Most Painful Sports Memory

[BlueSky]

(4) The touchdown after Rice's fumble in 1999.

Rice's fumble - or non-fumble per the officials - was one of the worst, most costly calls ever made in the NFL. Inexcusable, and as good an argument for replay as you'll ever see. I'm not a Packer fan, but it's heartbreaking to see any team get jobbed like that.

Speaking of Rice fumbles, once in a Superdome game against the Saints - obviously with much less on the line, but still - Rice caught a short pass and ran for a long TD. He fumbled at about the one-and-a-half yardline and the ball went out of the end zone but the official was far behind the play (Rice being a bit faster...) and couldn't tell when the ball came out. No replay back then, so touchdown 49ers. Just another reason their official name in New Orleans is "the hated 49ers."

[SgtCarp]

I've also got more

1. Chris Burke of the Houston Asstros (the double s was intended) homers to beat the Braves in the 2005 NLDS

2. Sean Singletary of Virginia's 3-point attempt rattles out, giving Tennessee the 77-74 victory in Columbus in the 2nd round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament (i drove 7 hours in a car to go to that game)

3. Arkansas beats Virginia in the 1995 Elite Eight (:censored: the SEC)

[SgtCarp]

double post. my bad

[TFoA]

AH. Forgot about this one:

2004 High School Football: Lithia Springs vs. McIntosh.

To start off, until this year, my alma mater hadn't won a homecoming game since '98. Our coach brought it up in pregame, and we were FIRED UP afterwards. We went out and played probably the best half that school has ever seen, 26-0. Our offense was on fire, while the defense was just shutting everybody down. We were playing out of our minds.

Then the 2nd half hit, and it all went to hell. Our offense died, and we gave up 21 pts in the 3rd Quarter alone. We finally got it together on D in the 4th, but we allowed a TD in the last 30 seconds to lose 28-26. I'm still mad about that loss, and I probably will be 10 years from now if someone brings it up at a reunion or something.

[illwauk]

(4) The touchdown after Rice's fumble in 1999.

Rice's fumble - or non-fumble per the officials - was one of the worst, most costly calls ever made in the NFL. Inexcusable, and as good an argument for replay as you'll ever see. I'm not a Packer fan, but it's heartbreaking to see any team get jobbed like that.

Speaking of Rice fumbles, once in a Superdome game against the Saints - obviously with much less on the line, but still - Rice caught a short pass and ran for a long TD. He fumbled at about the one-and-a-half yardline and the ball went out of the end zone but the official was far behind the play (Rice being a bit faster...) and couldn't tell when the ball came out. No replay back then, so touchdown 49ers. Just another reason their official name in New Orleans is "the hated 49ers."

Rice must have had naked pictures of Tagliabue's wife or something with all the ridiculously favorable calls he got. During the first half of the same game of his non-fumble, he got two LATE pass interference flags simply by throwing tantrums after the play.

I respect the man's talent, but worthy of personal respect he is not.

[Bronxmet]

Here's mine

1. Bret Hart gets screwed in the 1997 Survivor Series

2. The Steve Bartman play

[Billy B]

Here's mine

1. Bret Hart gets screwed in the 1997 Survivor Series

2. The Steve Bartman play

I really don't like when people say this. All Bartman do was touch a ball that was in the stands. He didn't give the Marlins any runs, it's just a foul ball and a strike. It seems most people forget that Alex Gonzalez, who had one of the best fielding percentages in the regular season booted an easy double play. Or the fact that Dusty Baker couldn't manage a team and left Prior in. It's fine if you blame it on them, but Bartman did something any other fan would do.

[Bigredno8]

1.2001 Daytona 500 Death Of Dale Earnhardt

2.Super Bowl XXV Wide Right

3.1981 Louisville Cardinals defending NCAA Basketball Champions,lose in the second round on a half court buzzer beater

4.Super Bowl XXVI

5.Super Bowl XXVII

6.Super Bowl XXVIII

7.1990 Daytona 500 Earnhardt cuts tire in turn 3 of final lap,I was in the infield for that race

8.Music City Miracle

9.Buffalo Sabres lose Stanley Cup on dumb in the crease rule,if its a rule CALL IT

10.Pete Rose Lifetime Ban

[robbman21]

As far as something I actually participated in, that would have to be South Arkansas Hoopfest '94. It was double elimination and we had lost our first game, meaning if we lost once more we were done. In our second game our center hit a turn-around fall away that got into his hands because our 2guard had his 2-point attempt (the game was played by 1's and 2's) blocked that got us into a 2 minute overtime tied at 14 (games were played to 16 or 20 minutes, whichever came first). We scored first in the OT and then played solid defense and keep-away (it was in the 90's outside and played on a concrete parking lot) because we were exhausted, doing all we could to run the clock out. Somehow they had the ball with around 15 seconds to go when our center came up with a combo of a block and then a steal, and passed out to our swingman John Paul K. J.P. was the best basketball played I ever stepped onto the same court with and would go on to play college ball just a few months later. J.P. literally blew right by his guy on the way to the goal from the right baseline for what would be his easiest lay-up of his whole life...except he missed it. The ball rolled off the left side and he was in perfect position to get his own rebound and put it right back up...and he missed that. They grabbed the rebound and immediately called timeout. I was the sub on the sidelines, so during the timeout I went and looked at the scorekeeper's stopwatch, which showed us as having 2.1 seconds left in the game, and I relayed that back to my team. I didn't think there was any way they could do anything in that amount of time, and as it turned out, they didn't. That's because they used about 8 seconds to pass the ball around the perimeter until they got an open shot, and one of their guys drilled a 2-pointer which gave them a 16-15 lead...and despite our best lobbying...the win. I watched the clock expire while looking over the scorekeeper's shoulder at it, and on the game tape you can clearly hear me shout out "GAME!" in joy that we had won and would be back for another day but the referee didn't hear and the scorekeeper( a woman who really didn't know what was going on game-wise and had no business being in such a position) just sat there and did nothing. That's the first time I ever cried over a sporting event, because we did everything we had to do to win the game and it was taken from us. One of the best lines I've ever heard in my life can be heard in the closing seconds of the video of the game. When we're walking off the court, our center Chris B. can be heard saying "did I miss something somewhere...?"

I carried that with me for three years, until we went back in 1997...and won. After that I never played in Hoopfest again, for I had excercised the demons from that day in May 1994.

As far as overall sports, here is my top 3:

3 1995 NCAA Final Four Championship, Arkansas VS UCLA. First-off neither team should have been there as Arkansas barely made it out of the 1st and 2nd Rounds by the skin of their a$$es, and Missouri had UCLA dead-to-rights until Tyus Edney had his say in it. The O'Bannon brothers of UCLA were running wild against the Hogs, and George Zidek was having his way in the post, and I'll never forgive Hogs coach Nolan Richardson for as long as I live for not keeping in big George Wilson to match up on Zidek, who could do nothing when the big Texan was guarding him. Arkansas made their signature run late in the second half and had brought UCLA's lead down to single-digits, when Scotty Thurman and Corliss Williamson just could not for the life of them get that one shot that would have broken the Bruin's back. UCLA was on the ropes and was going down, and Arkansas just could not put the ball in the basketball despite stopping UCLA everytime down court. The Bruin's scored a quick 5 and then the Hogs turned it over, and that was the game. I was devastated. To make it through those squeekers the way we did, and to knock of a UNC team that featured future NBA stars Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace...only to lose that way...it's still heartbreaking and it makes our 19994 Championship over Duke just that much sweeter.

2 Super Bowl XXXIII Atlanta Falcons VS Denver Broncos. Forget the fact that the Falcons really should not have been there, they were, and contrary to the score or most people's beliefs, they had a chance that day. That was until the night before, when Eugene Robinson pulled his stunt. Once I saw the breaking news on SportCenter that night, the wind went right out of my sails...but the game still had to be played. Fast-forward to pre-game, when KISS is performing on the field for the pre-game festivities. "We cant lose now" I thought. My favorite team in sports and my all-time favorite band...this was meant to be. We marched right down field and punched in into the endzone and I thought it was on. That was before we went for it on 4th and 1 and failed, before Morten Andersen missed field goals he should have made in his sleep, and before the aforementioned Robinson gave up the games biggest play, and the play that ultimately killed Atlanta.

1 #8 Arkansas Razorbacks VS #1 Tennessee Volunteers-1998. It was the first-ever year of the BCS, and the Razorbacks were in the top 10 for the first time in YEARS. They had to travel to Knoxville, and it would not be easy. The Razorbacks dominated the whole game. They easily out-classed the Vols on that day, and yet in the 4th quarter the Vols were still hanging around. A high snap on a punt caused the Vols to get the ball with great field position and plenty of time, but a sack and an incomplete pass on 4th down later and the Hogs had the ball right back with a chance to run out the clock. First down went fine, but on 2nd down Arkansas QB Clint Stoerner made his famous "stumble and fumble" play, giving it right back to Tennessee. Then the Hogs helped put a little known Vols back by the name of Travis Henry on the map as he made the plays with time running out and scored the winning touchdown. Arkansas went on the the Capital One Bowl that year and although they were game they lost to a Tom Brady-led Michigan team that was loaded with future NFL stars. Tennessee went on to what has to be without a doubt the luckiest championship of any sport ever.

Honorable mention is Game 6 of the '86 WS, Game 6 of the '03 NLCS, Game 7 of the '03 ALCS, and Game 3 of the '04 ALCS...but that would end nicely.

[TFoA]

Off-Topic

Holy , where've you been?

[VitaminD]

And sorry Mets fans: we are going to gloat about this one. For the first time in recorded history, Philadelphia was not on the business end of a monumental collapse. We actually pulled the rabbit out of the hat this time, we got the girl, we got to ride off into the sunset. Feels good.

If I was you, I'd be afraid of another one of those legendary collapses happening in the playoffs.

Don't get me wrong, I'll be pulling for the Phils this month (especially if the undeserving Cubs make it past the D'Bags). But unfortunately, Phily teams have been letting down their fans for longer than I've been alive.

Maybe the city's downtown building owners should agree not to turn on any lights higher than William Penn at night while the Phillies are still in the playoffs.

Legendary collapse or not - and at this point, it's statistically more likely to be so - the division title's ours for all time. The 2007 flag is already flying (a little bit of hubris BTW... and the Phillies color-code their flags depending on how far the team went that year, so maybe they expected to stop at NL East champs??) and will fly forever. This is a chance to let the young guys who anchor this team get a taste of October baseball, so that when they revamp the pitching staff (starters and bullpen), they'll be ready to take this thing the distance.

[rams80]

I've also got more

1. Chris Burke of the Houston Asstros (the double s was intended) homers to beat the Braves in the 2005 NLDS

2. Sean Singletary of Virginia's 3-point attempt rattles out, giving Tennessee the 77-74 victory in Columbus in the 2nd round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament (i drove 7 hours in a car to go to that game)

3. Arkansas beats Virginia in the 1995 Elite Eight (:censored: the SEC)

I guess you're too young for the Chaminade game....

[winters in buffalo]

It won't make any long-term lists, but tonight's Bills-Cowbots game is going sting at least until Friday.

[KevinMcD]

It won't make any long-term lists, but tonight's Bills-Cowbots game is going sting at least until Friday.

Don't forget the Bye Week, we have an extra week to think about this game.

[winters in buffalo]

It won't make any long-term lists, but tonight's Bills-Cowbots game is going sting at least until Friday.

Don't forget the Bye Week, we have an extra week to think about this game.

Freakin' bye weeks!

[Grish]

I have two that I was in.

Senior in High School, last baseball game of High School, my coach played Juniors and no Senior got an official at bat. Pretty Lame! Considering most of us would not play again.

#2... I coached a men's softball team through the loser's bracket to a semi-final game at our State Tournament. I sat myself and played another player in the field, which then he proceeded to make 4 errors. Only because I had a rule that if you where not hitting you don't play. I played him becuase for the first time at a state tournament I was hitting less then 600. We finished 5th, but I took alot of heat for this move... and it was the last year our team played as a group.

As a fan...

all I need to say is "the Catch"

and

Reggie hits 3 hrs

[oakland ehs]

and 14 days later

[Old School Fool]

raiders losing the super bowl in 2003

[BlueSky]

It won't make any long-term lists, but tonight's Bills-Cowbots game is going sting at least until Friday.

Don't forget the Bye Week, we have an extra week to think about this game.

The Bills are the Saints of the north. I REEEEEALLY wanted them to win last night and it was just like watching the Saints. You know in your heart how it's going to end but you cling to this forlorn thought that finally it will be different and you're teased along with hope but finally your soul is crushed at the absolute last possible second.

And I'm not even a Bills fan...can't imagine how their faithful are feeling.

Cool unis though...

[BlueSky]

AH. Forgot about this one:

2004 High School Football: Lithia Springs vs. McIntosh.

To start off, until this year, my alma mater...

Hey, I missed your bio - which is your alma mater? I'd assume McIntosh since they're listed to the right and that's the usual place for the home team but who knows? I only ask 'cause I lived in Lithia Springs for a while.