Greatest chokes in sports history?

[manifold]

Go.

 

[L.K.Eder]

Bayer Leverkusen failing to win the championship by losing against a bunch of cripples via own goal!

 

[del]

1964 phillies
1978 red sox
1970-71 bruins
1986 red sox
2007 patriots
2004 yankees

 

[Modbert]

2004 Yankees, ALCS comes to mind.

The Mets entire 2007 regular season.

"Lefty" at the U.S. Open in 2006.

And of course Bill Buckner and the '86 Red Sox.

Patriots in the SB in 2007.

 

[Paulie]

Yeah I'd say 04 Yanks was the biggest.

A personal one for me is SB XXXIX, considering the Eagles FINALLY got to the show and couldn't hang in there for the last couple minutes and get the job done.

 

[manifold]

I'm not sure I consider the Yankee's loss in the 2004 ALCS a choke, technically speaking.

I definitely do not consider the Patriots sb loss to the Giants a choke. The Giants were the better team, all game long. They were even the better team in the regular season finale.

Anybody for the Soviet olympic hockey team that lost to the US in the semis in 1980?

 

[L.K.Eder]

wut? no comments about bayer leverkusen? outrageous.

 

[manifold]

Don't forget Dan O'Brien failing to qualify for the olympic decathalon in 1992, when he was a favorite to win the Gold. Made to look even more like a serious choke when he did win the Gold in 1996.

 

[manifold]

and then there is Ryan Leaf's entire NFL career.

How funny is it that there were sports columnists in Indiana that criticized the Colts decision to draft Peyton Manning instead of Ryan Leaf?

 

[Paulie]

I'm not sure I consider the Yankee's loss in the 2004 ALCS a choke, technically speaking.

I definitely do not consider the Patriots sb loss to the Giants a choke. The Giants were the better team, all game long. They were even the better team in the regular season finale.

Why not on BOTH of those?

Yanks up 3-0 and blow the next 4 straight. That set a brand new precedent.

And the Pats win every single game during the season with the chance to overtake the Dolphins for the 'perfect' distinction, and let Eli drive the field and win the game in the final minute? That's not a choke?

 

[Big Fitz]

Bayer Leverkusen failing to win the championship by losing against a bunch of cripples via own goal!

what's a bayer levercussin? Hockey player?

 

[manifold]

It's not like the Yank's had an easy play to make to end the series and blew it.

Same goes for the Pats. The Giants made a lot of plays on that drive, not the least of which was that ridiculous circus catch.

I guess it just depends on how you define choke, and is it the same thing as a collapse.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

After "the catch" put the 49ers ahead in the NFC Championship game, few people even know this but.... Dallas got the ball back with time to work the ball down into field goal range, and DID! Then, like clockwork, Danny White choked again and fumbled the ball back to San Fran.

Dallas had the ball at the Niners' 37 with about 22 seconds left, after a big pass from White to Drew Pearson. Trailing 28-27, Tom Landry decided he needed to get in a little closer for the field goal, and decided to let White chunk another one. White was coughed at or sneezed at, or maybe growled at or just looked at angrily by one of the Niners, fumbled, and the rest is history.

And now you know.... The rest of the story.

 

[Paulie]

I define a choke as failing when the pressure is at its most, where you are positioned to succeed if you can overcome the pressure.

So maybe in that case the '04 Yanks don't necessarily fit, but I think the Pats do.

The last minute of their season defined everything, when all they had to do was make ONE MORE defensive stop. The pressure was on to be the new perfect team, and they failed.

 

[manifold]

Can one game/series be both a major choke and a major upset at the same time? Or is it necessarily one or the other?

 

[Big Black Dog]

The Bears at their last attempt to win the Super Bowl against Indy. What a clown show.

 

[random3434]

and then there is Ryan Leaf's entire NFL career.

How funny is it that there were sports columnists in Indiana that criticized the Colts decision to draft Peyton Manning instead of Ryan Leaf?

I just saw this. Amen my brother. We (Indy fans) still thank our lucky stars every single day that the Colts picked Peyton over Leaf.

The sports columnists did the same thing when the Pacers picked some kid from UCLA named Reggie Miller too. And look how that turned out. (I still miss him )

 

[L.K.Eder]

Bayer Leverkusen failing to win the championship by losing against a bunch of cripples via own goal!

what's a bayer levercussin? Hockey player?

real football.

damn, did they choke.

 

[Paulie]

Can one game/series be both a major choke and a major upset at the same time? Or is it necessarily one or the other?

I also forgot to add that along with the pressure, there is a massive amount of expectation and hype for the team/player because of how well they performed up to that point.

Pressure, significant expectations due to performance, and then subsequently blowing it at the end. That's how I define a choke.

And yeah, a choke can be an upset. Why not? The Pats were the favorite and they lost, and that was an upset as well as a choke in my book.

When Philly lost, that was just an upset for Philly fans

And Pats haters too, I guess.

 

[xotoxi]

2009 British Dalmatian Club Dog Show:

Buffrey The Shaded Sun At Cubalibre was the favorite in the Graduate Dog Division, however he choked on a treat and had to be saved by Mrs B Quayle.

His choke resulted in him coming in second place to Holderness Hill Billy By Dallyador.