Most Painful Sports Loss of your Lifetime

[Homer Bailey]

Originally Posted by WVRed

The Duke game in the final four IMO might have been vindication, in a sick sadistic kind of way.

WVU fans argued once the seeds came out that they should have been a number one seed over Duke. I didn't think so, but I did think they deserved it over Syracuse. The Orange faltered down the stretch and WVU won the Big East tournament. However, nobody wanted to deny two number one seeds to the Big East. It simply made the conference look better.

My argument now is the same as it was when it happened. Of these three teams, Syracuse and WVU had the strongest resumes, and that part isn't even really that debateable. Syracuse finished weakly, but beat WVU in Morgantown, so it wouldn't really make sense for WVU to get a 1 over Syracuse.

The same fans crowed over how they beat pretty much the same Duke team two years ago when they met up with them in the Final Four. Nevermind the fact that this team probably had revenge on its mind and completely dismantled WVU and embarrassed them in the biggest game in program history. And of course, the moment the heart was ripped out of the entire state when DaSean went down.

So to basically claim that you should have gotten a no 1 seed over that team (I agree WVU should have been a no 1 seed, just over Syracuse) and then get throttled by that team was pretty amazing.

The irony here is simply amazing. I've never in my life seen a more obnoxious and egotistical fanbase as the UK fanbase over that 48 hour period between the Elite 8 and the final 4. John Wall this, John Wall that, who's gonna guard Cousins, Patterson's gonna show you what you missed out on, Bledsoe is a first round pick and our 4th best player, WVU doesn't belong on the same floor as you guys, etc. There was a thread on the rivals college board just listing the quotes from the UK fans after the game, and none of them had the spine to show up after the game to back up the beating they had just taken.

You taking the stance you've taken as a UK fan makes no sense to me. Do you not find it all complimentary that WVU fans would have rather played Duke than UK? If I had to do it all over again, who would I rather play? It's still Duke! The odds of Duke shooting whatever the heck they shot from the field against WVU (and Zoubek demolishing any box out, and grabbing every offensive rebound on the few misses that they had) are minimal, just like the odds of UK going 4 for 32 from 3 again are minimal. Glad to hear you took pleasure in Da'Sean blowing out his ACL though.

As I originally said, I was not trying to rub anything in, but it's clear you had no such intentions, so I'll have some fun.

YouTube - WVU Basketball Team doing the John Wall Dance

[texasdave]

Loyola (Chicago) 60 UC Bearcats 58 in overtime way back in 1963.
UH (Phi Slamma Jamma) losing to the Wolfpack of NC State back in the early 1980's.

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by Homer Bailey

My argument now is the same as it was when it happened. Of these three teams, Syracuse and WVU had the strongest resumes, and that part isn't even really that debateable. Syracuse finished weakly, but beat WVU in Morgantown, so it wouldn't really make sense for WVU to get a 1 over Syracuse.



The irony here is simply amazing. I've never in my life seen a more obnoxious and egotistical fanbase as the UK fanbase over that 48 hour period between the Elite 8 and the final 4. John Wall this, John Wall that, who's gonna guard Cousins, Patterson's gonna show you what you missed out on, Bledsoe is a first round pick and our 4th best player, WVU doesn't belong on the same floor as you guys, etc. There was a thread on the rivals college board just listing the quotes from the UK fans after the game, and none of them had the spine to show up after the game to back up the beating they had just taken.

You taking the stance you've taken as a UK fan makes no sense to me. Do you not find it all complimentary that WVU fans would have rather played Duke than UK? If I had to do it all over again, who would I rather play? It's still Duke! The odds of Duke shooting whatever the heck they shot from the field against WVU (and Zoubek demolishing any box out, and grabbing every offensive rebound on the few misses that they had) are minimal, just like the odds of UK going 4 for 32 from 3 again are minimal. Glad to hear you took pleasure in Da'Sean blowing out his ACL though.

As I originally said, I was not trying to rub anything in, but it's clear you had no such intentions, so I'll have some fun.

YouTube - WVU Basketball Team doing the John Wall Dance

Just for clarifications sake, if you are going to the Cats Pause, you're in the wrong place. Anything Rivals or Scout for that matter is a joke. They are called the "Rupp Raftards" for a reason.

I didn't say I took pleasure in watching DaSean Butler blow out his ACL, but mostly commenting on how it ripped the heart out of the state when it happened.

The vindication comment has more to do with attitude than anything. Everything you said about how Kentucky acted leading up to the WVU game is an exact parralel to how WVU responded before they played Duke. Same result happened.

The odds of Duke shooting whatever the heck they shot from the field against WVU (and Zoubek demolishing any box out, and grabbing every offensive rebound on the few misses that they had) are minimal, just like the odds of UK going 4 for 32 from 3 again are minimal.

Kentucky's biggest weakness all season long was shooting the three. Once Kentucky started launching them and getting away from pounding the ball inside, I knew it was going to be a long game. The fact they went 4 of 32 from three didnt surprise me, it was that they abandoned what worked well early in the game in pounding the ball inside to Cousins. Asking Duke to beat you by the three, even at that clip, is asking to get beat.

I said it in the previous threads and I'll say it again, Kentucky got outplayed by WVU and Cal got outcoached by Huggins. I'll also give WVU another advantage that Kentucky didn't have, playing in a dome with a much bigger crowd. The biggest venue outside of Rupp that Kentucky had played in that season was Madison Square Garden, which is small in size to the Carrier Dome. WVU's experience in that environment helped them.

One difference though with next years team, all shooters coming in. Especially Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb, the latter of which was recruited by Huggins for WVU.

What is even scarier is that we beat pretty much the exact same WVU team in the Vegas tournament the year before with a much weaker team (although you have NO idea how much I wish we had Jodie Meeks for the WVU game this year) and a coach who drew up a much better gameplan that time around.

Cal was interviewed last month and alluded to something else. He said the reason Kentucky lost to WVU in the tournament was because they were looking ahead to Duke. I can believe that, given the fanbase and the players (especially Wall), but WVU still won and Huggins has dominated Cal ever since the two have went at it.

[Hoosier Red]

Originally Posted by texasdave

Loyola (Chicago) 60 UC Bearcats 58 in overtime way back in 1963.

If UC wins that game, it's a dynasty before the wizard could bribe players to come to Westwood.
That game, especially the way they lost(blew a 15 point lead because they tried to take the air out of the ball if I remember correctly,) set UC basketball back so far they've never really recovered to that level.

[reds1869]

Originally Posted by RedsBaron

My toughest loss was watching my then junior son Jason's Wayne High School Pioneers lose the WV State Championship AA football game last December in Wheeling to Bluefield. Since Wayne is also my alma mater I would have rooted for them anyway (they did win the state title in 2006 before Jason was in high school), but I really, really wanted my son to get a championship ring.

I understand the Wayne pain completely. My high school alma mater (Williamstown) seems to be one of the favorites to win the Class A WV title each season. And virtually every year they lose to <insert catholic school that falsifies enrollment figures here> in the state title game. That is topped off, of course, by the fact that they usually win more games in one year than they did the entire time I was in high school.

[cumberlandreds]

For me on a collegiate and professional level it was UK's loss to Georgetown in the 1984 Final Four. That was a great UK team that has become nearly forgotten because of the way they lost that game. UK lead GTown by about 5 points at halftime and all seemed OK. But whatever they did at halftime put the fire out of that team. They shot a nightmarish 3 for 33 in the 2nd half and that was that. Last seasons loss to WVU was a walk in the park compared to that one for me. Just a painful loss when you knew it may be a few more seasons before UK could be back to that level. In reality it turned out to be about 12 more years.

On a lower level was when my high school lost in the 13th Regional Finals by one point in 1985. My HS was very small but had a nice 3 or 4 year run in which they had some very good teams. But they couldn't get past Clay County. Those of you from Kentucky may remember they were the kingpins of that region for many years. This one year represented the best chance they had to finally win the region and make the state tournament. They had a senior dominated team and most us knew the school may never have another chance like this. A missed foul shot with one second left ended the season and left a gaping hole in everyone's hearts from my little town. As a footnote one of the players on that Clay County team was a little freshman guard named Richie Farmer.

[Puffy]

January 2003, NY Football Giants and the Niners playoff game. Kerry Collins hits Well Dressed Amani Toomer to put Giants ahead 38-14 in the third Quarter to seal the victory. Only it didn't seal victory. Freakin Jeff Garcia goes unconscious, the Giants go into tank and the Niners take lead 39-38.

But the Giants regain composure and drive down the field and actually set up game winning field goal attempt, then blow the snap. Miraculously, they get off down field pass to open OL/TE (linemen who was eligible) only to have him tackled by a 49er before ball gets there and NO CALL is made by officials because they were clueless.

I have never been so depressed in my life. I didn't talk to anyone for three days after this happened. People just knew to stay away from me. I hate Jeff Garcia. I actually saw him in Vegas the year before this happened and he (and me actually) are lucky it was before this game and not after it cause he woulda gotten his butt whipped and I woulda been in a Vegas jail and the lead story and Sportcenter!!

[Boston Red]

Originally Posted by reds1869

Xavier losing to Ohio State in the 2007 NCAA Tournament is my most painful loss. So many little things had to go wrong in the last few moments of the game--and they all did.

I get disgusted just thinking of that game. I'd like to punch the ref who failed to call the obvious intentional foul on Oden in the face (though of course I wouldn't).

Second is Rutgers 28, Louisville 25. Bobby Petrino got completely and disgustingly outcoached by friggin Greg Schiano. Yech.

[RedsBaron]

Originally Posted by Puffy

January 2003, NY Football Giants and the Niners playoff game. Kerry Collins hits Well Dressed Amani Toomer to put Giants ahead 38-14 in the third Quarter to seal the victory. Only it didn't seal victory. Freakin Jeff Garcia goes unconscious, the Giants go into tank and the Niners take lead 39-38.

But the Giants regain composure and drive down the field and actually set up game winning field goal attempt, then blow the snap. Miraculously, they get off down field pass to open OL/TE (linemen who was eligible) only to have him tackled by a 49er before ball gets there and NO CALL is made by officials because they were clueless.

I have never been so depressed in my life. I didn't talk to anyone for three days after this happened. People just knew to stay away from me. I hate Jeff Garcia. I actually saw him in Vegas the year before this happened and he (and me actually) are lucky it was before this game and not after it cause he woulda gotten his butt whipped and I woulda been in a Vegas jail and the lead story and Sportcenter!!

I remember that game. Yes, the referees totally blew the final play. I have always suspected that those referres are now MLB umpires.

[Boss-Hog]

Can we please keep the WVU/UK arguing in a more appropriate thread and leave this one to discuss its intended purpose?

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by Boss-Hog

Can we please keep the WVU/UK arguing in a more appropriate thread and leave this one to discuss its intended purpose?

My apologies. I was the one who got the thread off topic.

[dabvu2498]

Originally Posted by cumberlandreds

For me on a collegiate and professional level it was UK's loss to Georgetown in the 1984 Final Four. That was a great UK team that has become nearly forgotten because of the way they lost that game. UK lead GTown by about 5 points at halftime and all seemed OK. But whatever they did at halftime put the fire out of that team. They shot a nightmarish 3 for 33 in the 2nd half and that was that. Last seasons loss to WVU was a walk in the park compared to that one for me. Just a painful loss when you knew it may be a few more seasons before UK could be back to that level. In reality it turned out to be about 12 more years.

That's the first athletic contest I can actually remember watching. And the main reason I remember is that it was the first time I'd heard a number of bad words, courtesy of my dad, grandfather and uncle. I think my mom finally did get me out of the room.

Others:
UK-Duke 92, though macro makes a good point. That team may be the greatest "losers" of all time. The fact that it was Cawood's last game adds to the pain, however.

99 Reds-Mets, I too, did not want that season to end.

05 Bengals-Steelers

07 Vandy-Georgetown in the Sweet 16. Dude walked.

My alma mater's girls hoops team losing in the state finals last year. First time a team from our school had ever been to state. They were so good, too. Just not as good as the other girls. Still was hard to watch.

[Boston Red]

Forgot to mention Xavier's women as huge underdogs losing a heartbreaker to Stanford for a trip to the Final Four this past year. I can't claim to be a huge fan of women's basketball (though I did attend the second round game at home against Vandy and ex-Xavier coach Melanie Balcomb), but I felt terrible for the woman who missed the two wide open layups in the final 10 seconds that would have given Xavier a two point lead.

[Todd Gack]

Originally Posted by Homer Bailey

Then this happened. Sickening :

YouTube - Kellen Winslow Jr. 4th Down Catch vs. WVU

Ahhh, another example of Llllarry's teams totally loafing it to inferior teams. At least he was consistent about it.

[WVRed]

Originally Posted by reds1869

I understand the Wayne pain completely. My high school alma mater (Williamstown) seems to be one of the favorites to win the Class A WV title each season. And virtually every year they lose to <insert catholic school that falsifies enrollment figures here> in the state title game. That is topped off, of course, by the fact that they usually win more games in one year than they did the entire time I was in high school.

My girlfriend graduated from Williamstown and i've been to several Williamstown games. I was in attendance when Belpre ended the "streak" of consecutive regular season victories. You could have heard a pin drop from where I was sitting that night.

Williamstown had a ridiculous winning streak (I believe 57 games) that stretched over two head coaches (Bernie Buttrey went on to win two state championships at Parkersburg High before being ran off this past season). However, every year they would make it to the Super Six in Wheeling and get blown out by Wheeling Central, a private school that had the advantage of attracting students from three states (WV, Ohio, and Pennsylvania).

I used to live in Ashland KY when OJ Mayo was at Rose Hill. In terms of HS, the triple-overtime thriller of Rose Hill vs Ashland for the 64th district championship where Ashland won was kinda painful, and then following it up in the regional championship losing to Ashland again. There were some good games out of that series, and Ashland and Boyd Co both proceeded to boycott Rose Hill (only in mens basketball) and forfeit playing them regular season.

I will allege that as dirty as college sports is, the high school scene might as well be on par with the European leagues. However, that could be saved for another thread.