Your worst days of your life as a sports fan

[GO2HELL]

June 15th 2011. Everything was set up to become a perfect day, the day I had been dreaming about since I began following the Canucks. Beautiful sunny day, last day of school, my 17th birthday, Game 7, of the Stanley Cup Finals, at home against a team whose number we had at the Rog, it seemed like nothing could go wrong. But no, my team loses the biggest game in their history on home ice, by a landslide, and over 100,000 people annihilate the city overnight. "A storybook season, but just not quite the storybook ending." -Craig Simpson

Those words are branded in my memory forever. When the Canucks got bounced by the Kings in 2012, that hurt, hell, getting swept by San Jose licked balls, but nothing compares to that loss. That god damn loss drained all the serotonin in my soul, I can barely find enjoyment watching the Canucks now because every home game reminds me of that horrible day.

[dbadefense1990]

8. 1993 Stanley Cup Final, Game 2

1. NFL leaves Los Angeles, 1995

Man, I bet three and five year old you were really sad those days

Based on the way I was raised by my elders, these events do indeed sting me. Even though I can't really remember what I did prior to the age of five, thanks to my uncles and cousins saving memorabilia from the past and saving copies of games via VHS tapes, I can look around my family's archive and still sense the pain of events I might have been too young to remember on my own.

And yes, 24-year-old me would hug 5-year-old me and buy him an ice cream cone if I told my little self how long the NFL would actually take to return to this city (if there ever is an intent by the league).

[dbadefense1990]

8. 1993 Stanley Cup Final, Game 2

1. NFL leaves Los Angeles, 1995

Man, I bet three and five year old you were really sad those days

I was 16 months old when the Bengals lost Super Bowl XXIII. I remember nothing else about that day, but I'm sure I cried. DBA, should I put this on my list of worst days of my life?

*I think he is secretly hoping the Kings lose the finals so he can put that event on lists like this.

1. It's your own pain list. If you want to list Montana-to-Taylor as one of the worst days of your sports life, then go for it. I'm willing to bet you've been told stories by your elders about that game and about how much pain they felt, and about that moment being prerequisite knowledge of you being a Bengals fan.

2. /startsarcasm

Yes. Deep down inside, I'm an emo person who loves pain and torture, and wants to slit my wrist with a rusty blade while in a bathtub full of water. I enjoy when my teams lose because I love the sight of thousands of fellow fans crying in despair as another unfulfilled season goes by. I hate myself for loving sports.

/endsarcasm

[AHcreative]

1. NFL leaves Los Angeles, 1995

Until the National Football League does return to LA, this will be the most painful moment of my sports life. Al Davis and Georgia Frontierre (especially Frontierre) desert this city within months of each other, and from that year-on, Angelenos had to endure being the butt-of jokes for football fans everywhere. And the many chronicled stories of other cities using Los Angeles as leverage to have its residents approve publicly-funded stadiums is the icing on the NFL-in-LA abyss we all have to endure right now. Who knows when professional football will return to this city, but I've heard this proclamation so many times before, that SoCal residents like myself will be the last to believe it. Until this ultimate sports dream does come true, what happened in 1995 will be forever the most painful moment of my sports life. Point-blank.

Does it pain you knowing that our (Re: the Rams' [for those of you who have a cow when I refer to my favorite teams as we/us/our]) fan base sucks, the team isn't successful, and we can barely fill the dome 50% full of our own fans, yet L.A. still doesn't have a team?

[Still MIGHTY]

Dba, that's not how it works.

It's the worst days of YOUR life as a sports fans. Not the worst days of your PARENTS' lives as sports fans.

[Armadillo]

#1, and it's not even close: March 24, 2006. The Minnesota Gophers hockey team loses in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament to Holy Cross in OT, in Grand Forks, in front of a building full of Sioux fans. I don't think I've ever heard an arena that loud, and it's made all the worse by the fact that my wife and I were in attendance, and had to listen to Sioux fans jawjacking us everywhere we went that night. For those who are unfamiliar with college hockey, Minnesota and North Dakota are blood rivals, even though we're not in the same conference anymore. North Dakota fans *to this day* will show up at games wearing Holy Cross jerseys and t-shirts. Bad night. REALLY bad night.

#2 1998 NFC Championship

#3 2009 NFC Championship

#4 2001 NFC Championship: Giants 41, Vikings 0.

[TrueYankee26]

2 losses away until adding the 2014 Stanley Cup Final in general. Those 2 OT losses after leading 2-0 are added on the list now.

[Cosmic]

Red Sox winning the 2004 WS.

Pats not closing the deal in 2008.

Was pretty pissed about the Bruins against the Habs last month and Game 6 of last years' Stanley Cup, but nothing really tops those two.

You cheer for the Pats and the Bruins, but against the Red Sox?

[Cosmic]

Red Sox winning the 2004 WS.

Pats not closing the deal in 2008.

Was pretty pissed about the Bruins against the Habs last month and Game 6 of last years' Stanley Cup, but nothing really tops those two.

You cheer for the Pats and the Bruins, but against the Red Sox?

Yeah...it's complicated. I've had an irrational hatred of the Red Sox since I was about 5, but I like the Pats, Bruins, and Celtics

No worries... nothing about sports fandom is rational.

[Sport]

8. 1993 Stanley Cup Final, Game 2

1. NFL leaves Los Angeles, 1995

Man, I bet three and five year old you were really sad those days

I was 16 months old when the Bengals lost Super Bowl XXIII. I remember nothing else about that day, but I'm sure I cried. DBA, should I put this on my list of worst days of my life?

*I think he is secretly hoping the Kings lose the finals so he can put that event on lists like this.

1. It's your own pain list. If you want to list Montana-to-Taylor as one of the worst days of your sports life, then go for it. I'm willing to bet you've been told stories by your elders about that game and about how much pain they felt, and about that moment being prerequisite knowledge of you being a Bengals fan.

2. /startsarcasm

Yes. Deep down inside, I'm an emo person who loves pain and torture, and wants to slit my wrist with a rusty blade while in a bathtub full of water. I enjoy when my teams lose because I love the sight of thousands of fellow fans crying in despair as another unfulfilled season goes by. I hate myself for loving sports.

/endsarcasm

1. By your logic I could include events that happened before I was born because I've "been told stories by your elders about that game and about how much pain they felt, and about that moment being prerequisite knowledge of you being a fan."

Of course I've heard stories about it. My dad was in Joe Robbie Stadium that night, but I didn't go through the emotions on the exact day and so it wasn't one of the worst days of my life as a sports fan. And being that I've never seen the Bengals lose a Super Bowl I have no idea exactly how they felt. I can't put an event I didn't personally experience and appropriately didn't understand the magnitude of on a list of worst days of my life because it wasn't. I was 1. It would be dumb to include that.

On the flipside of that I can't include the Reds winning the world series in 1990 as one of the best days of my sports life because I don't remember that either.

2. You're being sarcastic, but your posting history has more than enough evidence to support what I said. You're obsessed with losing and losing sports cities. Stop it with this overdramatic nonsense. Maybe find a new hobby if this is how you view sports. Your hockey team has five games to win two games to get their second championship in 3 years. You're one of the gifted sports fans. Why you long to have moments to put on a list like this makes no sense.

[IceCap]

Dba, that's not how it works.

It's the worst days of YOUR life as a sports fans. Not the worst days of your PARENTS' lives as sports fans.

Yeah, I could mention May 29th, 1993 on my list, but I don't. I know family members who were heartbroken that the Leafs were eliminated when they were one game away from the Finals, but I honestly cannot remember actually watching. I was six. The most I remember about that post-season was that my dad, a life long Habs fan, was happy. Even that's kind of hazy. I could also say January 29th, 1995 was one of my worst days as a fan, but it isn't. I wasn't old enough to really care about the Chargers getting blown out in Super Bowl XXIX. I didn't really start paying attention to the NFL until a few years later.

So with that said, my list...

May 31, 1999

The Toronto Maple Leafs are eliminated by the Sabres in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals. Eleven year old me was devastated.

May 28, 2002

The Toronto Maple Leafs are eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in OT of game six of the Eastern Conference Finals.

January 14, 2006

The San Diego Chargers go 14-2 and look like they're ready to cruise to the Super Bowl. The Pats beat them by three.

May 13, 2013

The Toronto Maple Leafs lose game seven to the Boston Bruins 5-4 in OT. If I had been told before the series that the Leafs would take Boston to seven games I'd have been ecstatic. Losing like they did though? It still kind of stings.

November 24, 2013

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are slaughtered by the Roughriders in the 101st Grey Cup. I've never been so frustrated watching a football game before.

[Soarindude]

Dba, that's not how it works.

It's the worst days of YOUR life as a sports fans. Not the worst days of your PARENTS' lives as sports fans.

With that comparison, a child born into a single household they shouldn't be upset at the fact they only have one parent because it didn't directly hit themselves emotionally.

If it affects you in a negative way, it counts. He was affected negatively by this sporting event and he was alive at the age of 5. That defenitely should count.

[DnBronc]

1992 AFC Championship Game

Good point, Tank. I am not a Dolphin fan, but I pulled for them because I was getting sick of Buffalo. I watched that game again a year ago on You Tube, and it was galling to see the Fins play right into their hands.

The 92 and 93 Bill teams were some of the least deserving Finals representatives in sports history. The AFC handed them those championships.

If I had to pick the 2nd worst day of my life in sports, I would have to go with the Kentucky loss to Duke in 1992 as that was by far the worst day ever being a Kentucky fan, but I am glad the Wildcats were apart of this game as most (analysts) declare it as the greatest NCAA basketball game ever.

I am not a UK fan, but I was rooting for them that night. I hated Puke Duke with a passion. I remember having to go to our hockey league's season ending banquet that night, so I couldn't watch that game. I hoped the Cats would win, but I didn't think they would.

Then, after I got home, and found out what happened, I couldn't believe it. I was like "That's how they lost?". If only Sean Woods waits one more second to shoot, or if Pitino puts someone on Grant Hill. Unbelievable.

3. NBA terminates the Chris Paul trade to the Lakers because of "basketball reasons"

While I could have put up the 2011 sweep-out at the hands of Dallas, all was relatively calm at the time. The Lakers appeared to be gassed from their recent title runs and just needed some new parts. Then the NBA lockout happens, which gives an extended offseason for free agents. In that December night in 2011, the Lakers, Hornets and Rockets got a done-deal in which Paul goes to LA while Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom would be baited to Houston. But alas, David Stern, under the ploy of several owners and most notably Dan Gilbert, nix the deal, stating that this deal would kill competitiveness in the NBA. Instead of a continuation of Lakers glory to today, LA is mired in basketball ruin. Dwight Howard arrives a year later but becomes discontent with everything Lakers, Mike Brown and D'Antoni are hired over Brian Shaw, Nash becomes rusted before our eyes, Kobe tears his Achilles, and the ownership is left in shambles with an inner war between the Buss children. All of this is culminated with the worst Los Angeles Lakers season of all time in 2014, only winning 27 games. Meanwhile, Paul becomes a Clipper and transforms that team into a power contender for years to come. Sadly, there won't be any light at the end of this tunnel for the better part of the remainder of this decade for LA. The Lakers have fallen apart to become a team of forgotten chance in the NBA, and the killing of the Chris Paul deal set those wheels in motion.

Turnabout is fair play. With all the players that the Lakers have gotten over the years that they shouldn't have had (like Worthy, Kareem, and Magic), you can't win them all.

[Cosmic]

Dba, that's not how it works.

It's the worst days of YOUR life as a sports fans. Not the worst days of your PARENTS' lives as sports fans.

With that comparison, a child born into a single household they shouldn't be upset at the fact they only have one parent because it didn't directly hit themselves emotionally.

If it affects you in a negative way, it counts. He was affected negatively by this sporting event and he was alive at the age of 5. That defenitely should count.

Having two parents is a quasi-necessity that does constantly affect you in ways that lacking a professional football team near you does not. Or a hockey team losing a game during a time in your life when you thought Big Bird was actually just chilling out in a giant nest somewhere in New York City.

I'm the perfect person to make the comparison because I was raised in a single parent household for as long as I can remember. I had a deadbeat dad, and I saw him in person exactly once that I can remember (he's dead now... yay good genes!). He left before I turned two, and it (obviously) has been one of the most influential moments that shaped my entire life... but is it a "worst day of my life"? NO! I was more concerned with the poopies in my dipey when it actually happened! I might as well say that one of the worst days in my life was when the British burned down Buffalo in 1813, because I've heard stories about how terrible it was. If you don't remember experiencing the pain "live" when the event actually happened, it's not part of your "life as a sports fan".

[TrueYankee26]

Make that 1 more day added - June 9, 2014. Clown performance by the New York Rangers.

[The_Admiral]

Yeah, Kings-Hawks Game 7 is really inching up the list now that I see what a burbling stream of wet crap the Rangers have been in this Final. Take away that funny bounce and we win three Cups in five years.

[TrueYankee26]

Glad I didn't attend game 3, I'd probably have to sell my arm and leg. I felt sorry for the people who paid thousands of bucks to watch that sorry performance. They gave up.

Edit: They game it their best in game 5, couldn't pull through. Since game ended after 12, June 14, 2014 is added now..

[pluggerplugger1]

I'm only 19, so my list doesn't include the North Stars' move to Dallas or the '98 NFC title game because I wasn't alive/able to comprehend sports at that point in life.

1) 12-28-2003: The last game of the Vikings' season, they just needed to prevent a hail mary touchdown pass from the hapless Cardinals to win the NFC North. They didn't. Damn you, Nate Poole! This was the first season of any team that I followed intently, so this season was also my first experience with real heartbreak. Beginning a season 6-0 and ending 8-8 with no playoffs....

2) 5-31-2004: Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals. I had been playing basketball most of my childhood and the fact that the Timberwolves had made it this far made my 9-year old brain think we could beat the Lakers. Watching highlights from that era reminds me of the KG/Cassell/Spreewell team that killed it that year.

3) 1-24-2010: NFC Championship Game. Easily the worst day of my life as a sports fan and it's up there for worst day of my life period. An absolute gut punch. Don't wanna talk about it.

4) Every time the Twins won a division and got swept.

[ScoffingYayap]

As a A's-Phillies fan (Grandfather grew up rooting for the A's when they were in Philly, I just sort of took that mindset too), I've had my fair share of heartache.

Justin Verlander shutting out Oakland twice in Game 5 was a little rough, moreso in 2013 than in 2012, I have a bad feeling those two will meet up again this postseason...

Magglio Ordonez in 2006 was a little rough.

As for the Phils...

I thought the 2010 NLCS against the Giants was a well fought series, and while it was tough to see one of my former favorites, Pat Burrell, light it up against Roy Halladay, watching Ryan Howard take a strike 3 to end the series with the winning runs on base was heartbreaking. Though as the next few years passed my liking for the Giants has gone back up a little - I have a thing for the Bay Area I guess.

The 2011 NLDS was probably the worst, though. After such a dream season with 102 wins, the Phillies got rocked in 5 games by the Cardinals. Game 2, losing a 4-0 with Cliff Lee on the mound, gave me that gut-wrenching feeling that this wasn't going to be our season, and with Chris Carpenter throwing a shutout on Philly soil and Ryan Howard collapsing along the first base line in Game 5, it felt like a picture-perfect season was ripped from our grasp.

Also, Patrick Kane in Game 6. Yikes.

[UnclearInitial]

May 26. 2013- Coppa Italia final. AS Roma vs. Lazio 0-1: For the first time, a Roman Derby would actually award something other than just bragging rights. What had been an awful season could have been salvaged by beating Lazio. To further raise the pressure, Roma released its new logo a few days before the derby. The game is a disaster, Roma loses, the fans revolt, and Roma fans have to endure a lifetime of Lazio fans taking the piss.

2009 Champions league Round of 16- Roma vs Arsenal 1-0 7-7 after penalties. Arsenal advances on aggregate. Rome was hosting the Champions League final that year, but while getting there was a pipe dream, the way they lost was heartbreaking. Roma had won its group, but they got Arsenal in the round of 16. After losing in London, Roma was absolutely wrecked by injuries when the return fixture came. However, they were leading Arsenal and put in a heroic performance. For most of the game, their centerback pairing was Riise-Diamoutene (an adapted right back and a player that had been playing not particularly well on a relegation team 2 moths before). Julio Baptista missed a sitter,and the ref didn't see a penalty for Roma that would have put Roma through. The match went to penalties, and it took 8 rounds until Arsenal won.

2007 Champions League Quarterfinals Manchester Utd-Roma 7-1: Absolutely nothing went right for Roma that night. I hate how everybody only remembers that game and acts like was a terrible team that had no shot against ManUtd, conveniently forgetting that Roma had beaten ManUtd in the first leg. Roma also had a psychological block with ManUtd after that, and they had 1 tie and 3 losses to them the year after that. If Roma would have had to face any other team in the quarterfinals in 2008, I'm fully confident they could have advanced to the semis.

2009-10 Serie A Roma-Sampdoria 1-2: Roma was top of the table and had just come off a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the derby. Everything looked set for Roma to win their first Scudetto in nearly a decade, but after leading in the first half, Pazzini scored twice to destroy any dreams of a scudetto. Then on the last day of the season, two Roma loanees put in heroic performances to try to not make Inter win, but in the end Inter won the game and the Scudetto

2013 Eastern Conference SemiFinals Knicks vs. Pacers: The first good Knicks team of my lifetime, and they forget how to shoot in the playoffs

2008 NY Giants: Plaxico Burress. That is all.