it didn’t matter what Billy Martin had done since the umpires had allowed the game to go on, but since we were the lowly Brewers and they were the exalted New York Yankees - - - the Grand Slam was taken away. Both teams were called out of the clubhouse.
The game continued. Don Money hit a sacrifice fly in his at-bat and the Brewers lost. The game was stolen from the Brewers by asshole drunken jackass Billy Martin and a bunch of weasily yellow backed umpires.
I have hated the Yankees and distrusted umpires/refs/game officials ever since.
Speak for yourself. I’m not a Cub or Red Sox fan and even I was looking forward to that potential World Series match-up. Getting the Yankees-Marlins instead was like expected to be served filet mignon but ending up with a stale McDonalds hamburger.
Getting the San Diego Padres instead of the Cubs against the Tigers in 1984 was almost just as bad.
I’m thinking you wouldn’t say that once you’d experienced having Fox-TV and/or ESPN pound the theme of the Jinxed “Curse of the Billy Goat” Cubs vs. the Jinxed “Curse of the Bambino” Red Sox into your head for a week.
Colorado deserved to lose that game just because they were stupid enough to punt it to Rocket. The only way Colorado could’ve lost that game at that point was if Ismail ran back the punt. All Colorado had to do was punt the ball out of bounds and they’d have won with no dispute.
