Is it OK to call it a choke and still be proud of them?

[Edskin]

Because this is where I am?

They didn't lose three games in a row at home all year... Given the opportunity to win one of three at home and they can't do it... Pretty much the definition of a choke. Then, when you add up all the missed chances in games 3 and 5.....

This was a great year... I appreciate how well they played and I am proud of the division title. I am always proud of how they clawed back in game 5 and didn't fold. They certainly put their hearts in it.

But ten years from now when we think of 2012 it will be hard not to think of the ending first. And that, well, that just totally sucks.

[paulrichjr]

This hurts so much more than 2010. So much more.

[cinreds21]

It is OK. It was an amazing season. They went through adversity with losing their star, Bruce struggling, Stubbs hitting rock bottom and Rolen getting old. It sucks that they lose three games in a row like that when it really mattered, but a great season nonetheless.

[RichRed]

Originally Posted by paulrichjr

This hurts so much more than 2010. So much more.

Yep. I'll get over it but right now, I want to both puke and cry.

[Caveat Emperor]

Cubs fans get proud about non-October baseball games.

[OnBaseMachine]

It was a great season, up until the Reds choked away three games at home. Now it's a failure in my book.

[wheels]

It was an epic choke and I don't care who knows it.

I still love what happened this season, and I know deep down that a Reds club firing on all cylinders blows that Giants team out of the water.

When a team has a 90% chance of winning, and they lose while being swept three in a row at home.....that's a choke. Call it what it is.

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Cubs fans get proud about non-October baseball games.

You must know crummy Cubs fans because the ones I know are hardly proud.

And yes Ed they choked away their chance this year and yes, it was fine season to be proud in.

[Patrick Bateman]

That was anything but a choke.

Those guys battled extremely hard to win that game. They lived up to the pressure situations, unfortunately, it's very difficult to get the break through hit.

[vaticanplum]

This hurts so, so much more than 2010, but it's also worth so much more, if that makes any sense.

In 2010 they were lucky to be there. In this postseason, luck didn't go their way. I don't think they choked. I think they were not well managed, and I think they had as many miscues as any team will have in a high-pressure five-game series.

And then they had some bad luck. They had their best pitcher go down. They had their best hitter playing, really, at about 50%. They had some crappy calls. I don't think it's to the degree of a curse or conspiracy. It's bad luck. It's baseball.

They also had jaw-dropping performances by Arroyo, Bailey, and just about everybody who stepped up to pitch in the first game. They had some clutch hitting and some clever hitting. They had Ryan Ludwick. They had Brandon Phillips, and if there's anything I'm going to remember about Brandon Phillips this whole series, it's going to be him grinning ear-to-ear standing as a runner on his own base in the bottom of the seventh. I was ready to chew my own ear off and he was having the time of his life.

The bottom of the ninth was probably the most stressful half-inning of baseball I've ever experienced, and this was as crushing a loss as i hope I'll ever have to take. That said, I don't think I'll remember this badly. I can't hate the Giants or blame the umps. The Reds fought very hard, sometimes more successfully than others, but over five games, I really think they did everything they could with the luck they were given. I love this team. I love baseball. I hate losing. But the team and baseball both showed up for this series, and sometimes that's still a loss.

[AtomicDumpling]

"Choked" means to cave under the pressure. I certainly don't think the Reds caved under the pressure. They played hard, pitched great, got tons of men on base and lost to a team that was playing great. If Votto and Cueto were healthy it likely would have been different. Calling this a choke is pretty clueless in my opinion.

[powersackers]

Choke - Yes. Failed - Yes. I believed, I cheered, I never gave up hope. But they choked / failed on an unprecedented scale. It will be forever referenced as such. If you are proud of the effort it is OK I feel a bit of that myself. But I am not proud of the result.

[Ghosts of 1990]

We see eye to eye on a lot, Edskin.

[PuffyPig]

The Reds failed to win, but it was anything but a choke.

Baseball is such a random game, that a great team can play well but lose through randomness.

[Caveat Emperor]

Losing 3 straight playoff games at home, after dominating 2 on the road, is a choke. They had 3 chances to put away a team and couldn't do it.

That's choking. Calling it anything else gives too much credit to the team.