OT - Most heartbreaking non-M related loss you've been a player or a fan of?
It was the topic on ESPNU this morning with Mcelroy & Kanell. My favorite was the guy who threw a no-hitter in high school state championship game and lost somehow because the game was called due to rain. He said it was the only high school playoff game ever called due to rain in North Carolina.
What's your best...or worst story?
Suffering Vikings Fan?
It must be rough winning an above-average amount of games.
Had my own personal Bill Buckner moment in a youth baseball championship game. I'm still haunted.
For me it's easily the Purdue OT loss to Virginia in the Elite Eight. I grew up in Ann Arbor but went to Purdue and the game was played here in Louisville so I got to go to the game.
I can still see that missed free throw at the end of regulation being tipped out to half court and thinking they were going to the Final Four.
That performance by Carsen Edwards is one of the best tournament performances I have ever seen.
I think maybe the '88 NBA finals when the Pistons lost to the Lakers by 1 point in game 6 and a few points in game 7..........but truthfully nothing gets to me like Michigan losses.
The '51 playoff between the Dodgers/Giants. I wasn't born until '79 but that event haunted my father so deeply that anytime it came on we had to turn the channel. If he had the chance he might have run over Russ Hodges with his car, backed up and then run over him again. He somehow was so affected by this game that instinctively I still won't watch replays. Deep, dark, sadistic shit
I truly am a Lions fan, though they tried to kill it out of me, but Tom Brady has been much more interesting over the years. We all know he's legendary, he was a minute and some change from immortality and this happens...
I think he's made up for it, but it still hurts to come that close to undefeated.
Surprised to not see Bird stealing game 5 from the Pistons in '87 yet.
Reggie Miller's 8 points in 9 seconds was terrible if you're silly enough to be a Knicks fan. I thought it was glorious.
The Bird game reference is just a few comments above your comment.
DOH! The long pause between type and "Save". Hate it when work gets in the way of my blog life.
1998 Big 12 Championship Game. KSU lost in double OT after leading and then melting down just after they announced the score of the (I think UCLA) game at the stadium. This loss basically guaranteed KSU playing for the MNC with the win. I was in Manhattan and the apt complex I was in all had their doors open and everyone was watching and going room to room celebrating after the loss and with KSU up. Then it all went south. They just melted down after and lost in double OT. Former DC Bob Stoops then raided the staff and KSU dropped all the way down to a shitty bowl game where Drew Brees went wild. I'm pretty sure all of the KSU players were drunk during the bowl game.
2014 World Series Game 7. Being at the stadium and seeing the ball get to the wall with Gordon rounding second and then getting held up at 3rd was brutal. I don't disagree with holding him up, but after losing, I would have liked to see it play out. I'd probably be posting in this thread about the idiot 3rd base coach getting him thrown out at home in Game 7, but whatever.
Probably anytime Duke wins anything. I find that to be terrible.
Duke - Kentucky Regional Final 1992 stands out for me. Laettner should have been ejected. And the Fab 5 might have won it all playing the winner of IU and Kentucky.
Individual level: losing our Little League city championship game when I was 12 to our league rivals. Fucking hell.
Fan level: I was at the Round of 16 US-Ghana match in 2010 when they lost in ET. The Rustenburg stadium was in the middle of nowhere so we had to hop on shuttle buses to get back to parking, and it took us like two hours of standing aimlessly in a field to wait for one. That just added a layer of sadness to it all.
1992 Baseball District Final - Hudsonville Unity Christian - earlier in the week, we won the first state tournament baseball game in school history but now faced our rival Holland Christian in the final.
We had split two close games during the season. My childhood best friend was on HC. With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 7th, my friend struck out to make it two outs. Our pitcher was going for a complete game at this point and still had a bit in the tank (5 years later, he would become my stepbrother, but that's a different story). I was the catcher.
So, two outs. The most hated guy on Holland Christian steps to the plate. His name was Tracy. Or Stacy. He coaxes a walk on a very close 3-2 pitch. He's the kind of cocky player who dances a lot when leading off. Almost picked off twice by our lefty pitcher. On the first pitch, he tries to steal second. I fired a laser. Ball beats him there, tag applied. Called safe.
1-1 count now, he tries to steal third. Right handed batter, I make a decent throw, but the tag is high. Safe (legitimately) though should've been out at second. With two outs, I probably shouldn't have even thrown it, because if it was wild, he would've scored right there. Pitch was a strike, so it's now 1-2. But there are two outs, so just need the batter.
I call for the curve. We've struck this hitter out twice looking on fastballs and he's flailed at the curves he's seen. He flails again, it's a tight-breaking curve and dips early. I drop to block it, figuring I'll have time to tag the batter before he takes off to first. But... the balls hits squarely on the back corner of home plate, bounces up over my head to the backstop. I scurry back there, pitcher comes home, throw is right there...
Tracy/Stacy got under the tag. Lost 2-1.
My now stepbrother and I still laugh (and laugh) about it.
Personal one for me was playing 3rd base about 10 games into my college career. Bases loaded, two outs in the last inning and I get a two hopper down the line. I picked my head up slightly to see if I could beat the runner to the bag instead of throwing across the diamond and kicked it. Game over.
I was crushed. I will always be grateful to both my coach for throwing me right back in the lineup for the next game and the upper classmen for basically saying shit happens, now lets go kick their ass.
Close second was my last game of my college career. We lost 3-0, I made the last out and cried like a baby because I knew I would never play a high level competitive sport again.
1999 NHL Playoffs, second round. Wings are the back-to-back defending champions and are up against their rivals from Colorado.
Having won games 1 and 2 of the series on the road, Detroit comes home to The Joe for game 3. Wings took the early lead 1-0, and then had a chance to put a stranglehold on the Avs when Yzerman hit the crossbar in the first period. Would've given Detroit a 2-0 lead.
Avs stormed back, won the game 5-3, and never looked back, winning the series in 6 games and ending the Wings' chances at a three-peat.
I'll include a gambling loss here:
I had a 4 team parlay, $900 to with $10k, won the first 3 games of the day and my last was a Big 12 matchup...and I took the over. Oklahoma/Ok State, 54.5. Going into the 4th, OU was driving, and I needed 15 points. They scored once...then got a second score to get me to 54.
Ok State drives from their 19 with 6:28 to go. 12 plays later, 1st & goal from the 2 with 3:29 to go. I'm already counting my money.
Incomplete
Incomplete
Sack
Incomplete.
OU kneels out, final score 41-13. I was sick.
Ray Allen game tying 3 pointer against the Spurs in the 2013 NBA finals.
• Hearns-Leonard 1
• Hearns-Hagler
• 1966 NHL Stanley Cup finals: Red Wings down 3 games to 2 to Montreal; game 6 is at Olympia:
"Two minutes into the extra period, Richard broke in on Red Wing goalie Roger Crozier, lost his footing on the newly resurfaced ice as he cut across the goalmouth, and sprawled into Crozier. The puck went in, and even though Crozier and the Wings protested that Richard had pushed the puck in with his hand, the goal stood. His brilliant play in goal, even in defeat, earned Crozier the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs, becoming the first player to win the award as a member of the losing team."
• 1967 Indy 500: Parnelli Jones drove the radical new 4WD gas turbine engine for Granatelli, and dominated the race, leading for 171 laps. With four laps to go, Jones seemingly had the race wrapped up, holding nearly a full lap lead over second place A. J. Foyt. Third place Al Unser was more than two laps down. Shockingly, a $6 transmission bearing failed, and the turbine quietly coasted to a stop near the entrance to pit lane. The STP Granatelli team was in disbelief as they ran to the car's aid.
The year was 1992. A 15 year old (not quite 16) Darth Saedd, playing on his church's "varsity" basketball team, has an "opportunity of a lifetime". Down 1, the ball in their best player's hands, less 10 seconds on the clock, and the regular season title on the line, DS's team makes their move for the win. Even though a 2-3 zone is the opposing team's primary defense, all of the defensive players converge on the ball handler allowing DS to slip in behind the defense and obtain position. Since DS's team's best player has been instructed to "shoot no matter what", he forces a tough 16' jumpshot over multiple defenders. The shot misses and the rebound falls directly to young DS. With his family, church, and peers watching, DS thinks to himself "I am going to win the game". All alone under the basket, DS goes up to lay in the championship winning basket. Since this is a thread about worst experiences I think we all know if DS made the layup or not. He cried and cried. Jordan Morgan would've said "Damn, that's tough".
As in most heartbreaking stories there is a shot (no pun intended) at redemption. The following season, in his "senior" against the same opponent, with the same stakes, the same deficit, and nearly the same amount of time on the clock a new strategy is employed. With multiple players fouled out, a now 16 year old DS finds himself in the game again in the waning moments and is inexplicably fouled off the ball with his team in the 1 & 1. The ref hands a calm DS the ball at the line. DS dribbles a couple times, takes a breath, bends his knees, gets his elbow in tight, extends, and releases. SWISH!!!! The game is tied! In what should be a much easier shot, the thoughts of the prior season runs through DS's mind and he becomes nervous. With his right leg shaking as the ref hands him the ball again, DS repeats the same process as before. Still nervous as he watches the ball in the air, DS is vindicated as he watches the ball fall through the net. One desperation miss later, the regular season title is won, DS is swarmed by his teammates and feels like the king of the court.
Other than that, I would say Stewart/Westbrook 1994. Unfunnily enough my roommate and I played that matchup the night before on Bill Walsh Football on Genesis. I lost our game the EXACT same way. The score wasn't the exact same but he most certainly beat me with a Stewart/Westbrook hail mary. He was at work during the game and when he asked me how the game went (he was neither a UM or CU fan, so no emotional stake in game), he didn't believe that was how that game ended until he saw it on ESPN.
And yes, I do think they are cool stories, otherwise I wouldn't have told them. HAHA
Tie.
1987 NBA eastern conf finals. Game 5, Bird stole Isiah's inbounds pass. Game 7, Dantley and VJ bashed heads diving for a loose ball. Devastating.
1988 NBA finals. Game 6, Isiah sprained his ankle. Game 7, atrocious touch foul called on Laimbeer with almost no time left.
Passionate Cubs fan. I attended the Bartman Game.
EDIT: adding more, my World Series tickets were already charged to my credit card. I got a refund but would rather have seen the Cubs in the World Series that year.
In the recreational basketball league our winless team lost to a team that was only playing 4 players. Pretty much the most demoralizing loss of my lifetime.
Tom Watson British Open. Stewart Cink is probably a nice enough guy but eff him.
Bartman
I still lose sleep often, lamenting the 2014 world cup final. #GraciasHigauín
Game 7, 2001 World Series.
I was a young Yankees fan. Rivera comes in and I'm 100% certain the Yankees are winning the game. They have to, right? It's Mariano Rivera! Plus, after 9/11, this HAS to be the way it goes for NY. Wrong.
I know not to expect sympathy, and as a life-long Yankees fan, I don't really deserve any. But that was a tough one. What's worse is, I can't really hate on Luis Gonzalez-- he seems like a decent-enough guy.