The Dagger in the Heart - Worst Sports Moments Ever

[Brutus_the_Red]

Some buddies and I got on the discussion today of our own, personal, deepest and most totally heart-wrenching sports moments in our lives. The moments that hurt the most.

I was interested in what, to everyone was the biggest dagger-in-the-heart sports moments you've ever witnessed, and why they were so.

For me personally, even though the end of the game turned out in my favor, the excrutiating seconds of the 2002 Fiesta Bowl during overtime when I thought Miami had won it all, before the ref finally threw the pass interference flag...

That was my freshman year at Ohio State, and the whole football season had been such a rollercoaster, at that moment, it just felt like all the magic I had felt around campus that entire fall was gone in an instant, never to be relived again. It was honestly the longest 2-5 seconds of my life.

[Hap]

The Reds losing games one and two of the 95 NLCS, both at home and both in extra innings.

[GAC]

Ernest Bynar and "the fumble" in the 1987 AFC Championship game vs the Broncos.

Red Right 88. January 4, 1981, during the American Football Conference playoff game against the Oakland Raiders. Trailing 14-12 with less than a minute remaining in the contest, the Browns had moved into position for a potential game-winning field goal. After Browns quarterback Brian Sipe called a time out, and conferred with head coach Sam Rutigliano, he chose to force a pass to tight end Ozzie Newsome. However, the pass was intercepted in the end zone by Raiders defensive back Mike Davis, putting an end to the Browns season, with Oakland advancing on to eventually win Super Bowl XV.

The 1971 Rose Bowl game. Ohio State garnered the national championship as voted on by the National Football Foundation, yet the Buckeyes lost their perfect season to underdog Stanford and Heisman Trophy winner and game MVP Jim Plunkett 27-17. OSU’s 9-1 record made them No. 2 in the final UPI poll.

Reds losing the NL Pennant to the Mets in 1973. How?

[nate]

I'm wearing my black armband as I type:

Al Leiter.

[camisadelgolf]

Reds' one-game playoff in 1999
the Bearcats being snubbed of the 2005-06 NCAA tournament
Kenyon Martin's broken leg and all the other too-early exits in the tournament by Bearcats basketball
Carson Palmer's knee injury
Bengals' most recent loss to the Steelers
Bengals' Super Bowl losses
hockey leaving the Cincinnati Gardens

[DTCromer]

Some buddies and I got on the discussion today of our own, personal, deepest and most totally heart-wrenching sports moments in our lives. The moments that hurt the most.

I was interested in what, to everyone was the biggest dagger-in-the-heart sports moments you've ever witnessed, and why they were so.

For me personally, even though the end of the game turned out in my favor, the excrutiating seconds of the 2002 Fiesta Bowl during overtime when I thought Miami had won it all, before the ref finally threw the pass interference flag...

That was my freshman year at Ohio State, and the whole football season had been such a rollercoaster, at that moment, it just felt like all the magic I had felt around campus that entire fall was gone in an instant, never to be relived again. It was honestly the longest 2-5 seconds of my life.

Probably when the ref threw the flag. Quite possibly the worst flag ever thrown.

[Redhook]

Carson Palmer's knee injury

That was by far the worst for me. I almost cried.

As a Bengal fan, to wait that long to get into the playoffs and have our hopes dashed after just one offensive play was just miserable. Even though the game was close for awhile, I was still down the entire game because I knew that if the Bengals somehow won, they would get blown out the next game.

And on top of all that, it happened against the Steelers.

[Reds Fanatic]

Carson Palmer's knee injury

This is mine too. I was at the game that day and I have never seen a crowd so knocked out by one event in all my years of going to games. One minute the crowd was up excited making noise and the next moment dead silence. Like Redhook said the Bengals were in a game for a half but I think we all knew the season was over when Carson went down.

[deltachi8]

Keith Smart - 1987. I still wake up calling TIME OUT, CALL TIME OUT DERRICK!

In person: This may, NHL Eastern Conference Finals, game 2. Sabres being dominated by the Sens most of the game score a very late goal to send the game to OT. The arena is nutty. All of the drama and tension of overtime, then a second OT and a fluttering, bouncing knuckle ball beats Ryan Miller for the winner. Never heard 18000+ people be so quiet. It was the realization that a great season was ending very soon....and you are the team getting the play at home board game version for playing.

[westofyou]

1972 - Tigers lose to A's in Al Playoffs
1973 - Big Ten chooses OSU to go to Rose Bowl
1979 - Reds lose in Playoffs - It really is over.
1982 - Bengals lose Super Bowl
1988 - Bengals lose Super Bowl
1993 - Chris Weber calls Time Out
1995 - Red Wings swept in Stanley Cup Finals
1999 - Steve Parris

[Cyclone792]

1) Al Leiter in that freakin' 1999 one game playoff
2) Carson Palmer's knee injury in the 2005 playoffs
3) Kenyon Martin's broken leg in the 2000 Conference USA tournament

[vaticanplum]

The most hearbreaking moment in my life as a sports fan was Roberto Baggio missing the penalty kick in the 1994 World Cup final against Brazil. There was just no possible way the whole shebang could have ended that way...and it did, it did. That messed me up for a long time. I haven't been the same person since, and it's only been since last year -- when I made myself write a piece about it -- that I've been able to even talk about it.

Carson Palmer was pretty bad too. But Roberto Baggio was like Greek tragedy.

[OldRightHander]

The two Bengals Super Bowl losses are pretty high up there. In fact, 1981 was somewhat of a difficult year to deal with because of the screw job the Reds got that year as well. Then to top it off with the Bengals losing the Super Bowl...that was two hard blows for me to take. The other Super Bowl loss was hard too, maybe harder because of how it was lost. "You have to hold onto that ball, Billups!"

I was at the one game playoff in '99 as well. That wasn't easy to take, but beat the Brewers one more time in Milwaukee and we wouldn't be talking about that at all.

One of the biggest though has to be Palmer's injury. That season was like something of an exorcism and most Bengals fans felt like we had driven away the demons of the previous decade, only to have that happen. I just felt right then that the whole thing was over, even if Kitna would have pulled that game out.

[Chi-Town Red]

1970 world series....1972 world series..1973 NL championship playoff loss to the Mets

[15fan]

1995 NCAA Sweet Sixteen - Jason Skaer banks in a 3 of OK State

1996 ACC Tourney Final - Tony Rutland rips his ACL in the win.

1997 NCAA round of 16 - Mike Montgomery & his goons absolutely rape Tim Duncan while the refs swallow their whistles in TD's final game as a collegian.

But if you want to talk about daggers, I got to watch a guy slay more dragons than any other athlete I've ever seen.

Randolph Childress. There was his 6 of 6 from behind the 3 point line in the span of about 3:30 that blew open a game against North Carolina. In back-to-back years, he stuck game winning jumpers at the end of the game in Durham - 94 over Grant Hill, and 95 over Jeff Caple.

And his run in the 1995 ACC tourney was epic.

First Round vs. Duke

2nd Round vs. Virginia

Finals vs. North Carolina

Jeff McInnis is still looking for his jock in the Greensboro Coliseum.

And with this shot, David plants one squarely between Goliath's eyes