With SuperBowl 46 kicking everyone in New England (except for a few clowns in southern CT who root for the Giants) in the stomach, there has been much talk around these parts of heartbreaking losses. We are Boston, and despite are success, there has been plenty of them. Here are my thoughts. I break them down, and put together the ultimate list at the end.
New England Patriots:
1.) SuperBowl 42 v. New York Giants - A chance at pro sports immortality is dashed by a mediocre 10-6 Giants team. That Patriots team was never right all game. They came out flat, didn’t look as interested as they should have been, yet there were still so many chances to clinch this. The Pierre Woods fumble recovery, that was given back to the Giants after he rolled over on his back (that would have set up an easy TD to make it 14-3), going for it in 4th and 13 instead of kicking a 49 yard field goal indoors, the Asante stone hands on the (dropped) INT, The Helmet Catch, letting the Giants easily convert a 3rd and 11 after The Helmet Catch, Manning to a wiiiiide open Burress for the winning score, launching bombs despite having 3 timeouts and only needing a FG with 35 seconds left, Moss’ near catch on the long pass. Ok, enough already.
2.) 2006 AFC Championship Game @ Colts - This game was basically the SuperBowl because whoever won it was easily taking care of that horrible Bears team quarterbacked by Rex Grossman. The Patriots were the Colts’ daddy at this point. And nothing was better than Brady ALWAYS beating Manning when it counted. After Asante’s INT that put us up 21-3, it was all but assured that the Patriots were going to continue their dynasty and have an unprecedented 4th SuperBowl. But then a horrible offensive pass interference call that would have basically made the game 24-3, and likely 28-3, was called on us and the Patriots kicked it back to the Colts. They made it 21-6 going into halftime. Then the Colts scored, then they scored again, and the game was tied. Then Brady and Manning went back and forth. Brady was going to do it, and if you thought the Welker drop was bad, it’s NOTHING to what Reche Caldwell did. He dropped a pass a 3 year old could have caught, and likely would have had the game winning TD, or at worst, a killer first down. The Patriots settled for a FG, but got the ball back. They couldn’t convert a 3rd and 4 and kicked the ball back to the Colts. The rest is history.
3.) 1976 Divisionals @ Oakland - This game is much higher up than it should be. You’d think SB 46 was worse, but there’s nothing worse than having a game STOLEN from you, and this game was stolen. You think Raiders fans are bad when they talk about the Tuck Rule? This game had every call in the world go against the Patriots, and it seemingly was done deliberately. Despite all this, the Patriots were still going to win. The Raiders were 4th and forever, and just turned it over on downs. But wait, a phantom roughing the passer call!! Raiders first and goal – winning TD, game over.
Honorable Mentions: SB 31 v. GB (Desmond Howard), 97 AFC Divs @ Pitt (Bledsoe all but hands Pittsburgh a home AFC Title game), 2010 Divs v. NY Jets, SB 46 v. Giants
Wildly Underrated Loss: 2005 Divisionals @ Denver - The Patriots badly outplayed Denver this night. They were the better team. However, they shot themselves in the foot all game, and nothing was worse than Brady’s endzone INT to Champ Bailey that was returned to our one yard line, which Denver easily punched in. Then you had Faulk’s fumble, Troy Brown’s muffed punt, Vinatieri’s missed FG, and some horrendous calls go against the Patriots (a phantom PI on Asante that moved the ball from midfield to the goalline for an easy score, and the touchback that should have been on Bailey’s INT where the ball clearly went over the pylon after Watson force the fumble at the 1.) The Patriots would have been in the SuperBowl with a chance to three-peat had they won this game. They would have played Pittsburgh in the AFCC at Foxboro, whom they OWNED at that time. The Steelers could not match up with the Patriots spread formation on offense. Brady used to school Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu.
Boston Bruins:
1.) Game 7 1979 Stanley Cup Semi Finals @ Canadiens - “The Too Many Men on the Ice Game” – anytime a game has its own title, then that certainly is in its own league in terms of heartbreakers. The Canadiens were a dynasty at this time, and always seemed to beat the Bruins when it mattered. To make it worse, after the Bruins won the Cup in ’72, their 7 year drought seemed like a long time because of all the championships they seemed to let get away. However, the Canadiens were aging and the Bruins were leading by a goal with a minute left. But the Bruins got caught in a bad line shift, and they were called for too-many-men. If you talk to anyone who watched this game, they will all tell you “and you knew the Canadiens would score to tie it up, and win it in OT.” And they did.
2.) Game 1 1990 Stanley Cup Finals v. Oilers - The Oilers and Bruins met again for the Stanley Cup in 1990, but this time, Edmonton did not have Gretzky and the Bruins were at the height of their Neely-Bourque teams. The Bruins were favored to win the Cup this time, and had the home ice. Game 1 was a 3OT classic, but this should not have been. Glen Wesley missed a WIDE OPEN net that would have clinched that game. The Oilers went on to steal that Game 1 and suck the life out of the Bruins and their fans. The Bruins would win Game 2 but the damage was done. The Oilers would hold serve back in Edmonton and clinched the Cup in Boston again in Game 5. However, everyone knows this would have been a different series if the Bruins won that first game, and took the 2-0 lead back to Edmonton. They may not have won the Cup if they won Game 1 (although you could make the argument that they would have), but they all but lost it.
3.) Game 7 2010 Semi-Finals v. Flyers - An overachieving Bruins team will forever be remembered for arguably the worst choke in hockey history. A 3-0 series lead, and a 3-0 lead at home in Game 7. The odds of the team winning the Cup that year, even being in the ECFs had they made it, weren’t great – BUT losing this game, and the series, puts the 2010 Bruins up with any team in team sports for the argument of “Worst Chokes of All Time.” So yea, this hurts.
Honorable Mentions: Game 7 71 First Round v. Montreal (Dryden stones Boston) Game 6 74 Cup Finals @ Philly (lose 1-0 to a vastly inferior Philadelphia team, last real shot with Orr), Game 7 04 1st Round v Montreal (another mediocre Canadiens team stuns a high seeded Bruins team coming back from 3-1 in the series), Game 7 09 Semi-Finals v. Carolina (Scott Walker knocks out arguably the best Bruins team in 20 years out of the playoffs in OT)
Wildly Underrated Loss: Game 2 1971 First Round v. Montreal - The Bruins already rolled up Montreal in Game 1, and were up 5-1 in Game 2, (yes, five-to-freaking-one.) The Bruins made a questionable goalie switch before the game, and it ended up costing them as they blew that lead. Had the Bruins held onto that seemingly insurmountable lead, that series is likely over in five and the Bruins were well on their way to repeating as champs. They didn’t, Montreal hung around for the rest of the series, and won that fateful seventh game in Boston.
Boston Red Sox:
1.) Game 6 1986 World Series @ New York Mets - When sports fans usually think of heartbreakers, this is usually the first game that comes to mind. This loss is really no different than Game 6 of this year's Rangers-Cards WS, or that Game 6 2002 WS between the Giants and Angels, but because this was Boston, and the Red Sox had that famous drought – this is the one everyone remembers. The Red Sox were one strike away four times, and going to win their first World Series since 1918 until base hit, base hit, base hit, pitching change, wild pitch, E-3, Game Over.
TIE 2 & 3.) 1978 AL East One Game Playoff v. Yankees, and Game 7 2003 ALCS @ Yankees - Technically the ’03 ALCS should be ahead because the Sox had a much better shot at ending the Curse that year, (as that was all what really mattered in Red Sox Nation, esp. from the years 1967-2004.) The 78 Sox still had a great Royals team, and a LOADED Dodgers team to deal with, so the odds were actually not in their favor that year to end the Curse. But still, it was against the Yankees, and the Red Sox lost at home, despite being in cruise control for much of the game, up 2-0. The Sox were going to be 6 outs away as soon as they ended the inning by getting banjo-hitting Bucky Dent out of the way. After he popped up to Yaz to end the inning – BUT WAIT- THAT CLEARED THE MONSTER?! AND THE YANKEES ARE NOW UP 3-2?! WHAT THE? …ouch. To make matters worse, the Yankees ended up going up 5-2, but the Sox staged a huge 9th inning rally against Goose Gossage, and had Yaz up who was the most clutch hitter of his time to tie, and maybe win the game. Then, out of nowhere, a weak foul out, and the Yankees completed their 78 comeback by coming into Fenway and stealing one from the Sox. 03, of course, had the Grady Little decision. However, despite this game being closer to the World Series, what brings it back to a tie with 78, was no Yankee fan will mention this game because Boston fans always have the trump card with “yea, but, remember the Sox came INTO The Stadium the next year and won Game 7 after being down 0-3 in the ALCS!” Still, lets not underestimate Game 7 03, which sent much of the Boston population the next day into a suicidal mode.
Honorable Mentions: Game 7 46 WS @ Cardinals (Pesky double clutch), 1972 Regular Season Game #154 @ Detroit (base running blunder costs Sox AL East), Game 3 75 World Series (horrible non-interference call costs Sox game and gives Cincy a 2-1 lead in the series), Game 7 86 WS (the game no one talks about because it was assumed the Sox would lose it anyways. Still, Boston had a 3 run lead in this game), Game 4 99 ALCS (a slew of horrible calls against the Sox costs Boston a chance to even up the series), Game 3 03 ALCS (Yankees steal a Clemens v. Pedro mismatch and wrestle control of the series.)
Wildly Underrated Loss: Game 7 1975 World Series v. Reds - Wow, hard to believe losing a championship Game 7 at home can be seen as an underrated-heartbreaker but it is. There is a feel good sense about this Sox team because they played in arguably the greatest World Series ever and won a memorable Game 6 on an iconic baseball moment with Fisk’s game winner off the pole. But the Sox were riding some serious momentum into this game, after STEALING that 6th game against the mighty Big Red Machine. Plus, after that 6th game, there was a sense that the Reds could very well be chokers, as despite being the dominant team in baseball through the 70s, they had never won a WS to that point. The Sox took a 3-0 lead in that game, and it could have been more. However, the Reds started chipping away, but the key was one ridiculous eephus pitch by Bill Lee, which Tony Perez sent onto the Mass Pike to cut the lead to 3-2. The Red tied it, and then won it on a base hit by Joe Morgan in the 9th. So, um, yeah, that was not good.
Boston Celtics:
1.) Game 7 2010 NBA Finals @ Lakers - Hurts to put this game at #1, but it just is. That was an overachieving Celtics team, and they left absolutely everything on the floor for that Game 7. But, it was against the dreaded Lakers, and the Celtics had a double-digit lead late in the 3rd quarter. The Celtics had the Lakers playing their game, as well – a defensive slugfest. To make matters worse, that lead should have been 20ish+ if the Celtics could have at least held their own on the boards, and of course there’s the fact that the refs let the two teams play for three quarters, until they took their whistles out of their pockets, and only called fouls on us in that fourth quarter (outshot 37-17 at the line). The Celtics could not buy a call, where if they got a few it would have stopped the Lakers momentum. Much of LA’s comeback, the damage was done at the line. The Lakers won, aided large part by a contested 3 from their worst offensive player (Ron Artest), and they ended up getting their second title to our one during the KG-Pierce-Rondo-Ray v. Kobe-Gasol-Odom era.
2.) Game 4 1987 Finals v. Lakers - The Celtics NEVER lost these games. Ever. The ’87 Celtics were banged up, yet were still grinding it out. Most Celtics fans who’ve followed the team anywhere from 30-40 years will say this is still one of their favorite Celtics team ever because of how gutsy they were, pulling out miracle series wins v. Milwaukee and Detroit, largely due to always making key plays in Boston. This was the case, or was supposed to be the case, for Game 4. The Celtics were up 16, and were going to even the 87 Finals with a Game 5 looming in Boston where the Celtics could have taken a 3-2 lead back to LA. The Celtics were 39-2 at home that year, so odds were that was going to happen. But the Lakers chipped away at the lead, and then eventually took it on a Kareem alley-oop. But the Celtics got the ball back, and Bird added another clutch moment to his resume by hitting a three to put the Celtics back up two with seconds to play. Kareem however, got back to the line. He made the first, one point game, and missed the second. Game over! But wait – Lakers ball, off McHale (uhhh…sorta), Magic hits a baby hook across the lane, but there’s still two seconds left, and the Celtics still have Larry Bird. Bird gets a look; the ball is absolutely right on line and is going in … no, back iron. Stunning. The Lakers beat the Celtics in Boston. I know people who were at this game and sat in their seats a full half-hour after the game ended not believing what they saw.
3.) Game 7 1973 EC Finals v. New York - The 1973 Celtics were arguably the best team in NBA history to not win a title, maybe the best. No team won more, or as many regular season games as they did (68), and not won the title. But the Celtics lost Havlicek to a separated shoulder in Game 3, and the Knicks ended up taking a 3-1 lead in that series. The Celtics won both Games 5 and 6, just showing how talented they were where they could win playoff games against the Frazier-Reed Knicks. Havlicek came back for Game 7; there was just one problem. He could only shoot with one arm, his off-arm left. This cost the Celtics mightily as the Celtics lost a Game 7 for the first time ever in Boston to enemy #1 (yes, during that time the Knicks were the Celtics #1 rival by far…Red HATED the Knicks head coach, the other Red, Red Holtzman.)
Honorable Mentions: Game 7 82 ECF v Philly (Andrew Toney beats the Celtics in a game no one in the universe thought Philly could win), Game 6 85 Finals v LA (Lakers win the title in Boston and exorcise all their demons), Game 5 88 ECF v Detroit (Pistons come back from a huge deficit and take a 3-2 lead back to Detroit and take the Eastern Conference torch from the Celtics), Game 5 1990 1st round v NY (Knicks beat the Celtics in Boston for the first time in TWENTY-SIX tries, rally from 0-2 down in the series, and close the book on the Bird Celtics from ever being a factor in the East again)
Wildly Underrated Loss: Game 4 2002 Eastern Conference Finals v. Nets - After the Celtics stunned the Nets by completing the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history in Game 3, everyone just assumed the Celtics would be in the Finals to renew their rivalry with the Lakers. The Celtics would take care of business in Game 4, could very well win Game 5 back in NJ to clinch it, and at the worst, have to come back to Boston to finish them off in 6. The Nets were done mentally. There was also that unbelievable good feeling we had in Boston after the Patriots won one of the most improbable championships in the history of sports back in February of that year (2002…so just a couple of months prior to the 02 Celtics playoffs.) We didn’t think we could beat the Lakers, but yet in the back of their minds, it was …well…maybe. But before all that, we still had a series to finish off against those Nets. The Celtics got off to another crappy start in Game 4, but had yet another impressive comeback. The guy who was responsible for that historic comeback in Game 3, Paul Pierce, was at the line to tie the game and send it to OT (which we were DEFINITELY going to pull it out in.) However, he missed the pair of free throws, and the Nets evened the series at 2-2. That game turned it into “We’re gonna make the Finals!” to “We are done…there’s no way.” It was THAT gut wrenching. There was no way we were winning after that, and the early deficits proved the Nets were the better team, and once they held on to get one of those games, we weren’t going to beat them. And we didn’t.
Ok, so after all this, here’s my list. Enjoy….sorta:
***THE LIST***
1.) Super Bowl 42 – no arguments, none. The Patriots had the shot at being THE GREATEST TEAM OF ALL TIME!!!! To top it off, a New York team did us in.
2.) Game 6 1986 World Series – Was #1, but then the Sox won in ’04 to end the Curse, and then February 2008 in Glendale happened.
3.) Game 7 79 SC Semis @ Montreal - The “Too-Many-Men-on-the-Ice” game was the signature game of underachieving, un-clutch Bruins teams that lasted for 40 years until the 2011 Bruins finally brought the Cup back to Boston.
4.) 2006 AFC Championship – The Patriots had their fourth championship wrapped up, against their archrivals expense (again), and let it get away. To make matters worse, even when it was close, you still expected the Patriots to win because the Patriots, like the 80s Celtics, never lost those games and always found a way. They didn’t, and this game started a trend of excruciating playoff losses by the Patriots.
5.) Game 7 2010 NBA Finals – This wouldn’t even be in the top 10, let alone top five if it wasn’t for those purple and yellow men. But the Lakers, (THE LAKERS!!!) stole our 18th championship from us, but more importantly, eternal bragging rights over Lakers fans forever (would’ve been 10-2 in the Finals all time v LA, and 2-0 against Kobe.) But instead, they win their 16th championship and now only trail us in overall championships by one. Ugh!
Topic: Most Heartbreaking Losses in Boston Sports History (Read 7777 times)