Your worst days of your life as a sports fan

[Alex Houston]

- Sharks (2009 to 2011 and 2014, 2010 being the worst)

- 1999 NFC Title Game with Tampa and Bert Emanuel's waved off catch

1. Bartman game
2. Game after the Bartman game
3. White Sox winning the World Series

Anything else I got over at a proper pace. Those stung for a while.

Cubs fans should never be considered "great" after that day. They gave up right there. In the middle of Game 1.

Wrigley was dead from the first pitch that night. Pushing back the start time in Chicago to accommodate the Dodgers' television audience was the first harbinger of dread. Everything felt off. It was a strange time.

I'd rather see a Cubs dynasty then another Cup in Rocky's hands.

[Muggens]

1. 1990 NFC Championship Game: 49ers lose to N.Y. Giants. Craig fumbles. Montana gets hurt. No chance of a 3-peat.

2. 1992 NFC Championship Game: 49ers lose to Cowboys. Damn you Alvin Harper. (I hate the Cowboys)

3. 1993 San Francisco Giants: 103 wins. No playoffs. Thank you Rockies for losing every damn game to the Braves. (I really think they would have won the World Series if they made it in)

4. 2002 World Series: Giants blow it to Angels

5. San Joe Sharks: Every damn season

[gosioux76]

In order:

1. North Stars make official that they'll be moving to Dallas.
2. Kirby Puckett retires
3. Vikings lose 2009 NFC Title Game
4. Vikings lose 1998 NFC Title Game
5. Wisconsin loses 2014 NCAA semifinal on that Harrison shot (may be above the Vikings losses if not for the fun of getting to the Final Four)
6. Wisconsin, #1 in the country, loses in round one of 2000 NCAA hockey tournament

Interesting list.

1. As a fellow Minnesota sports fan, nothing can rank above the Vikings loss in 1998 NFC title game. That was our year. I still don't think my heart beats correctly because of that game.

2. The 2009 NFC title game. I wasn't as confident that that team would take the Super Bowl, but Favre had me a believer.

After that, it's tough to rank. UND's loss to Minnesota in the Frozen Four this year was a huge gut punch, but I can't say it was any worse than one of the years when they lost in the title game.

I mourn the North Stars loss more today than I did when it actually happened. I grew up in central Minnesota and came from a small school district that didn't have its own hockey program. Hockey wasn't as big of a deal in my area, at least when compared with the Twin Cities metro area and the northern reaches of the state. Plus, the North Stars back then were rarely televised, at least on any channels that our rabbit-eared TV received.

[Unocal]

Comparing the Vikes losses of 2009 to 1998- well, depends.

One was on the road, one was at home. Saints team > Falcons team. Each had bad moments of second-guess, but.... even if they won, I don't think they beat the '98 Broncos or the '09 Colts.

[gosioux76]

Comparing the Vikes losses of 2009 to 1998- well, depends.

One was on the road, one was at home. Saints team > Falcons team. Each had bad moments of second-guess, but.... even if they won, I don't think they beat the '98 Broncos or the '09 Colts.

We could debate these points forever, but I don't see any way the Vikings could lose to the Broncos in 1998. They were flawless that year, before the Falcons game. Had they won, I have no doubt they'd have owned that Super Bowl. Then again, I'm a homer.

[Harmening]

The end of Super Bowl XXIII. Still bothers me to this day...

[Shumway]

I was in DisneyWorld when the Bulls beat the Suns in the NBA Finals. I think Jon Paxson owes me a vacation for the one he ruined when I was 7.

Also, I'm a Detroit Lions' fan, so there's that. All of it.

[Beckhamcantbendmiami]

When my favorite team, the hockey team that got me into sports, ceased operations. Attendance wasn't always great so I saw it coming miles away, but it still hurt bad.

When your team loses hard it hurts, but there is always tomorrow. Knowing your team will never play again is just painful.

[pats2000]

1. san jose sharks repeated and i mean repeated playoff disappointments despite having a solid team and a great reg. season record

2. ray allen's shot in the finals last season. im a lifelong spurs fan and honestly it just made me sick to my stomach hearing all the bandwagon fans and espn ride the heat to no end

3. 18-1

4.pujols leaving the cardinals, im not a cards fan (red sox) but pujols is my favorite player, when he left to go to socal i felt a bit disappointed

5. mark mcguires steroid case. another cards 1st baseman i loved, this guy was my hero as a kid back in early elementary school, he was the reason i had played first base during my tee ball days, after the steroid saga unfolded, i lost all my respect for him

6. does the current miami heat era count?

[vicfurth]

NFL:

So many but I think the 1994 NFC Championship where (in hindsight) Dallas had a legitimate shot at the four-peat. Still can't stand the 49ers.

MLB:

Rangers losing Game 6 to David f-ing Freese and the Cardinals

NBA:

Dallas blowing the Finals to Dwyane flopping Wade

NCAA:

In 1998, A&M had come back against Texas and had a shot for a National Championship run until Ricky Williams drove them into field goal range. Ricky f-ing Williams. I cried my 11-year old eyes out.

[Cosmic]

June 20, 1999 - Watching another team win the Stanley Cup in your building in the third OT.

June 1, 2006 - This was the first season after the lockout, and the Sabres were the fast, exciting team that the league wanted. This was when the interference penalties and such were called very tightly. It seemed like the time was right for the Sabres to strike. Unfortunately, we were missing our top four defensemen for game 7 against the frickin' Hurricanes in the conference finals. If Jay McKee didn't get a damned staph infection, that very well could have been our Cup that year.

July 1, 2007 - This is the only one I actually knew the date for off the top of my head. Chris Drury and Daniel Briere leave the Sabres in free agency on the same day. The Sabres went from Presidents Trophy winners to "window closed" in one day. The Sabres have missed the playoffs 5 out of 7 seasons since that day and haven't made it past the first round.

January 8, 2000 - Music City Miracle. This one is really only a "worst day" in retrospect. At the time, it was just a painful playoff loss, made a little worse because the Titans ended up one yard short of a Super Bowl win ("Coulda been us" syndrome). Looking at it now, though, it was the last time that the Bills have been relevant in nearly 15 years, and it was a sucky way to go out.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

The list would be too long to name off the Islanders disappointments. So I'm going to go with the last 20 years of play for the islanders.

as for the cowboys, they have been so mediocre that the only thing that comes close to a bad moment is the season when they went 13-3 and lost to the giants in the playoffs. What made that year so bad was my dad went into full fap mode with the giants. Which I got reminded why I shifted my fandom and life else where.

[OnWis97]

Comparing the Vikes losses of 2009 to 1998- well, depends.

One was on the road, one was at home. Saints team > Falcons team. Each had bad moments of second-guess, but.... even if they won, I don't think they beat the '98 Broncos or the '09 Colts.

We could debate these points forever, but I don't see any way the Vikings could lose to the Broncos in 1998. They were flawless that year, before the Falcons game. Had they won, I have no doubt they'd have owned that Super Bowl. Then again, I'm a homer.

09 was a tougher pill to swallow for me because of how many times they put the ball on the turf...they otherwise outplayed the Saints that day. Also, I feel like the Colts team was more beatable than the Broncos. I think the 1998 team loses to the Broncos. The 98 defense was mediocre at best and that team was waning toward the end of the season. I think if they'd won both those games they'd have beaten the Colts and lost to Denver.

[CubsFanBudMan]

The Chicago Tribune weighed in with theirs after last night's Blackhawks loss was added to the list:

http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-toughest-losses-chicago-sports-20140602/

Made me think of this thread. Two from my list made their top 10, which skews a little recent. A little.

[cappital92]

The night after Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS was pretty jarring. I was up until 2 AM in a state of disbelief. Not really upset or angry, just some sort of empty confusion. I could barely look at my Nats' hats or the pennant in my room for a week.

Another time was the day Gilbert Arenas got traded to the Magic. He was quite tarnished after GunGate (another bad day, although I'd say that plus Abe Pollin's death plus the dismantling of the team would make the 2009-10 season the worst season of my life), but it still was strange in the way that no one would've thought five years before that that was how Gil was going to end his Wiz tenure; an All-Star now a shell of himself, with an albatross contract, being traded for another former All-Star with a large deal in order to try and change the culture around the team.

[dbadefense1990]

I feel as if we've done this list a couple of years ago, so if that's the case, here's a somewhat-update of the darkest sports days of my lifetime:

10. Super Bowl XXXVII

What most people assume is that the "Tuck Rule Game" began the downward spiral of the Raiders. But they responded by putting an AFC championship season in 2002. Led by regular season MVP Rich Gannon, wide receivers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown, and Bill Romanowski and the Woodson brothers in the defensive line, this team was capable of cashing in their Super Bowl crown that day in San Diego. And some people assumed that the Buccaneers were too gassed from their NFC title game upset in Philadelphia to put up a fight in this game. But John Gruden got into Bill Callahan and picked apart his former team, left and right. Bring up Dexter Jackson and I'll give you a blank stare, wanting you to never say that name again.

9. USC handed the most harsh punishment in NCAA history

Prior to this occurring, the USC athletic program was a marvel for other schools to look up to. Kids wanted to see USC and the program gobbled up potential student-athletes with ease. Then in late-2010, on something as simple and common as their players accepting non-cash gifts from agents, the NCAA hands USC the most harsh punishment in the history of collegiate athletics. Every single win from the football program during the Pete Carroll-Matt Leinart-Reggie Bush era was vacated. The 2003 half-national title (from the AP) and the 2004 full-national title (for winning the 2005 Orange Bowl) were both stripped as well. A 2-year bowl ban and a loss of 30 scholarships also were put in place. This wouldn't be too maddening if not for the fact that other programs have done worse and have gotten more lean punishments from the NCAA. Miami players paraded in yachts, cocaine and strippers, and yet nothing to USC's extent was handed from the higher offices. Penn State harbored a pedophile and his bastard of an accomplice (Joe Pa), yet no damage was handed to the extremity of what the Trojans got. And we all know the numerous schools whose administrators engage in classroom frauds for their players (Memphis, any school involving John Calipari, pretty much every SEC school), and yet, USC was unfairly targeted for its illegal engagement. I honesty think that if USC wasn't on the west coast, or at least in the SEC, that the punishment would be less severe than it really is.

8. 1993 Stanley Cup Final, Game 2

This was the postseason which pretty much defined Gretzky's legacy in Los Angeles. After three grueling series against Vancouver, Calgary and the conference finals against Toronto, all that stood between them and a Stanley Cup were the Canadiens. And it began well. Leading 1-0 in the series and 2-1 in the 3rd period of Game 2 with 1:45 left, it appeared that LA would head home up a deuce in the series. Then, Habs coach Jacques Demers gets the officials to check McSorley's stick. It was deemed to be too curved, so he got penalized, Patrick Roy got pulled to make it a 6-on-4 power play and Montreal scored to tie the game. They eventually win Game 2 and the series in five games. That ending damaged the Kings for the next two decades but Habs haven't reached the Cup Final since. LA should have had two cups by now instead of them playing for their 2nd cup in 2014, but given their relative success this decade, I can put this sports pain in the back burner. That and the fact that, looking back, Patrick Roy was going all beast-mode in those playoffs and the Kings were his last victim.

7. 2003 MLS West Semifinals, 2nd Leg

This was the 1st postseason with aggregate goals in Major League Soccer. The Galaxy, having not won a road game all thorough the 2003 regular season, came to San Jose with a 2-0 goals lead from the 1st leg. And they scored two more goals for a 4-0 aggregate lead early in Game 2. Then the roof caved in, with the Galaxy allowing five goals to end the series. I don't know what sucks more, allowing the aggregate-tying goal in stoppage time, or allowing the golden-goal, series-winner to Rodrigo Faria in overtime despite him going offside during the fastbreak. What sucked more was that it would be the last game played by Salvadorian soccer legend Mauricio Cienfuegos. As one of the 1st players I admired in my sports-viewing life, this loss sucked that much more.

6. 2008 NBA Finals, Game 4

As time wore on, this painful moment doesn't sting as much, but in the moment, my God this was so devastating. The Lakers and Celtics meeting in the NBA Finals for the 1st time in 21 years, and the home team winning the 1st three games set up a vital Game 4. After the Lakers lost Game 2, I told myself that they had to win all three games in Los Angeles to have a chance at winning the title, no other way around it. And they even led by as much as 24 and by 20 in the middle of the 3rd quarter. Then Eddie House, James Posey, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce played like superheroes, meat-cleaving the deficit into a cat-and-mouse game for the 4th quarter. That ending (and the whole series) proved how superior that 2008 Celtics team really was in retrospect, but when I saw the whole series of events live, I was utterly devastated. So much that I punched a whole in my bedroom wall after the Allen-layup to finish LA off. Looking back, 2014-me would appreciate the grit and heart of those Celtics, but 2008-me would have said something completely else.

5. 2009 National League Championship Series, Game 4

Comparing the two NLCS losses to the Phillies in the late-2000s was tough. But I truly felt Philadelphia was the stronger team throughout in 2008, and wasn't stung as hard by that series defeat (despite that Game 4 ending in LA). But for me, the 2009 finality was worse, much worse. With home-field advantage and a deeper team. I felt confident in the Dodgers chances in the rematch. Then LA loses home-field advantage in Game 1, setting up a must win situation for the three games in Pennsylvania. They go 0-3 in those games and lose the series. Game 4 was the worst loss of them all. Up in the 9th inning with Jonathan Broxton on the mound, I was comfortable with him regaining the HFA for the Dodgers, but he promptly walks a couple of batters, including Matt "Brox's Boogeyman" Stairs, plunks a batter, and allows Jimmy Rollins to double a dagger to the hearts of fans in Los Angeles, including myself. Worse, they were dead-men walking for the guillotine-inducing Game 5 series-clincher. Even worse, the McCourt disaster was all set to begin in motion. For the next two and a half years, the Dodgers were to be mired in baseball hell, and that night in Philadelphia opened that portal to hell.

4. The entire Frank McCourt ownership saga

As mentioned earlier, the 2009 NLCS Game 4 ending began the most torturous period of Dodger baseball in history. Soon after the series ended, the whole world found out about the McCourt family, siphoning everything branded-Dodgers for their private use. Soon, Frank and Jamie began to split and all of Los Angeles was caught in their destructive rift. Dodger fans knew the management was run by penny-pinchers at the trade deadline, and now we knew why. Dodger Stadium began to crumble, fans were being lost and some associated with the team weren't given back-pay because of this disastrous ownership regime. The low-point of all this was 2011, which included the bankruptcy filing, the Bryan Stow beating and the days of less than 10,000 fans in attendance. Thankfully, the Guggenheims rescued the team from complete abyss in early-2012 and have attempted to restore the team to contention, though Frank McCourt made a financial killing in killing the Dodgers and still kept the stadium parking lots as part of his compensation. The McCourts easily would have been the most hated ownership in this city's sports history had not been for the Sterling fiasco.

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.

2. 2013 National League Championship Series, Game 1

To this day, this NLCS marked the closest the Dodgers have come to reaching the World Series in my lifetime. The Cardinals were the team I feared LA taking on in their world championship journey, and this series showed why. In reality, any of the losses to St. Louis at Busch Stadium in this NLCS could have qualified for this list. But Game 1 contained the most severe loss of them all, and set the precedent for the rest of the series. So many times the Dodgers had at winning Game 1, but virtually all the bounces in this game went the Cardinals favor. Andre Ethier misplaying a Carlos Beltran hit to right which allowed the game to be tied in the 3rd inning, Hanley Ramirez's ribs being punctured to the point of offensive inability towards the rest of the series, the many, many, many men left in scoring position, Don Mattingly gambling in the 7th by taking out Adrian Gonzalez for a hit-and-run but failing, the St. Louis pitchers picking on Gonzalez's batting replacement Michael Young, Beltran throwing out the potential go-ahead LA run in the 10th, and his game-ending RBI hit in the 13th. This whole game was one big gut punch to the abdomen. Despite the painful Dodger losses in the remainder of this series, Game 1 set the precedent of LA's missed chances and the clutch performances of St. Louis throughout the championship series. I'm still sick of how this series went, even to this day.

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.

[cmm]

9. USC handed the most harsh punishment in NCAA history

SMU begs to differ.

[Still MIGHTY]

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

[Cosmic]

8. 1993 Stanley Cup Final, Game 2

This was the postseason which pretty much defined Gretzky's legacy in Los Angeles. After three grueling series against Vancouver, Calgary and the conference finals against Toronto, all that stood between them and a Stanley Cup were the Canadiens. And it began well. Leading 1-0 in the series and 2-1 in the 3rd period of Game 2 with 1:45 left, it appeared that LA would head home up a deuce in the series. Then, Habs coach Jacques Demers gets the officials to check McSorley's stick. It was deemed to be too curved, so he got penalized, Patrick Roy got pulled to make it a 6-on-4 power play and Montreal scored to tie the game. They eventually win Game 2 and the series in five games. That ending damaged the Kings for the next two decades but Habs haven't reached the Cup Final since. LA should have had two cups by now instead of them playing for their 2nd cup in 2014, but given their relative success this decade, I can put this sports pain in the back burner. That and the fact that, looking back, Patrick Roy was going all beast-mode in those playoffs and the Kings were his last victim.

You can't feel pain from a sports moment that happened before you could wipe your own ass.

Not only that, but I didn't know the details of the "McSorley Curse" until just now... it happened in Game freaking 2! And the Habs won in 5 games! And why does McSorley need a curve on his stick at all?! The way you talked about it, I assumed it was in the final minutes of Game 7 and the Habs scored the Cup-winning goal on the ensuing power play. That blade curve had nothing to do with the overall series. If the Kings locker room was so beside themselves because they lost Game 2 3-2 in OT, how the heck were they ever gonna win that series?

[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?

He was an incredibly mature toddler who understood the ramifications and importance of sporting events. Also his inferiority complex and masochistic need to be apart of the tortured sports fans* was already fully developed. He was a child prodigy.

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