11/05/24
February 14, 2003
Bringing on the heartbreak.: It's on ESPN so everyone will have seen it, but their Most Painful Heartbreakers of All Time list is lame. Where is Joe Pisarcik? Where are Francisco Cabrera and Sid Bream? What about the England-Argentina shootout in '98, or the Hand of God, or Baggio choking, or practically any World Cup moment? I think we can do better.
posted by Mookieproof to general at 01:02 PM - 21 comments
I hate to show regional bias, but as long as they got the 1986 Red Sox nightmare on there, they've got the event that caused me the most personal heartbreak.
posted by Joey Michaels at 04:32 PM on February 14, 2003
(and, of course, they do have that on the list)
posted by Joey Michaels at 04:34 PM on February 14, 2003
Personally, I like lists like these. Starfucker, any chance of creating a soccer only list for us budding fans? I wouldn't mind a history lesson.
posted by jasonspaceman at 09:00 PM on February 14, 2003
Sweden beating Canada in Lillehammer for the men's ice hockey gold medal in a shootout. I still grind my teeth anytime I hear Peter Forsberg's name. Oh well, we did win it all in 2002! GO CANADA!
posted by jasonbondshow at 02:09 AM on February 15, 2003
I'm surprised that Scott Norwood's missed kick only made the "also receiving votes" list; and Dan Jansen's falls in the 1988 Winter Olympics were stunning and heartbreaking.
posted by Jaquandor at 07:39 AM on February 15, 2003
Here are my personal heartbreak moments:
- Norwood's "Wide right!". I STILL remember every detail about where/what I was doing when that happened.
- The Maple Leafs losing to Gretzky and the Kings and missing out on the dream Stanley Cup final matchup with the Canadiens in 1993.
- Canada losing to the Czech's in 1998 Olympic hockey in a (grumble) shootout.
- The Blue Jays losing 6 straight at the end of the 1987 season and having Detroit make it to the playoffs instead. But that was more of a slow torture with a heartbreak finish.
posted by grum@work at 08:24 AM on February 15, 2003
England losing in a penalty shoot-out to Germany in the Word Cup in Italy. Gazza's tears along with Stuart Pearce's after missing his penalty are memories I will take to my grave. After that game my feelings towards the German national side are pretty much summed up by this image.
posted by squealy at 01:15 PM on February 15, 2003
Mary Decker Slaney's fall in the, ahh, 800 or 1600 final at the Olympics? The one that was billed as the head-to-head between her and the barefoot Zola Budd, who finished way way out of contention. Norwood was definitely a tough one. Buckner for sure. Phi Slamma Jamma and Akeem losing to NC State on the prayer from Derrick Wittenburg that was answered by Lorenzo Charles, that had to be the worst for me. I'm sure if I was conscious when Roberto Clemente died helping earthquake victims I would have been devestated. Half the country of Nicaragua stood praying on the beach hoping for him to come ashore alive.
posted by vito90 at 01:22 PM on February 15, 2003
You're not gonna find great sports moments like Baggio or the England-Argentina game on some shit US site Mookieproof... Are you shocked that a U.S. based (in CT and NY), U.S. run, U.S. funded company that sells a product almost exclusively to a U.S. market would exclude a great deal of European sports events? As the quality of ESPN, it's frankly the best in the biz. If you want to read about European sports go to a European sports source or Fox Sports, why bitch?
posted by Bag Man at 03:24 PM on February 15, 2003
There was no image Squealy...
posted by StarFucker at 03:25 PM on February 15, 2003
Oh, and I want to add that the biggest high then low heartbreak would be watching Ben Johnson win the 100m gold medal at the Olympics, set a new world record, and then get caught for using steroids and having it taken away. If you want to know how mean and nasty Canadians can be, then do something that makes us think you've "betrayed" us in some way. Some journalists started referring to him as "the Jamaican-born" runner instead of "the Canadian" runner. I was appalled at how quick everyone turned on him. That was a national heartbreak. But nothing compared to this one...
posted by grum@work at 03:47 PM on February 15, 2003
Canada losing to the Czech's in 1998 Olympic hockey in a (grumble) shootout. Even more heartbreaking was losing to the Finns in the bronze medal game. I could hear the despair in the commentators' voices in the last minute of the game. They were practically on the verge of tears during the final faceoff. "Just drop that puck and let's get it over with."
posted by Succa at 04:00 PM on February 15, 2003
I can see the image starfucker. But just for you.
posted by squealy at 06:30 PM on February 15, 2003
grum@work: I had forgotten about Terry Fox, but his was truly an inspiring story. Thanks for that link.
posted by Joey Michaels at 09:01 PM on February 15, 2003
What about the '69 cubs? Or the '84 Cubs who were up 2-0 on the Padres? Those are #1 and #2 on my list.
posted by Bag Man at 04:14 PM on February 16, 2003
Nothing was as heartbreaking as this: http://express.howstuffworks.com/extraordinary-dravecky.htm Watching Dave Dravecky fight back for 15 months, pitch brilliantly for one game and then see it all disappear five days later was just horrible. I cried like a baby, and I wasn't even an SF fan.
posted by wfrazerjr at 02:49 AM on February 17, 2003
The Cubs?! "why bitch?" - Because i can... Jasonspaceman - This is a pretty good site regarding past World Cups...lots of heartbreak and history here...
posted by StarFucker at 08:42 AM on February 17, 2003
The Cubs?! I can't think of another team that has broken more hearts. "why bitch?" - Because i can... What a waste, if you like ESPN, don't visit their site. The more you bitch the better it is for ESPN. Besides, ESPN does cover world and US soccer, maybe not as good as other sources, but what’s their incentive if most of their viewers don't care about soccer? I'm shocked your shocked.
posted by Bag Man at 02:52 PM on February 17, 2003
You don't think the Red Sox own the top spot in the team-heartbreaker rankings? I mean, with the Cubs, it's a standard thing — they suck. For Boston fans, every stinking year they think they have a shot to win ... and they don't. That's got to be FAR worse.
posted by wfrazerjr at 03:44 PM on February 17, 2003
You don't think the Red Sox own the top spot in the team-heartbreaker rankings? I mean, with the Cubs, it's a standard thing — they suck. Good point, but what is worse: never getting there and faltering when you do there or always coming close and them faltering? That's a close call, but being a Cubs fan before a Red Sox fan has made that call easy for me. The real reason the Cubs did not make the list is because the Cubs play west of the Alleghany Mountains. Besides, the 1969 Cubs was one of fastest teams fall from grace in baseball history. Also one could argue that the Red Sox failing is also standard thing
posted by Bag Man at 08:10 PM on February 17, 2003
You're not gonna find great sports moments like Baggio or the England-Argentina game on some shit US site Mookieproof...