Embarrassing Losses

[Mitch Henessey]

Every sports team always has that one loss that will make their fans temporarily hang their heads in shame. I'm talking about losses that make you want to pull your hair out. They can be close losses or they can be massacre style beat downs.

Since I'm a Miami Dolphins fan, I'll have to pick "The Monday Night Miracle" as my most embarrassing loss as fan. For those of you not familiar with this choke job by the Dolphins, it was a Monday Night Football game back on October 23, 2000. After the 3rd Quarter, the Dolphins were leading the Jets 30-7. The Jets started a strong comeback in the 4th quarter, and managed to tie the game. The Jets won the game with a field goal in OT. This was truly an embarrassing loss of epic proportions for any Dolphin fan, and I still remember that game 'till this very day.

Embarrassing losses can come from any sport, and they can happen to any team. Your pick for most embarrassing loss doesn't have to come from your favorite team, they can be chosen from any team, and it can be any sport.

Which team's loss do you think is most embarrassing?

Thoughts?

 

[Stormtrooper]

I can't believe I am gonna admit this happened, yet alone write about it. But in the 2004 ALCS against the hated Boston Red Sox, My beloved New York Yankees had a 3-0 series lead (after scoring 19 runs in game 3 alone), and were well on their way to their 7th World Series in 9 years, a run of dominance that would likely never be seen again. In game 4, the Yankees even had a lead in the 9th inning, when stupid David Roberts stole 2nd, and scored to tie the game, which the Red Sox ultimately won in 12 innings. Not to be outdone, Game 5 went 14 innings (after the Red Sox tied the game in the 8th inning), before David Ortiz deposited the ball in the right field seats, to bring the series to 3-2. The Yankees were coming home, but had lost all the momentum, and after the Sox won game 6, all it took was one swing of the bad by Johnny Damon in the 2nd to seal the Yankees fate, becoming the only MLB team in history to lose a series after having a 3-0 lead. The Red Sox ended up sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, ending an 86 year championship drought.

This collapse/choke job changed the course of baseball history, creating millions of Red Sox band-wagoners (and giving their loyal fans something to celebrate). The Yankees suffered as well. They failed to win a playoff series until 2009 (losing in the first round 3 times and not making the playoffs once), and the biggest loser of all was Alex Rodriguez. Prior to game 4, Alex Rodriguez was (believe it or not) a beast in the postseason. Entering Game 4, A-Rod had a .372 career postseason batting average. From game 5 until the 2009 postseason, A-Rod hit a measly .140, with only 1 homer and 1 RBI. This made A-Rod one of the least-liked players by the fans, since all that matters to Yankee fans is how you perform in the playoffs.

Jesus, I can't believe I actually made it through mentioning that without ripping my eyes out of my sockets with a rusty spoon. Now it's time to mention something pleasant...

Since I'm a Miami Dolphins fan, I'll have to pick "The Monday Night Miracle" as my most embarrassing loss as fan. For those of you not familiar with this choke job by the Dolphins, it was a Monday Night Football game back on October 23, 2000. After the 3rd Quarter, the Dolphins were leading the Jets 30-7. The Jets started a strong comeback in the 4th quarter, and managed to tie the game. The Jets won the game with a field goal in OT.

You forgot the fact that the Jets tied it, then Miami comes right back with a long TD pass, and then the Jets re-tie the game on a last second/4th down TD catch by O-lineman Jumbo Elliot, which sent the game into overtime where the Jets ultimately came back and won. Oh, and the ironic thing is that Jason Taylor (who hated the Jets) was begging the crowd to stay when the score was 30-7 Miami in the 2nd half, and now Jason Taylor is gonna sign with the Jets.

 

[Rhonda Rousey's Sports Bra]

I think the most embarassing loss for my team would be game 7 of the World Series in 1985. I was not born yet but I have heard they story so many times. The embarassing part really starts the game before it, game 6 of the I-70 Series and one name comes to every Saint Louisian's mind, Don Denkinger. I'm not going to get into details about Denkinger and the safe call but that call set up the most embarassing loss in Cardinal history. The loss in game 7 stemmed for the blown call and meltdown afterward, this loss is embarassing on a few different levels. One is losing to your cross state rivals, another is the fact that the Cardinals where going for their 10th World Series title and the Royals where going for the first expansion team to win a World Series title, and the last reason is the 11-0 blow out in game 7. That is my teams most embarassing loss in team history.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

You forgot the fact that the Jets tied it, then Miami comes right back with a long TD pass, and then the Jets re-tie the game on a last second/4th down TD catch by O-lineman Jumbo Elliot, which sent the game into overtime where the Jets ultimately came back and won. Oh, and the ironic thing is that Jason Taylor (who hated the Jets) was begging the crowd to stay when the score was 30-7 Miami in the 2nd half, and now Jason Taylor is gonna sign with the Jets.

Yeah, I did forget that part. It's even more embarrassing when I think about the closing moments of the 4th quarter now. The Dolphins should've never even been in that position to begin with. Seriously, how can you blow a 30-7 lead?

Also, I do remember JT taunting the fans. I just think he never thought the Fins could blow such a huge lead, but they did, and to think he's possibly going to be wearing the white and green this season. The Dolphins also had a similar loss like this to the Saints this past season. The difference is the Saints came back, and were able to score more points(the final score was 34-46). The Dolphins were able to hold the Saints down in the first half, but they crushed us in the second half.

 

[Dan E. Inferno]

The most embarrasing loss I can think of is fairly recent and comes from the world of what I call football, but most on here would call soccer. On 14th March 2009, my english premier league team, Manchester United, were playing their bitter rivals Liverpool. Now these two teams hate each other with a passion, as do the two sets of fans. Even though I don't live in Manchester, I can still get into this personal rivalry as a friend who lives on my estate is a big Liverpool fan.

To set the scene, Man Utd were top of the league with a handful of remaining games left in the season. Liverpool were 2nd and our only realisitic threat to retaining the title. A win for Man Utd would effectively wrap up the title but a Liverpool win would keep them in the race. The game was played at Old Trafford, Man Utd's home ground, and we had won, I think, 4 of the last 5 against Liverpool. Let's just say I was confident of a Man Utd win.

The game started and after 25 minutes, Man Utd took the lead through our best goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo. Textbook so far. But then Liverpool immediately equalised via a mistake by our player of the season so far, Nemanja Vidic. 1-1. Then the textbook was completely thrown out the window. Liverpool scored again. And again. And again. The game finished in a crushing 4-1 defeat at home to our closest rivals.

In the grand scheme of the things, it turned out to be unimportant as Man Utd would go on to win the title. However, I have never been more embarrased as a Man Utd fan in my life, especially when I happened to bump into my Liverpool fan friend a couple of days later.

 

[Mr. TM]

When I first read this thread, I thought of a few losses, but I came up with one that is more remembered for the incident than for the hit.

The date was March 8th, the year, 2004. Vancouver Canucks are playing rival Colorado Avalanche who were the divisions star for years. The Canucks were on pace to take the lead over the Avalanche, and meeting late in the season was going to be intense. To add to the intensity, in the previous game, Steve Moore had injured Canucks captain Marcus Naslund

Well with all the intensity, the game was one sided, despite Brad May getting two goals for the Canucks, the rest of the offense belonged to the Avalanche. Colorado would go on to win 8-2 in a horrible blow out.

The incident after would be the worse loss for the team. Todd Bertuzzi would strike Steve Moore in the head, and drive his head into the ice, ending his career, and causing Bertuzzi to be suspended for the season.

After that loss, despite winning the division, Canucks were not the same, and went out in the first round, a painful sting that would last into the next locked out season.

 

[Dave]

As a Celtic Football Club fan, I have been at the highest of the high and the lowest of the low. Some of the worst nights of my life have been attributed to Celtic losing to some team that they probably should have obliterated, in reality. Their are two matches that really stand out to me and I still quiver when I think of them.

The results to Inverness Caledonian Thistle who, at the time, were in a lower division than us, is still a sore point for every Celtic fan. We still get massive amounts of ridicule for losing a match that we should have won at a canter. The fact of the matter is that Celtic are one of the best teams in Scotland and one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Yet, here we are losing to a team that is two divisions below us in a match that everyone expects us to win without having to play our best players. The manager at the time was fired soon after and for good reason. There is no way that we should have lost and to do so, just showed he wasn't cut out for the job.

The other result that always gets me going is our loss to Artmedia Bratislava. Again, there was no reason for us to lose the match and it was Gordon Strachan's first match in charge. A team from Slovakia beat us and put us out of the Champion's League after a 5-0 trouncing. We did restore some pride with a 4-0 win at Parkhead but it was too little, too late and has been idolised as a glory moment for our rivals since.

 

[LUFC HBK]

The most embarrasing loss I can think of is fairly recent and comes from the world of what I call football, but most on here would call soccer. On 14th March 2009, my english premier league team, Manchester United, were playing their bitter rivals Liverpool. Now these two teams hate each other with a passion, as do the two sets of fans. Even though I don't live in Manchester, I can still get into this personal rivalry as a friend who lives on my estate is a big Liverpool fan.

To set the scene, Man Utd were top of the league with a handful of remaining games left in the season. Liverpool were 2nd and our only realisitic threat to retaining the title. A win for Man Utd would effectively wrap up the title but a Liverpool win would keep them in the race. The game was played at Old Trafford, Man Utd's home ground, and we had won, I think, 4 of the last 5 against Liverpool. Let's just say I was confident of a Man Utd win.

The game started and after 25 minutes, Man Utd took the lead through our best goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo. Textbook so far. But then Liverpool immediately equalised via a mistake by our player of the season so far, Nemanja Vidic. 1-1. Then the textbook was completely thrown out the window. Liverpool scored again. And again. And again. The game finished in a crushing 4-1 defeat at home to our closest rivals.

In the grand scheme of the things, it turned out to be unimportant as Man Utd would go on to win the title. However, I have never been more embarrased as a Man Utd fan in my life, especially when I happened to bump into my Liverpool fan friend a couple of days later.

How does this compare to losing to Leeds 1-0 That was probably the only highlight of 2010 for Leeds though to be honest. Since the beginning of 2010 Leeds United has given me quite a few embarrasing losses. The main one I can think of though happened just the other week. After Leeds had fallen from top spot they needed to win their last 4 games to guarantee promotion. They come up against the not so mighty Gillingham. Who are 20th on the league table. We (Leeds United) were 18 places ahead of them in the league. An easy win one would assume. No. By the 30 minute mark we were down 3-0 due to some terrible defending and an own goal . Sure by the end of the game we only lost 3-2 but this really was truly attrocious for a passionate football team fighting to be promoted. Ahh well you can't win 'em all aye. MOT

 

[ShredddMetal]

the most embarassing loss for me came in 1991.
my buffalo bills were in the super bowl against the giants.
it all came down.... to scott norwood.
norwood had been having a good season and all the bills fans were thinking holy crap this could be it, we might win a super bowl.
Wide... Right.
Wide right.
Wide freakin right!!!
worst moment in bills history, and there were a lot of bad moments in our history. god that sucked....

 

[Baller]

As a Redsox and a Dolphins fan, I remember both those moments quite well, once being on the positive and one for the negative. However, I am a Marlins fan which brings me one of the most embarassing losses for the Chicago Cubs.

It was the 2003 NLCS, and the Cubs had a 3-1 series lead. They were winning game five until the Steve Bartman incident, it was a foul ball, that was at the edge of the stands, and Moises Alou could've got it, but the fan caught the ball instead of letting Alou make the grab. After that the wheels fell of the horse, as an Alex Gonzalez error a batter later, led to a huge inning by the Fish giving them game 5, then coming back and winning game 6 and game 7, which once again cost the Cubs the chance to break the streak.

 

[Big Sexy]

Easily the 1993 AFC wild card game between the Houston Oilers and Buffalo Bills. The two teams had played the week prior in week 17 with Houston winning 27-3 and Jim Kelly suffered an injury that kept him out of the wild card game.

The Oilers dominated the first half taking a 28-3 lead into halftime. Houston also scored early on in the 3rd quarter to take a 35-3 lead. Then the Bills, led by back up Frank Reich, scored 28 points to finish out the quarter and ended up taking a 38-35 lead in the 4th before the Oliers got a filed goal to send it into OT. The Bills finished off the comeback by intercepting a Warren Moon pass and kicking the game winning field goal in overtime.

Once down by 32 points in the 3rd quarter, the Bills won 41-38 led by their backup quarterback.