The biggest choke job of all time was ?
edmundfitzgerald
Posts: 4,306 ✭✭
in Sports Talk
Choke job by a player....or choke job by a team.
I'm sure this could turn into a debate as to whether that player/team choked, or just by random chance that player/team didn't
finish the job.
My idea of a choke job is when a guy is good at what he does, but just totally blows it. That same principle can apply
to a team as well.
I think of Scott Norwood (Buffalo Bills), Mitch Williams (Philadelphia Phillies), or Chris Webber (Michigan), but
I'm sure there were bigger ones than that.
I'm sure this could turn into a debate as to whether that player/team choked, or just by random chance that player/team didn't
finish the job.
My idea of a choke job is when a guy is good at what he does, but just totally blows it. That same principle can apply
to a team as well.
I think of Scott Norwood (Buffalo Bills), Mitch Williams (Philadelphia Phillies), or Chris Webber (Michigan), but
I'm sure there were bigger ones than that.
0
Comments
In the early 90s, all NFL kickers missed around 40% of all 47-yard field goal attempts
The Blue Jays were down one run with two Hall-of-Fame players and two all-star players coming up
Michigan was losing when the timeout was called, more boneheaded than anything
To me, the biggest choke would have to be giving away a likely win, not losing one that could go either way
Portland losing to the Lakers in 2000 will always be the first one I think of as the definition of choking. Patriots beating the Chargers, then losing to the Colts in 2007 is the other strange twist of choking fate that stands out
Steve
Or maybe Jan van de Velde in the 1999 British Open. Needing only a 6 on the par-4 18th hole at Carnoustie to win the British Open on Sunday, Van de Velde squandered the championship in excruciating fashion, clanging one shot off the bleachers, dumping another into the water, chunking yet one more into a bunker before finally making a triple-bogey 7. He went on to lose in a three-man playoff.
Steve
AND let's not forget that until then, only the 1998 Braves and 1999 Mets came back from 0-3 down to even make it to Game 6; much less actually coming back to win the series.
Well, that's my wife's team. Now let's talk about my team.
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
with a lead AND two outs in the bottom of the ninth AND two
games back at Yankee Stadium in front of there home crowd
AND ............
..........well we all know the rest.
GO SOX !!!!!!!!!!
wpkoughan@yahoo.com
Collecting 1970-1979 PSA 9 & 10 Baseball Cards
wpkoughan@yahoo.com
Collecting 1970-1979 PSA 9 & 10 Baseball Cards
The January 3, 1993, NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers (also known as "The Comeback") The Houston Oilers leading 35-3 and then allowing Frank Reich to lead those Bills to victory 38-35 in overtime
<< <i>Not sure if any of those should come close to the biggest
In the early 90s, all NFL kickers missed around 40% of all 47-yard field goal attempts
The Blue Jays were down one run with two Hall-of-Fame players and two all-star players coming up
Michigan was losing when the timeout was called, more boneheaded than anything
To me, the biggest choke would have to be giving away a likely win, not losing one that could go either way
Portland losing to the Lakers in 2000 will always be the first one I think of as the definition of choking. Patriots beating the Chargers, then losing to the Colts in 2007 is the other strange twist of choking fate that stands out >>
I'm not even sure any of those were chokes. By this definition, anyone who makes a mistake in a pressure situation would be a 'choker', which seems a little inclusive. A choker should be someone (or a team) that basically have something sewn up, and then go into the tank and blow it. Like the '08 Memphis Tigers in the NCAA Finals against Kansas, or the '04 Yankees.
Edit to add: I just realized I did nothing but repeat what Tom said. Sorry 'bout that!
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
<< <i>Damn Estil - you sure type fast >>
Well, the magical comeback of my wife's team in 2004 was the first thing that came to my mind, but I couldn't very well leave out my team, now could I?
The secret is that in both cases, it wasn't just squandering a big lead, it was also the way they squandered it.
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Hoarding silver and collecting history
<< <i>Definately 2004 ALCS when the Yankees lost after having the 3 game lead.
The January 3, 1993, NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers (also known as "The Comeback") The Houston Oilers leading 35-3 and then allowing Frank Reich to lead those Bills to victory 38-35 in overtime
Those two would def get my vote for worst chokes ever. I watched that Bills game and i couldnt believe it.
losing after up 6-7, 6-1, 4-1 and 40-15
- the '86 Red Sox (Buckner) letting the Mets win Game 6 of the W.S.
- the '03 Cubs (Bartman!!!) were five outs away from going to the W.S.
- the '64 Phillies losing the NL pennant (6-1/2 game lead blown w/12 games left in season)
Collecting: Topps 1952-79, Bowman 1952-55, OPC 1965-71, and Pre-War White Sox cards
nough said
<< <i>The January 3, 1993, NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers (also known as "The Comeback") The Houston Oilers leading 35-3 and then allowing Frank Reich to lead those Bills to victory 38-35 in overtime
May you have a REALLY bad case of hemorrhoids and due to so much pain in that region, unable to perform with your girl this weekend.
<< <i>Or maybe Jan van de Velde in the 1999 British Open. Needing only a 6 on the par-4 18th hole at Carnoustie to win the British Open on Sunday, Van de Velde squandered the championship in excruciating fashion, clanging one shot off the bleachers, dumping another into the water, chunking yet one more into a bunker before finally making a triple-bogey 7. He went on to lose in a three-man playoff. >>
This was the epitome of an individual choke job. After playing 71 holes to grab a 3 stroke lead on the final hole of a major and then post a triple bogey on the final hole to force a playoff with two other players. It was painful to watch. Choosing to hit the driver off the tee and follow that up with other very poor decisions – I can’t think of a worse individual choke job.
<< <i>
<< <i>Definately 2004 ALCS when the Yankees lost after having the 3 game lead.
The January 3, 1993, NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers (also known as "The Comeback") The Houston Oilers leading 35-3 and then allowing Frank Reich to lead those Bills to victory 38-35 in overtime
Those two would def get my vote for worst chokes ever. I watched that Bills game and i couldnt believe it. >>
Agreed -- but the 2004 ALCS is a bigger choke beause there were 4 chances not to choke.
<< <i>Definately 2004 ALCS when the Yankees lost after having the 3 game lead. My personal favorite btw... >>
First off that was NOT a choke and if you think it was then your team backed in.
IMO the Sox won 4 straight just to prove to those fans who all but had given up were wrong.
Come on! The Sox outplayed the Yankees for 4 games nothing more nothing less.
Steve
<< <i>Greg Norman opened the final round of the 1996 Masters with a six stroke lead. He lost by five strokes. He didn't wait until the final hole to start choking. he needed the Heimlich from the first tee... >>
I can't firmly say that I disagree, but there is a difference in blowing a 2 stroke lead with one hole to play as opposed to a 6 stroke lead with 18 to play.
<< <i>First off that was NOT a choke and if you think it was then your team backed in.
IMO the Sox won 4 straight just to prove to those fans who all but had given up were wrong. >>
I'll agree with the first sentence, but I'm sure their desire to win was just as much internal as it was some desire to prove themselves to people they didn't even know
In game four, Rivera was asked to make a six out save, not sure if he did that even once in the regular season. And all he did was give up a walk and a ground ball single -- and a stolen base by a fraction of an inch. To me, that is just being beaten by another good team doing their job. Games five and six the same, the Yankees playing well, we may remember Jeter and Rodriguez being unable to get a hit, but overall the teams were matched completely evenly; just because Schilling and Ortiz were the two to step up, doesn't mean the Yankees regressed. Finally in game seven they unraveled, or at least the two pitchers did.
<< <i>Greg Norman opened the final round of the 1996 Masters with a six stroke lead. He lost by five strokes. He didn't wait until the final hole to start choking. he needed the Heimlich from the first tee... >>
Oh god, I forgot about that -- I think that even tops the 2004 ALCS, or is at least a close second. Greg Norman coveted the Green Jacket more than anything else -- he would have probably traded all his claret jugs for one. That was a collapse of epic proportions -- even Nick Faldo felt terrible about it.
It has happened twice in the NHL including a Stanley Cup final, and almost a third time in back-to-back series by the same team.
I remember the years, but Wiki's synopsis below is better than what I could write:
During the 1975 Stanley Cup playoffs, the New York Islanders, playing in their first playoffs since their inception in the 1972–73 NHL season, nearly managed an incredible series of upsets to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. After upsetting the New York Rangers two games to one in the preliminary round, the Islanders found themselves behind the Pittsburgh Penguins three games to none in the best-of-seven series in the quarterfinal round. The Islanders rallied to win the next four games and take the series 4–3. The only other NHL team to accomplish the feat of rallying from a 3–0 game deficit to win, was the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals. In the semifinal round of the playoffs, the Islanders nearly did it again. Rallying from another three games to none deficit, they won the next three games to force a seventh game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers took the decisive seventh game at home to win the series and went on to win the Stanley Cup.
<< <i>How about Latrell Sprewell and Don Nelson ? >>
That's just wrong, funny, but wrong.
<< <i>
<< <i>The January 3, 1993, NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers (also known as "The Comeback") The Houston Oilers leading 35-3 and then allowing Frank Reich to lead those Bills to victory 38-35 in overtime
May you have a REALLY bad case of hemorrhoids and due to so much pain in that region, unable to perform with your girl this weekend.
Wrong. But we all know your "knowledge" is rather limited..
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
My second comment was ummmm, sarcastic.
The Yanks were upset, they did not choke.
After game 3 many of the very people posting here had given up.
IIRC I said something to the effect that it ain't over till it's over.
A choke is when a team or player does not focus on the situation at hand but instead worries about what the outcome will be.
Bill Buckner DID NOT choke in that game where the ball went through his legs. He simply made an error.
The title of this thread should have been greatest upsets of all time if people want to claim anything about what happened in 04.
Donnie Moore may have choked in that series against Boston in 86.
The Cubs might have choked after that kid and about 3 others tried to catch that foul ball, if you remember they made about 3 errors
after that play. Instead of focusing on the task at hand they were probably wondering "oh crap what is going to go wrong now"
Just my humble opinion.
Steve
<< <i>Tom
My second comment was ummmm, sarcastic.
The Yanks were upset, they did not choke.
After game 3 many of the very people posting here had given up.
IIRC I said something to the effect that it ain't over till it's over.
A choke is when a team or player does not focus on the situation at hand but instead worries about what the outcome will be.
Steve >>
I dont know Steve I gotta disagree with your logic on this one.
The Yankees blowing that 3 game lead is choking in my book, an upset is when a team that is heavily favored loses- like my 2007 Pats? Personally I think they choked but you would say they were upset?
And yes I was one of the many guys punching walls and breaking furniture after that Game 3 drubbing.
2 up, 2 outs, nobody on. You almost have to try to blow that.
<< <i>How about Latrell Sprewell and Don Nelson ? >>
Didn't Sprewell grab P.J. Carlesimo's neck?
Didn't Sprewell grab P.J. Carlesimo's neck?
That is correct. Latrell became a Knick after that incident..
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>No other team in history to my knowledge ever blew a 3-0 game lead.
Wrong. But we all know your "knowledge" is rather limited..
Ok retard, how many baseball teams came back from 3-0 hoopster? I'm waiting.
Wrong. But we all know your "knowledge" is rather limited.. >>
Ok retard, how many baseball teams came back from 3-0 hoopster? I'm waiting.
Retard? Real classy on your part using a term to offend anyone with a family member with developmental disabilities. You just prove what a moron you are with each and every post..
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>< No other team in history to my knowledge ever blew a 3-0 game lead.
Wrong. But we all know your "knowledge" is rather limited.. >>
Ok retard, how many baseball teams came back from 3-0 hoopster? I'm waiting.
Retard? Real classy on your part using a term to offend anyone with a family member with developmental disabilities. .. >>
Thats you. I dont call someone with a developmental disability a "retard". Thats 80's'ish.
<< < No other team in history to my knowledge ever blew a 3-0 game lead.
Wrong. But we all know your "knowledge" is rather limited.. >>
Ok retard, how many baseball teams came back from 3-0 hoopster? I'm waiting.
Retard? Real classy on your part using a term to offend anyone with a family member with developmental disabilities. .. >>
Thats you. I dont call someone with a developmental disability a "retard". Thats 80's'ish.
So you're saying that the term "retard" is not offensive? You really are more misguided than I thought.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>No other team in history to my knowledge ever blew a 3-0 game lead. >>
There were a couple of NHL teams that did. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1975 New York Islanders (they're the teams that came back from 0-3 down to win though) to be exact.
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
<< <i>The [2004] Yanks were upset, they did not choke. >>
I would have to strongly disagree about calling it an "upset". The Red Sox finished AL Runner-Up the previous year and (I think) 1999 as well. Yes, the Red Sox did have that 1918 curse hanging over their heads but no, I most definitely don't think "upset" is the appropriate term.
Now, if let's say they lost to the Rays (in 2008 instead of the Red Sox losing to them) or lost the World Series to say, the Nationals or the Pirates, then you could call that an upset.
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
<< <i>I see Axtell is back >>
My thoughts exactly.
Jan 2010 you sign up and have 240 posts in which 90% of them are argumentitive, rude & ignorant.
Your throwing stuff out there that only veteran posters would make mention of.
You will be exposed soon enough even if you dont do your routine PM'ing of insults.
The Red Sox team was so pumped, the Cards had no shot as they blew through them 4-0.
Perhaps better to categorize the sport, like football, hockey, etc, etc, everyone has their own viewpoint on the subject line. I'm a bit biased because it worked out for my team against the hated Yankee team. BUT, in that moment, at that time, the Yankee team got their asses handed to them BIG TIME.
I loved it beyond words!!!
<< <i>Has to be the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. What is perhaps overlooked here is that in game 3 (in Fenway), the Yankees crushed the Red Sox 19-8. I'd say close to 100% of fans/viewers felt this thing was history. As pointed out earlier, it took 2 o/t games to overcome the Yankees.
The Red Sox team was so pumped, the Cards had no shot as they blew through them 4-0.
Perhaps better to categorize the sport, like football, hockey, etc, etc, everyone has their own viewpoint on the subject line. I'm a bit biased because it worked out for my team against the hated Yankee team. BUT, in that moment, at that time, the Yankee team got their asses handed to them BIG TIME.
I loved it beyond words!!!
Phenominal post AL!
<< <i>Has to be the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. What is perhaps overlooked here is that in game 3 (in Fenway), the Yankees crushed the Red Sox 19-8. I'd say close to 100% of fans/viewers felt this thing was history. As pointed out earlier, it took 2 o/t games to overcome the Yankees.
The Red Sox team was so pumped, the Cards had no shot as they blew through them 4-0.
Perhaps better to categorize the sport, like football, hockey, etc, etc, everyone has their own viewpoint on the subject line. I'm a bit biased because it worked out for my team against the hated Yankee team. BUT, in that moment, at that time, the Yankee team got their asses handed to them BIG TIME.
I loved it beyond words!!!
I don't feel like reading through this whole thread, but is there really a need for it? I mean, is there a question mark here? The biggest choke job of all time was the 2004 New York Yankees. Period. It was historic, unprecedented, and perhaps never to be seen again.
The Yankees can buy all the WS titles they want, but nothing can equal how satisfying 2004 was to Red Sox Nation.