Biggest Choke Job in Sports | Page 4 | The Boneyard

Biggest Choke Job in Sports

ClifSpliffy said:
whitney houston's memorable rendition of the star spangled banner began the game which had the best offense (428 points) battling the best defense (211 points) in a contest featuring 11 hof'ers. played mostly as close as could be, not only was the record set for time of one possession (9:29), but also for game possession (40:33) in the only one where both contestants represented the same state. widely viewed as a 'last possession wins' kinda game, in fact, the team with the last possession drove the ball to the 29 yard line, setting up a 47 yard field goal to win on the final play.
'wide right' entered the popular culture that day as a euphemism for choking. the losers began a record setting run of appearing in 4 consecutive super bowls, yet never again coming as close to winning their first championship as that day when they lost the only one ever decided by 1 point. that game. wide right. epic choke.
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It was a 47-harder. Not even in the top 100.
 
JohnFSilver said:
I find, as a diehard, this one doesn’t bother me as much as losing 2001 to the D-Backs. Yankees ran out of pitching in 2004 in 5,6,7.

D-Backs in 2001 outplayed yanks, but when you have won 4 of 5 World Series, losing with Rivera on the mound still stings.
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Agreed with that. 2001 was absolutely devastating as a fan.

That's not to say blowing a 3-0 series lead, the curse, etc. wasn't an all time choke, it was. However when you looked at how tough the teams had played each other the past 10 years or so, once the momentum got going you knew could feel the tide shift after game 5. Going into game 7 I don't think there was a Yankee fan alive who thought they were winning that game.
 
FartMan69 said:
The game was already tied when that ball went through. The Yankees had a 3-0 lead buddy. Coming off an 11 run stomping. UNHEARD of to blow that series because guess what? It had never happened before. The 86 Sox blew an inning. The 04 Yankees not only blew 4 whole games they blew 86 years of domination. Boston has changed NYs diaper ever since. Cry more.
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If anyone is throwing a baseball choke out there it starts and ends with ‘04.
 
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whaler11 said:
So that each team gets a home game.
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I’m still not following. Is this during the regular season or a tournament? If a regular-season, to what purpose? If a tournament, have they never heard of a neutral site? Adding up game scores seems silly. If you can’t play a best-of series then do a knockout and be done.
 
How about what the Tampa Bay Lightning are doing in the first round this year. 62 win regular season, most wins all-time and down 3-0 in first round. Not over yet, but not looking good. If they don't win at least a few games that is epic choke.
 
Travelman32 said:
To be fair gmason beat some very good teams to get to the final four. If I recall MSU, UNC and, I don't remember the third but I think it was another good team. It was a devasting loss but gmason deserves tons of respect, that was a very good team, under rated. They were 27-8 and the few P5 teams they played in the regular season were all close games.
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Denham Brown
 
FartMan69 said:
The game was already tied when that ball went through. The Yankees had a 3-0 lead buddy. Coming off an 11 run stomping. UNHEARD of to blow that series because guess what? It had never happened before. The 86 Sox blew an inning. The 04 Yankees not only blew 4 whole games they blew 86 years of domination. Boston has changed NYs diaper ever since. Cry more.
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You can be such a you must be so much fun for both of your friends. What a joke your answers always are. I am sure we would've never even heard from a loser like you until 2004, head buried in the sand like most now wearing his pink arm band from 2004.

By the way no crying hear dude I've seen a ton of winning in my lfe so get over your dipshot self just a bit.;):rolleyes:
 
I think we can soon add either the 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning or 2019 Blue Jackets. Tampa Bay was the most dominant team in the league by a wide margin and is down 3-0, playing in Columbus tomorrow. So either they are going to choke away a great regular season, or Columbus is going to blow a 3-0 series lead.
 
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As a Yankee fan, if I could choose between changing the result in 2001 or 2004, I would change 2001.
After 9/11 baseball stopped. It resumed in New York with President Bush throwing out the first pitch. New York was hurting but baseball took on a new meaning, offering hope to a grieving town. The Yanks seemed like a team of destiny. It was just wrong that the D'backs won.
 
David 76 said:
As a Yankee fan, if I could choose between changing the result in 2001 or 2004, I would change 2001.
After 9/11 baseball stopped. It resumed in New York with President Bush throwing out the first pitch. New York was hurting but baseball took on a new meaning, offering hope to a grieving town. The Yanks seemed like a team of destiny. It was just wrong that the D'backs won.
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You could also say that it was fitting, given the Diamondbacks' nicknames are "D-bags" and "Snakes". Imo, their winning the 2001 season officially ushered in the past 18 years of US d-baggery and snake-iness. Going from balanced budgets and relatively decent wealth distribution to the Patriot Act, record deficits and concentration of wealth among a precious few.

Yes, the Yankees lost in 2001. And so did 99% of the rest of us.
 
storrsroars said:
You could also say that it was fitting, given the Diamondbacks' nicknames are "D-bags" and "Snakes". Imo, their winning the 2001 season officially ushered in the past 18 years of US d-baggery and snake-iness. Going from balanced budgets and relatively decent wealth distribution to the Patriot Act, record deficits and concentration of wealth among a precious few.

Yes, the Yankees lost in 2001. And so did 99% of the rest of us.
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Think you can call that the worst day in our history. As if the tragedy wasn't enough, it completely changed America and the world and all the change was horrible. It reshaped everything in a bad way.
 
David 76 said:
As a Yankee fan, if I could choose between changing the result in 2001 or 2004, I would change 2001.
After 9/11 baseball stopped. It resumed in New York with President Bush throwing out the first pitch. New York was hurting but baseball took on a new meaning, offering hope to a grieving town. The Yanks seemed like a team of destiny. It was just wrong that the D'backs won.
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I agree and its not even close 2004 was more embarrassing, 2001 way more heart breaking. The 2004 team was an unlikeable Yankee team with guys in the clubhouse like Sheffield(even though he was putting up MVP numbers), Lofton, Arod, Kevin Brown. The 2004 team was playing with fire all year the pen was shot by October Mariano blew a save against the Twins in game 3 of the ALDS too, of course who knows if they beat the Cardinals in the World Series that year.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Gstate warriors. Last night they blew a 31 point lead in the second half....five minutes into the third quarter in fact, at home.

Let's see if they recover for the series, but still an epic collapse.
 
Travelman32 said:
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Gstate warriors. Last night they blew a 31 point lead in the second half....five minutes into the third quarter in fact, at home.

Let's see if they recover for the series, but still an epic collapse.
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Even if they do win this series, if they fall short of the Finals, it won't be difficult to point to that moment as the beginning of the end of their dynasty.
 
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Well the Tampa Bay Lightning just got swept 4-0.
 
Waquoit said:
The 1978 Sox won 12 out of their last 14 to tie for the division lead. What choke?
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They blew a 12 game lead in late August! If that’s not choking, I don’t know what is? My Sox friends were so upset they celebrated when Munson died in plane crash in 79, real classy...
 
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JeepCSC said:
I’m still not following. Is this during the regular season or a tournament? If a regular-season, to what purpose? If a tournament, have they never heard of a neutral site? Adding up game scores seems silly. If you can’t play a best-of series then do a knockout and be done.
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It is a tournament during the regular season. Each country has their own league, but there is also the Europa league and Champions league. The top teams from the top leagues qualify for the Champions league. The next tier of teams qualify for the Europa league. All of the rounds are home and home legs until the championship game which is held at a neutral venue with the date and location already set.

In addition to the CL and EL, countries have their own tournaments. The English Premier League has the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup, then the top teams are also playing in the CL and EL, while the EPL regular season is going on. Playing at a nuetral venue is logistically a nightmare, and giving each team a home game is 1) more fair, and 2) better for the fans. As an example, Manchester City has a chance to win the 4 championships this year. The Carabao Cup, the FA Cup, the Champions League, and the EPL regular season. They play 38 regular season games. If they make the Champions League Final it will be their 63rd game of the season.

The top leagues in soccer don't have playoffs at the end of the season. Every team plays every other team home and away, and the team with the most points at the end of the season is the champion. The EL and CL have group play in the first round, 4 teams in a group (each team 6 total games, 3 home, 3 away), and the top 2 teams advance to the knockout stages, where they play home and away until the championship game.
 
I think the Sox were up 13 1/2 games in Augu
Waquoit said:
The 1978 Sox won 12 out of their last 14 to tie for the division lead. What choke?
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I think the Sox were up 13 1/2 games in August....running away with the division.
UConnLen said:
They blew a 12 game lead in late August! If that’s not choking, I don’t know what is? My Sox friends were so upset they celebrated when Munson died in plane crash in 79, real classy...
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Yup...remember it well. Bucky Dent.
 
Happened last night hands down. Most wins ever in a regular season. Swept in first round to a team that never won a playoff series and to lose would have been one thing, but to get swept is all time choke. 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning take this prize.
 
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The Red Sox 2011 collapse was something else.

The Yankees blowing it in 2004 was something else. The Cubs blowing it in 2003 was something else.
 
ATLDYKA said:
Happened last night hands down. Most wins ever in a regular season. Swept in first round to a team that never won a playoff series and to lose would have been one thing, but to get swept is all time choke. 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning take this prize.
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Similar to the 1971 Bruins vs Ken Dryden.
 
OK here's my for sure choke list:

Jean Van De Velde at the British Open in 1999 is probably the king for me. That was absolutely the most indescribable, how does this happen, insane, heart breaking, maddening total and complete collapse right at the end of a tournament i've ever seen by any athlete, ever.

Greg Norman blowing a 7 stroke lead at the Masters was crazy.

Dan O'Brien in the 92 Olympics - Dan and Dave were the absolute poster boys for those Olympics and Dan totally flopped

John McEnroe in the French Open in 84 was wild. He got mad at some camera guy or somethng and the whole thing just went right off the rails.

Give me anyone of three Phil Mickelson (particularly in 2006) or Dan Jansen (old school speed skater) chokes. They did it multiple times.

The Houston Oilers blowing a 35-3 halftime lead against the Bills is something i'll never forget either.

Honorable metion to Jana Novatna's Wimbledon choke in 94 to Steffi Graf. She lost the first set then won the next set 6-1 and was cruising 4-1 in the third set and then literally hit something like 20 shots in a row into the net and lost. It was awesome.
 
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Has someone mentioned the 2011 Texas Rangers? Game 6 of the World Series, they had the Cardinals down to their last strike not once, but twice.

It's really hard to choke on defense, but Nelson Cruz managed it. Up by 2 runs, with 2 outs in the 9th, runners on 1st and 2nd, including the lead-footed Lance Berkman at 1st. David Freese hits a line drive towards the right field wall.
- If Cruz catches the ball, the game is over and they win the World Series
- If Cruz turns around to play it off the wall, he keeps the tying run at 3rd, still with 2 outs and a ~70% chance to win

Instead, he manages to do the one thing that would give up the lead: flails embarrassingly at the ball, lets it bounce off the wall and roll 20 feet past him, allowing Berkman to score from 1st and tie the game.
 
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