biggest collapses/choke jobs in recent sports history

bigboydan · 04-30-07, 04:54 PM

The one you missed was probably the biggest one of all time. Last years Northwestern/Michigan St. Northwestern had like a 38-0 lead on Michigan St at the half, and lost the game.

gridironguy · 04-30-07, 05:09 PM

Originally posted by bigboydan

The one you missed was probably the biggest one of all time. Last years Northwestern/Michigan St. Northwestern had like a 38-0 lead on Michigan St at the half, and lost the game.

Dan, even worse actually. Northwestern was up 38-3 with about 9 mins to go in the 3rd quarter. I couldn't believe my eyes when I watched MSU come back. Stanton was on fire that day.

How about Tampa Bay dominating the Colts a few years back and then the Colts come back in a wild 4th quarter where they scored like 28 pts or something

SBR_John · 04-30-07, 05:13 PM

Me and my son last night in Madden 06. I was down 35-13 in the 4th qtr. Rallied to win 36-35.

bigboydan · 04-30-07, 05:25 PM

still using those cheat codes on your son uh John.

Another comeback I can think of was that Minnesota/Texas Tech bowl game this past year.

gridironguy · 04-30-07, 05:28 PM

Yes Dan, that Tech come back was a huge one out at the Insight Bowl or whatever they call it.

As John goes to show, father always beats son!

I still cannot beat my dad at chess, and i'm in my mid-thirties!

Mudcat · 04-30-07, 05:39 PM

2002 Salt Lake City winter Olympics, Men's Hockey. Sweden lost to Belarus in the quarter finals. That was roughly the equivalent of the Dallas Mavericks having a do-or-die game against a college team and coughing it up.

gking3314 · 04-30-07, 06:05 PM

How about the patriots losing to the colts this year in the AFC championship game. They blew an 18 point lead.

Stumpage · 04-30-07, 06:18 PM

2002 World Series.....Giants 8 outs away from the championship and up 5-0 in Game 6. Then the "Rally Monkey" strikes and the Angels end up winning the whole damn thing. That had to hurt, even coming from a RedSox fan.....

gridironguy · 04-30-07, 06:25 PM

Originally posted by gking3314

How about the patriots losing to the colts this year in the AFC championship game. They blew an 18 point lead.

Yes, but not as big as collapse as you might think. More than the Pats "blowing the lead", the Colts just turned it on in the 2nd half and took the game they felt was rightfully theirs.

The Pats were up by 18 early in the 2nd quarter, thanks partly to an int return for a TD by Samuel. The 18 pt lead was more like a legitimate 11 pt lead, as 7 pts were a fluky gift int return.

Adding to that, Indy has owned the Pats the past few years in the regular season so it was not inconceivable that they would come back from the early deficit, especially at home like they did.

gridironguy · 04-30-07, 06:27 PM

Originally posted by Stumpage

2002 World Series.....Giants 8 outs away from the championship and up 5-0 in Game 6. Then the "Rally Monkey" strikes and the Angels end up winning the whole damn thing. That had to hurt, even coming from a RedSox fan.....

That was a HUGE choke.

rjt721 · 04-30-07, 06:53 PM

Not really recent sports history, but in '78 the Red Sox had a 14 game lead over the Yankees in the middle of July. Of course, the Yankees came back to force a one game playoff, in which Bucky "Fvckin" Dent hit a three-run HR to win the game.

The Angels blowing a 13 game lead in the middle of August to the Mariners in '95 was also pretty bad.

Portland blowing Game 7 of the WCF in 2000 against the Lakers is another huge choke.

The most unforgettable choke....'86 World Series. Red Sox 1 strike a way with no one on base and a 2-run lead...you guys know the rest.

gking3314 · 04-30-07, 06:54 PM

Originally posted by gridironguy

Adding to that, Indy has owned the Pats the past few years in the regular season so it was not inconceivable that they would come back from the early deficit, especially at home like they did.

I think it is the other way around. Brady is 6-3 against the colts. I'll give you the colts won twice this year, but for the past couple of years, the Pats have owned the colts. I had the pats in that game and felt pretty confident about the cover. I guess that is why I feel it was a blown game.

jjgold · 04-30-07, 07:15 PM

Dallas if they lose will go down as the biggest choke job ever, they want no part of GS and looking to quit and go home.

gridironguy · 04-30-07, 07:34 PM

Originally posted by gking3314

I think it is the other way around. Brady is 6-3 against the colts. I'll give you the colts won twice this year, but for the past couple of years, the Pats have owned the colts. I had the pats in that game and felt pretty confident about the cover. I guess that is why I feel it was a blown game.

Brady is 0 for his last 3. Since January of 2005 in the playoffs, the Pats have lost 3 straight.

Fall of 2005, Colts smashed them in Foxboro. Fall of 2006, Colts beat them again in Foxboro, but only a 6 pt win if I remember correctly.

So, going into this Jan 2007 AFC Championship, Colts felt like they had taken the Pats monkey off their back. The 18 pt lead did not affect them because:

A) They had beaten the Pats twice in a row, one of those an absolute blowout.

B) They were at home

C) They were playing terribly in the first half but were only down 18, thanks partly to a fluke INT Return for a TD.

Yes, I was on Indy -2.5 that week (got it early), and never felt worried about the game. Not once. The Colts were destined to beat them and I really felt they would not be denied.

Brady has lost 3 in a row to Manning. 6-0 was a long time ago.

hawk 5 · 04-30-07, 09:34 PM

Greg Norman coughing up a 6 stroke lead on the finale day at the Masters, and that French dude coughing up a 3 or 4 stroke lead on the last hole of the British Open.

Mudcat · 04-30-07, 10:43 PM

Originally posted by hawk 5

that French dude coughing up a 3 or 4 stroke lead on the last hole of the British Open.

Really, that is the definitive answer. In some quarters, the term "Van de Velde" has actually entered the lexicon as a synonym for choke. Like one might say that the Mavericks are on the verge of pulling a Van de Velde.

It brings to mind a couple of other golf examples. Mickelson at the U.S. Open last year. And Canadians in particular may recall Mike Weir who, a few years back, was on the verge of becoming the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open in over 50 years, doing a total Van de Velde on the closing holes.

Mudcat · 04-30-07, 10:49 PM

And then there was American skier Bode Miller at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. To be honest, I don't know much about him except what I heard on PTI but from the sounds of things, he ran his big yap a whole lot about his mad skillz and how he might win a bunch of medals (5 ???) but when it was time to back it up, he choked and came away with squat.

Willie Bee · 05-01-07, 09:22 AM

Yankees up three games to love in the 2004 ALCS then losing to the Red Sox and Van de Velde's upchuck at the end of the '99 British Open are the two most recent ones on huge sports stages in my opinion.

gridironguy · 05-01-07, 09:30 AM

Originally posted by Mudcat

And then there was American skier Bode Miller at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin. To be honest, I don't know much about him except what I heard on PTI but from the sounds of things, he ran his big yap a whole lot about his mad skillz and how he might win a bunch of medals (5 ???) but when it was time to back it up, he choked and came away with squat.

Isn't it amazing how the more they talk the worse they do?

floyd mayweather jr., are you listening?

mogwai · 05-01-07, 09:33 AM

Jean Van De Valde

bigboydan · 05-01-07, 11:48 AM

What about the Cleveland/KC game a few years ago.

KC had like an 11-2 lead in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs, and lost the game.

I'm sure theres gotta be a few people out there that remember this one. The only reason I remember it is because I had KC

Dark Horse · 05-01-07, 12:34 PM

I hardly ever watch golf, but I did see this live. Great drama. And biggest choke job I've ever seen. Had to look it up, so pasted and copied:

Jean Van de Velde, 1999 British Open
Van de Velde was a journeyman player on the European Tour, not a golfer who had much experience playing near the top of major championship leaderboards.

But any Tour golfer who needs only a double-bogey on the last hole to win should be able to do better than Van de Velde did on Sunday on No. 18 at Carnoustie in 1999.

Trying to become the first Frenchman to win the Open Championship since 1907, Van de Velde reached the 18th tee with a 3-stroke lead. It seemed as if the tournament was already over.

Then Van de Velde compounded bad shots with bad decisions and the rest, as they say, is history.

Along the way to a triple-bogey, Van de Velde found the rough, the sand, the water and even the grandstands.

Following a mediocre drive that rolled into the rough, the smart decision would have been to lay up in front of Barry Burn, which crossed in front of the green.

Instead, Van de Velde went for the green. And instead, he found the groundstands. The ball caromed off the grandstands, bounded onto rocks along the edge of Barry Burn, and bounced into thick rough short of the water hazard.

Van de Velde tried to hack the ball out of the rough and over the burn to the green, but the ball plopped down into the burn. Then came the enduring image of this meltdown: Van de Velde, shoes off, climbing down into the flowing water of the burn, considering trying to hit the ball out.

He ultimately thought better of that and dropped behind the burn. This time he scooped the shot and the ball wound up short, in a greenside bunker. Van de Velde blasted out, then sank the putt for triple-bogey. He'd blown the Open Championship, and made the meltdown complete by losing the playoff to Paul Lawrie.

ForgetWallStreet · 05-01-07, 12:55 PM

Arizona's collapse in the final three minutes against Illinois in the 2005 Midwest Regional Final is probably the worst thing I've suffered through all decade. I had a ton of Wildcat futures on the line. Just a devastating loss.

sifusteve · 05-01-07, 02:40 PM

choke - Georges St Pierre losing to a +700 Matt Serra at ufc 69

knicknut · 05-01-07, 02:48 PM

NPOY Lindsay Harding misses 2 free throws with no time left while down 1 to Rutgers in the sweet sixteen.

Lucas · 05-01-07, 05:18 PM

last minute of Winona in DIV II finals... i think they were up by 7 and lost