The Raptors lost tonight 106-102 to the Washington Wizards and in the last 2 minutes of the game I must have dropped 50 f-bombs. I was by myself in the Sports Informer Penthouse and just went on a swearing tirade as frustration eventually boiled over. I am sure the girls downstairs heard me and probably think I murdered someone but really it was just the Raptors murdering my head. You can call it stupid or insane but I call it passionate.
Passion is what sports fan so unique. You pick your team and you follow them through thick and thin. If they lose you lose and if they win you win. Your mood is directly affected by the play of your team and in moments of great triumph you can feel like a million bucks but if the pendulum swings the other well that's when the f-bombs fly.
For me the greatest moments were in 2004 and 2007 when the Red Sox won the World Series and in 2005 when Laurier went undefeated and won the Vanier Cup. There have been other great moments but none that stand out as vividly as those 3.
In terms of the opposite, well there have been a number of those as well. There have been a number of hard to swallow defeats (Canucks in Game 7 of '94 Stanley Cup Finals, Sox in 08 and 09 Playoffs and of course the Raptors in 2007 losing to the Nets) but there are 4 games that will remain ingrained in my memory forever. These weren't just losses they were Stomach Punch losses.
What is a Stomach Punch loss you ask? A Stomach Punch loss is a loss that usually occurs with one play for instance a home run, a made basket, a goal, a missed field goal or anything really but the main thing is it has to end abruptly. Secondly it usually occurs in a big game with something on the line. That doesn't necessarily mean it is for a championship but it can't be some random game in July in MLB or something.
Now that a Stomach Punch loss has been defined I now present my Mount Rushmore of Stomach Punch losses. Please leave your Mount Rushmore of Stomach Punch losses in the comments section if you have time.
The River City Relay
I became a New Orleans Saints fan when I was 12 years old. Basically the day they drafted Ricky Williams I was in. My dad is a massive Packers fan and although I wanted to join him and count myself as one of the cheeseheads I just always Brett Favre. Something about him maybe me hate him and so I was forced to find a team of my own.
I settled on the Saints because of Williams and also because of their uniforms (give me a break I was 12). I was finally old enough to start grasping the game and so I watched the Saints as often as possible and even asked for an Aaron Brooks jersey for Christmas (thank God I didn't get that gift as Brooks turned out to be a huge bust). However 4 years into my support of the Saints it all came to a crashing end.
December 21st, 2003. The Saints were playing the Jaguars in Jacksonville and needed to win in order to make the playoffs. Things looked bleak when the Jags took a 20-13 lead with just 7 seconds left in the game. The Saints had the ball at their own 25-yard line and needed a miracle. Brooks dropped back and fired a bullet to Donte Stallworth at midfield. Stallworth caught the pass, broke a few tackles and then pitched it to Joe Horn. What followed was a series of laterals that eventually ended with Jerome Pathon running into the endzone for a touchdown with no flags on the field. Needless to say I was going apeshit.
The Saints had pulled off a miracle and now had all the momentum going into overtime where they would surely win and keep their playoff hopes alive.
Then it happened.
John "%$#@sucker" Carney missed the extra point. After all that he kicked it wide right and the Saints loss 20-19.
Stomach Punch.
I had never felt so low in my entire life (maybe at my grandpas funeral but I was only 6 or 7 when that happened and to this day can't remember that event at all). I was literally almost in tears as the Saints had gone from potential playoff team to just another team watching it all from home.
This was my first experience of true pain as a sports fan and is one of my earliest memories from my childhood. After that play I gave up on the Saints and have never cheered for them again. I am not proud of this fact but it is true and I will openly admit it. I blame my age and John Carney.
That was my first experience with a Stomach Punch loss.
The Graduation Game
That is the name I have given to Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in 2001. The date was May 20, 2001 and the Raptors were 1 game away from going to the NBA Championship. I figured that there was no way we could lose. They had Iverson but we had Carter and he was carrying the Raptors and was showing heart and desire for the first time in his career.
The reason the game is dubbed the 'Graduation Game' is because on the morning of Game 7 Carter attended his university graduation ceremony a move that earned him criticism from fans, pundits and teammates. The reason this decision was so huge and ridiculed was because of what happened with 2.0 seconds left in the game.
Let's start the recap with 1 minute left in the game.
Dell Curry pulled up in transition and hit a 3-pointer to pull the Raptors to 88-87 with 54 seconds left. Iverson missed a jumper at the other end, but Tyrone Hill grabbed the offensive rebound and the Sixers ran the clock down to 10 seconds before Iverson passed to Snow for a jumper that missed.
The Raptors rebounded, but didn't call timeout until 3.6 seconds remained, and the Sixers had a foul to give and used it -- running the clock down to 2.0 seconds. I remember watching the game thinking to myself that everyone in the building new the inbound was going to Carter and that they should try and give it to someone else and hope for an open look. But being the Raptors they did the predictable thing and fed it to Carter who caught it and turned and launched a 25 foot prayer from the left corner.
The ball was only in the air for a second or two but it felt like eternity. It looked good and then CLANG, off the back rim.
Stomach Punch.
This was the closest I had ever seen the Raptors get and everyone had gone so well for them. They had played decent defense down the stretch and got the last shot of the game and had gotten the ball into the hands of their superstar who had an open look. What more could you ask for?
This is why the decision to go to the graduation was so massive. It is Game 7 and Carter is flying around the country to get a piece of paper. This is why I hate Vince Carter. I appreciate everything he did for the Raptors franchise and realize that if he wasn't on the team the Raptors may have folded within the first few years. Still missing that shot is unforgivable and was a real Stomach Punch that I won't soon forget.
The Battle of the West
I loathe the Calgary Flames. Everything about them pisses me off. Their stupid uniforms, their overrated goalie, their bandwagon fans, Iginla and of course their stupid team name. I mean what do Flames have to do with Calgary? Get a real team name douchers.
But I digress.
April 19, 2004. It is Game 7 between the Canucks and the Calgary Flames. The game is in Vancouver and after Morrison's huge OT goal in Game 6 the momentum is all in Vancouver's favor.
It remains to this day the greatest hockey game I have ever seen. There were big saves, huge hits and a couple of fights. Both teams were playing like they wanted it and going into the 3rd period the Flames were leading 2-1 due to 2 goals by Jarome Iginla (huge vag). I spent most of the the 3rd period short of breath and not in my seat as I was constantly jumping out of it when Vancouver came close to scoring.
I almost went delirious when Matt Cooke scored the game tying goal with 5 seconds left. To say that I went nuts would be like saying Lindsay Lohan likes to drink. It was probably one of the happiest moments of my life which was followed quickly by one of the saddest.
After all the hard work the Canucks put in and after everything that had happened in the series it ended just 85 seconds in to overtime when Martin Gelinas scored to clinch the series for the Calgary Flamers sorry I mean Flames.
Unreal Stomach Punch.
I barely had time to catch my breath from the end of regulation. I was still trying to process it all and then it just ended.
The above Stomach Punches are bad but when you lose to your rival in Game 7 like that there just isn't anything that compares. If you win it is pure euphoria but a loss just drives you into a serious depression. Which leads me to the final Stomach Punch loss on the mountain.
Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS
I wrote about 800 word about this. Then deleted them and started again. I did this about 5 times and am emotionally drained. There are too many emotions and thoughts that run through my mind when I think about this game that really there is only 3 words that appropriately sum it all up:
1 comment:
Wade @!*&ing Dubielewicz
Post a Comment