after the Clipper collapse: time for a ten worst sports defeats thread

[© tweed]

we had one of these many years ago.  one simple rule: you have to have been alive and witnessed the game(s) in real time.

---

1. Oct 19, 1999, NLCS Game 6: Braves 10, Mets 9 (11 inn.).  Games 5 and 6 of this series were some of the craziest baseball I've ever seen.

2. January 17, 1999, AFC Championship Game: Broncos 23, Jets 10.  Jets held 10-0 lead early in 3rd quarter as 8.5 point underdogs to the defending champion Broncos.  a flurry of turnovers and miscues would fck the Jets in a game that was not as lopsided as the score suggests

3. Oct 21, 2000, World Series Game 1: Yankees 4, Mets 3 (12 inn.).  Most Mets fans remember Game 5, but Game 1 is where the series turned.  the Mets held a 3-2 lead entering the 9th.  they blew a chance at picking up insurance runs in the top of the 9th, with runners at 2nd and 3rd, 1 out.  in the bottom of the inning, the Yankees got a single run off of Armando Benitez to tie the game.  a bases-loaded single from Jose Vizcaino in the 12th ended it

4. Sept 12-30, 2007, Mets lose 7 gm lead w/17 to go: Mets blow 99.8% chance at postseason berth with 5-12 finish.  can't narrow this to a single game.  the Sept 30 game, which saw the Mets tied for 1st in the East and for the Wild Card, began with Tom Glavine allowing 7 runs in 1/3 of an inning against the Florida Marlins.  I was at Shea that day, and likened the experience to being on the Titanic as it sunk.

5. January 15, 2005, AFC Divisional Game: Steelers 20, Jets 17.  Doug Brien misses two field goals in the final two minutes that would have sent the 9-point underdog Jets to the AFC Title Game.

6. Oct 19, 2006, NLCS Game 7: Cardinals 3, Mets 1.  Game 2 was also a horror.  the heavily favored Mets simply ran out of pitching, having to give 3 starts total to Oliver Perez (3-13, 6.55 ERA in the regular season) and Steve Trachsel (who had the highest ERA among qualifying pitchers in the NL, despite a deceptive 15-8 record.)  Billy Wagner imploded, as Sam Spade warned he would (though the Phillies' Brad Lidge didn't implode in 2008, as Sam Spade also warned he would, en route to the first Phillies title since 1980.  Spade just had it in for every ex-Astro closer)

7. January 23, 2011, AFC Championship Game: Steelers 24, Jets 19.  Jets faced a 24-0 deficit, netted a field goal to cut it to 24-3 before half, and then got to work.  they moved the ball and the Steelers didn't in the second half, but, alas, a day late and a buck short.

8. May 14, 2015, Western Conf. Quarterfinals Game 6: Rockets 119, Clippers 107.  still digesting

9. January 4, 2003, Fiesta Bowl/BCS National Championship Game: #2 Ohio State 31, #1 Miami 24 (2 OT).  we all know about the phantom pass interference call thrown 4 seconds too late.  Miami's win streak snapped at 35.  an ignominious end to the grand Ken Dorsey era.  Miami has not been a national title contender since

10. April 30, 2002, Eastern Conf. Quarterfinal Game 7: Maple Leafs 4, Islanders 2.  this was my first taste of playoff hockey.  the home team won all 7 games in this series.  the Isles scored the first goal, went down 3-1, got a quick 3rd period goal to make it 3-2, but the Leafs held the fort and scored an empty-netter as the third period was winding down.  the series was colored by the loss of Michael Peca on a dirty hit from Toronto's Darcy Tucker.

[traininthedistance]

The "2002" Wild Card Round, where the Giants blew a 24-point lead against the 49ers and then got screwed by the refs in the final moments, was the worst loss I've ever witnessed.  I still get the dry heaves thinking about it.

[© tweed]

The "2002" Wild Card Round, where the Giants blew a 24-point lead against the 49ers and then got screwed by the refs in the final moments, was the worst loss I've ever witnessed.  I still get the dry heaves thinking about it.

two SB titles (won with ridiculously inferior teams, btw) can't wipe that taste from out of your mouth?  how about the Eagles Miracle at the Meadowlands pt 2 in 2010?

[Senate Minority Leader Lord Voldemort]

The 2006 Rose Bowl was a very painful experience for my family and I. And to see a re-Pete in similar fashion in this year's Super Bowl was.... wow. No words. The USC loss was probably the worst for me since I was so emotionally invested in the damn thing.

[bedstuy]

The "2002" Wild Card Round, where the Giants blew a 24-point lead against the 49ers and then got screwed by the refs in the final moments, was the worst loss I've ever witnessed.  I still get the dry heaves thinking about it.

That was horrible.  If I remember correctly, they should have called pass interference on the final play, giving the Giants another chance to kick the game winning field goal. 

[OSR stands with Israel]

we had one of these many years ago.  one simple rule: you have to have been alive and witnessed the game(s) in real time.

---

1. Oct 19, 1999, NLCS Game 6: Braves 10, Mets 9 (11 inn.).  Games 5 and 6 of this series were some of the craziest baseball I've ever seen.

2. January 17, 1999, AFC Championship Game: Broncos 23, Jets 10.  Jets held 10-0 lead early in 3rd quarter as 8.5 point underdogs to the defending champion Broncos.  a flurry of turnovers and miscues would fck the Jets in a game that was not as lopsided as the score suggests

3. Oct 21, 2000, World Series Game 1: Yankees 4, Mets 3 (12 inn.).  Most Mets fans remember Game 5, but Game 1 is where the series turned.  the Mets held a 3-2 lead entering the 9th.  they blew a chance at picking up insurance runs in the top of the 9th, with runners at 2nd and 3rd, 1 out.  in the bottom of the inning, the Yankees got a single run off of Armando Benitez to tie the game.  a bases-loaded single from Jose Vizcaino in the 12th ended it

4. Sept 12-30, 2007, Mets lose 7 gm lead w/17 to go: Mets blow 99.8% chance at postseason berth with 5-12 finish.  can't narrow this to a single game.  the Sept 30 game, which saw the Mets tied for 1st in the East and for the Wild Card, began with Tom Glavine allowing 7 runs in 1/3 of an inning against the Florida Marlins.  I was at Shea that day, and likened the experience to being on the Titanic as it sunk.

5. January 15, 2005, AFC Divisional Game: Steelers 20, Jets 17.  Doug Brien misses two field goals in the final two minutes that would have sent the 9-point underdog Jets to the AFC Title Game.

6. Oct 19, 2006, NLCS Game 7: Cardinals 3, Mets 1.  Game 2 was also a horror.  the heavily favored Mets simply ran out of pitching, having to give 3 starts total to Oliver Perez (3-13, 6.55 ERA in the regular season) and Steve Trachsel (who had the highest ERA among qualifying pitchers in the NL, despite a deceptive 15-8 record.)  Billy Wagner imploded, as Sam Spade warned he would (though the Phillies' Brad Lidge didn't implode in 2008, as Sam Spade also warned he would, en route to the first Phillies title since 1980.  Spade just had it in for every ex-Astro closer)

7. January 23, 2011, AFC Championship Game: Steelers 24, Jets 19.  Jets faced a 24-0 deficit, netted a field goal to cut it to 24-3 before half, and then got to work.  they moved the ball and the Steelers didn't in the second half, but, alas, a day late and a buck short.

8. May 14, 2015, Western Conf. Quarterfinals Game 6: Rockets 119, Clippers 107.  still digesting

9. January 4, 2003, Fiesta Bowl/BCS National Championship Game: #2 Ohio State 31, #1 Miami 24 (2 OT).  we all know about the phantom pass interference call thrown 4 seconds too late.  Miami's win streak snapped at 35.  an ignominious end to the grand Ken Dorsey era.  Miami has not been a national title contender since

10. April 30, 2002, Eastern Conf. Quarterfinal Game 7: Maple Leafs 4, Islanders 2.  this was my first taste of playoff hockey.  the home team won all 7 games in this series.  the Isles scored the first goal, went down 3-1, got a quick 3rd period goal to make it 3-2, but the Leafs held the fort and scored an empty-netter as the third period was winding down.  the series was colored by the loss of Michael Peca on a dirty hit from Toronto's Darcy Tucker.

Where 2008 NBA finals game 4 where LA held a 24 point lead and 20 with 18 minutes left in games then lose. Or 2000 WCF game 7 Portland up 15 with 9 minutes left then lose.

[NewYorkExpress]

I can probably go many more than ten... (also, the "Alive and witnessed the game" rule is garbage IMO)

(These are not in any order, largely because of the differences between various sports)

15.  Game Six, 1985 World Series The Cardinals likely would have won the World Series in six, rather than lost in seven, if umpire Don Denkinger had gotten a call up the first base line correct.

14. 1988 World Series People seem to be forgetting just how big a favorite the Oakland A;s were...

13. 2009 PGA Championship At this time, Tiger Woods, was unbeaten in playoffs...and entered the final round with a two shot lead. Instead Y.E YAng wins by three shots, a five-stroke swing, and Tiger hasn't really looked the same since.

12. 2009 U.S Open-Men's Singles No One had had defeated both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the same tournament, and the along comes Juan Martin Del Potro, and he beats both...and wins the tournament.

11. Super Bowl III This one states the obvious

10. Super XLII Did anyone think the New York Giants had a chance?

9. 2007 Fiesta Bowl A great game, a great pair of teams...but Oklahoma really should have won that game.

8. 1997/2003 World Series Remind me what the Marlins Payroll was both years?

7. 2008 American League Championship Series We got our Cinderella in the Rays...but the Red Sox should have won that series

6. Red Sox and Braves both blow 8 1/2 (nine for Boston) game wild card leads in September 2011. Like I said, no particular order...

5. Game 5, 2007 American League Championship Series I don't care what your thoughts on the Yankees are, midges should not influence a baseball game.

4. 1999 Open Championship There's a reason the term "pulling a Van de Velde" is part of golf's lexicon.

3. 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, Game 6  I think it's safe to say the refs robbed the Buffalo Sabers.

2. 2001 AFC Divisional Playoff Game- Oakland at New England Is it telling that they dumped the "tuck rule" after the season?

1b. 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals, Games 6&7 If it wasn't for a thoroughly corrupt NBA, the Sacramento Kings might have won that series.

1a. 2004 American League Championship Series Once again, stating the obvious.

[traininthedistance]

The "2002" Wild Card Round, where the Giants blew a 24-point lead against the 49ers and then got screwed by the refs in the final moments, was the worst loss I've ever witnessed.  I still get the dry heaves thinking about it.

two SB titles (won with ridiculously inferior teams, btw) can't wipe that taste from out of your mouth?  how about the Eagles Miracle at the Meadowlands pt 2 in 2010?

What?  That doesn't follow.  Just because you've reached the peak doesn't mean you've forgotten the valleys.

[DemPGH]

As I posted over there, #1 is easy.

1. Game 7 of the 2001 World Series: Diamondbacks 3 Yankees 2.

The home team won all 7 games in this series, but this particular loss was a real tough pill to swallow, because it is arguably (and very sadly) the only real, actual blemish on the sterling career of one Mariano Rivera. Ahead 2-1 in the ninth inning, Rivera actually blew the save.

2. Objectively, Super Bowl 42 from Feb. 3, 2008 deserves mention, even if you are no Pats fan. They had a chance to go 19-0 and win a championship, but lost to the inconsistent NY Giants, 17-14 in the S.B.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

My top 5, ranked.  Unsurprisingly, four of them are about the Wizards, and one for the Nats.

2012 NLDS Game 5 - this one might hurt the most, because we were so close (just one out away.)
2015 Eastern Conference Semis, Game 6 - the shot was good, and then waved off.  I'm still in shock.
2006 Eastern Conference Round 1, Game 5 - the crab dribble.
2015 Eastern Conference Semis, Game 5 - regained the lead with 8 seconds to go, and lost because we didn't get the rebound.
2006 Eastern Conference Round 1, Game 6 - Damon Jones buzzer beater to end the Wizards season, after LeBron (illegally) taunts Gilbert at the free throw line.

[traininthedistance]

2. Objectively, Super Bowl 42 from Feb. 3, 2008 deserves mention, even if you are no Pats fan. They had a chance to go 19-0 and win a championship, but lost to the inconsistent NY Giants, 17-14 in the S.B.

That's not "worst defeat", that's "greatest victory."  Let's get our words right here.

[Boris]

1. 2003 NLCS Game 6 (Cubs vs Marlins)
2. US Presidential Election, 2004 (Kerry vs Bush)
3. 2010 Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Gold Medal Match (USA v Canada)
4. Super Bowl XLI (Bears vs Colts)
5. 2014 NHL Western Conference Finals, 7 (Blackhawks vs Kings)
6. 2011 NHL Western Conference Quarterfinal, Game 7 (Blackhawks vs Canucks)
7. 2011 NFC Conference Championship (Bears vs Packers)
8. 2008 NLDS, Game 2 (Cubs vs Dodgers)
9. 2011 NBA Western Conference Finals, Game 5 (Bulls vs Heat)
10 1997 NLCS Game 6 (Braves vs Marlins)

[RI]

My most painful personally would be:

5. MLB: August 1, 2012 (Rangers over Angels)
4. 2009 ALCS, Game 2 (Yankees over Angels)
3. 2005 Rose Bowl (Texas over USC)
2. 2005 ALCS, Game 2 (White Sox over Angels)
1. Super Bowl XLIX (Patriots over Seahawks)

[KingSweden]

I'm surprising Brazil getting skunked 7-1 by Germany on home soil last year hasn't made this list yet, but I remember coming to my folks' house from lunch, turning on the game to see it was 5-0 at the half, and my dad and I both started laughing in stunned shock.

[DemPGH]

I hadn't the foggiest clue as to what 7-1 referred to until I saw "Brazil" and "Germany," so I can pretty safely assume that what's being referred to is soccer.

And oh, another #2. 2004 ALCS, the Yankees blew a three-games-to-none lead in the series to lose four straight to the (gulp) Red Sox. Infamy, I say!

2. Objectively, Super Bowl 42 from Feb. 3, 2008 deserves mention, even if you are no Pats fan. They had a chance to go 19-0 and win a championship, but lost to the inconsistent NY Giants, 17-14 in the S.B.

That's not "worst defeat", that's "greatest victory."  Let's get our words right here.

A-ha, perhaps empathizing with the enemy for just a minute. The football on the helmet catch is one of the most unbelievably great S.B. plays all time, to be remembered with Marcus Allen's thrilling run in S.B. XVIII and Montana to Taylor in the closing minute of XXIII.

[Хahar 🤔]

Allow me to indulge myself, if I may.

7. Aug. 24, 2009: Rockies 6, Giants 4 (14 inn.). I can't in good conscience put this any higher because it ultimately meant very little. The Dodgers ran away with the division this year, so the prize here was the wild card. This Giants team arrived ahead of schedule, using a spectacular pitching staff to vault itself into contention despite fielding a starting lineup with all of one above-average hitter (Pablo Sandoval). Meanwhile the Rockies got off to a miserable start, fired Clint Hurdle as manager, and promptly caught fire with Jim Tracy. Entering this four-game series in Denver, the Giants were two games back. They won the first, bringing them within one, but then dropped the next two. In this game, Barry Zito threw six innings and allowed only a run, but that was all the Giants could get off Jason Marquis, and so the game remained a 1-1 tie through thirteen innings. I was very sick at the time and the game was encroaching on midnight, and so I lay in bed listening on the radio. The Giants scored three in the top of the fourteenth, buoyed by a two-run triple from Eugenio Velez of all people, but then the very back of the Giants' bullpen, which was excellent all year, killed it. Justin Miller (who notably had a giant "LA" tattoo on his back) came in and failed to find the strike zone and allowed an inherited runner to score and left the bases loaded for ex-prospect Merkin Valdez, who obligingly yielded a grand slam to noted marginal major leaguer Ryan Spilborghs. Just a week later the Rockies came to San Francisco and the Giants swept them to pull even, buoyed by an Edgar Renteria grand slam in the final game, but they faded down the stretch as the Rockies took the wild card. This game was barely meaningful in the end, but when I see its win probability chart in a banner ad on Fangraphs (as I often do) it still hurts.

6. January 19, 2014, NFC Championship Game: Seahawks 23, 49ers 17. The period from 2011 to 2013 was the only time when I've been seriously emotionally invested in the NFL, mostly because it's the only time I've ever had anything to be emotionally invested in. During that time I expected the 49ers to win every game. The 49ers went 12-4 in 2013, but that regular season was infuriating because unlike in the two previous years they couldn't run away with the division. It seemed brutally unfair to me that the 49ers, the best team in the league, would have to go on the road to play a Seahawks team that wasn't even that good. The only reason Seattle finished in first place at all was because the 49ers lost at the Superdome when Donte Whitner was flagged for unnecessary roughness on a clean hit on Drew Brees. The NFC championship started out well, with Seattle turning it over early and San Francisco getting out to a quick lead. Colin Kaepernick was providing the entirety of the offense, but that was a problem that would sort itself out, and besides they were already winning even without anyone else contributing. Then the lead slipped away and NaVorro Bowman's knee was destroyed on a fumble recovery the referees failed to acknowledge and even though Colin Kaepernick made a valiant effort on the last drive he came up short. I reconciled myself to what happened with the notion that the 49ers wouldn't have won in the Super Bowl anyway without Bowman, but after the Broncos' miserable performance two weeks later it was clear that that wasn't true. I didn't realize it until the next September but that was the end.

5. May 25, 2011: Marlins 7, Giants 6 (12 inn.). The Giants were defending champions and in first place, but I was busy with homework on this Wednesday night so I was only half paying attention to this game. Madison Bumgarner wasn't great and the Giants were down 3-2 after eight, whereupon Bruce Bochy, who has constantly demonstrated an infuriating refusal to acknowledge that Javier Lopez is to be used against left-handers only, put in Lopez to pitch the ninth, which ended in Mike Stanton hitting a three-run double to break the game open. In the bottom of the ninth the Giants mounted a four-run rally. With the team down to its last strike, Aubrey Huff hit a two-run single to tie the game at six. In the top of the twelfth, with Guillermo Mota on the mound for the Giants, Scott Cousins came in as a pinch-hitter and failed to get a sacrifice bunt down successfully, resulting in a forceout and in his standing on first base. Omar Infante singled him to third and Emilio Bonifacio hit a fly ball, whereupon Scott Cousins shattered Buster Posey's leg. The Giants failed to score in the bottom of the inning and lost the game, but it hardly mattered. I was amazed at how strongly I felt. It was as if someone had died.

4. January 22, 2012, NFC Championship Game: Giants 20, 49ers 17 (OT). I knew Jim Harbaugh was a very good coach, having watched what he did at Stanford, but I expected it would take a few years. Instead the 49ers in 2011 went 13-3. In the divisional round at Candlestick they beat New Orleans 36-32 behind Alex Smith in what remains my favorite 49ers game of all time. The next day the unstoppable Packers lost to the Giants, and all of a sudden instead of having to go to Lambeau the 49ers were going to play the NFC championship right here at Candlestick. Moreover, they were going to play against a bad team that they had already beaten once that year. Then things failed to work out and somehow the game went to overtime and then Kyle Williams muffed a punt and we were treated to the excruciating spectacle of waiting for the inevitable game-ending field goal. This loss wouldn't have been quite as upsetting if it hadn't come to a team with a negative point differential for the season. The 49ers had every reason to win that game and it didn't happen.

3. February 3, 2013, Super Bowl XLVII: Ravens 34, 49ers 31. I moved to Maryland in August 2012, and lo and behold, the 49ers played the Ravens in the Super Bowl that very year. Obviously losing the Super Bowl is frustrating, and this was especially so because of proximity. Some of my best friends are Ravens fans, but now that it's been a couple years and I've had time to gain some perspective, I can say that my initial feelings were correct and that the Ravens organization is reprehensible and the Ravens fanbase as a collective is unusually unpleasant. As for the game itself, what rankled once again was the feeling of losing to an inferior team. The 2012 Ravens were better than the 2011 Giants, but they were worse than Ravens teams of previous years and certainly worse than the 49ers. Yet the game got out of hand early, and as I watched it it reminded me of nothing more than watching Oakland's rout at the hands of Tampa Bay a decade earlier. Eventually sometime in the third quarter the 49ers remembered that they were in fact the much better team and discovered that Baltimore could not stop Frank Gore. Gore got the 49ers to within the ten-yard line with under two minutes to go and a chance to take the lead with a touchdown, whereupon genius 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman in his infinite wisdom decided to call four straight pass plays. People complained afterward that Michael Crabtree was held on fourth down, which might have been the case, but it hardly mattered. Gore should have gotten the ball. If the 49ers had won, he would have been Super Bowl MVP, which would have been a fitting reward after toiling for years in San Francisco on so many terrible teams. Instead there was nothing, and on Monday morning I saw T-shirts all around campus commemorating that nothing, and they never left after that.

2. Oct. 2, 2004: Dodgers 7, Giants 3. This was the year Barry Bonds hit .362/.609/.812. I followed this team every day and I still have a hard time believing that happened. Entering the final series of the season in Los Angeles, the Giants were three games behind the Dodgers and one game behind Houston for the wild card and in need of a sweep to control their destiny. They won the first game 4-2 behind Kirk Rueter, who closed out his last decent season by throwing seven innings and allowing just two runs while only striking out one batter. I still can't understand how he had any success at all with a 3.8 career K/9. In any case, the next day Brett Tomko of all people found it within himself to throw a gem, going 7 2/3 scoreless, and the Giants entered the bottom of the ninth with a three-run lead and three outs to go. The Giants' miserable bullpen promptly laid a turd, with the help of a clutch error at shortstop by defensive replacement Cody Ransom, and with one out, the game already tied, and the bases loaded, Wayne Franklin came in to face Steve Finley, who was nearing the end of his only half-season with the Dodgers, and promptly allowed a walkoff grand slam that decided the division. The Giants won 10-0 the next day, but it didn't matter because the Rockies had already rolled over like dogs and been swept by the Astros, thereby eliminating the Giants from the wild card and from the postseason. I think about that grand slam constantly.

1. Oct. 26, 2002, World Series Game 6: Angels 6, Giants 5. Everyone I know knows what happened here. I was seven years old and infatuated with baseball and convinced that my team was going to win. The Giants were up 5-0 with eight outs to go and then Felix Rodriguez got the ball and everything fell apart. That was Robb Nen's last game of his career, because he gave his arm to the team down the stretch and the team came up empty and he was never healthy again. Of course the Giants lost again the next day, but nobody remembers that. Barry Bonds, the best hitter of all time, never got to win a World Series. I don't think a sporting event can ever again mean as much to me as that one did, now that I'm older and I've seen some sports success in my life.

There's no basketball on this list because the Warriors have never had a painful defeat in my lifetime. Even losing to the Clippers in Game 7 in 2014 didn't feel that way so much as it felt like an accomplishment just to be in that situation. I've never been sufficiently emotionally invested in the Sharks for any of their innumerable postseason losses to make an impact. When I think of bad losses I think of Michigan State's victory over Maryland in the second round of the tournament in 2010, but even though I saw that game I wasn't a Maryland fan at the time, so it doesn't qualify. There is a very good chance that Maryland will be ranked #1 for the first time in program history at the start of next season, so probably I'll have a chance to add a Terps game to this list.

[© tweed]

the advanced metrics very much disagree with "the 2013 Seahawks weren't even very good".

[bedstuy]

4. January 22, 2012, NFC Championship Game: Giants 20, 49ers 17 (OT). I knew Jim Harbaugh was a very good coach, having watched what he did at Stanford, but I expected it would take a few years. Instead the 49ers in 2011 went 13-3. In the divisional round at Candlestick they beat New Orleans 36-32 behind Alex Smith in what remains my favorite 49ers game of all time. The next day the unstoppable Packers lost to the Giants, and all of a sudden instead of having to go to Lambeau the 49ers were going to play the NFC championship right here at Candlestick. Moreover, they were going to play against a bad team that they had already beaten once that year. Then things failed to work out and somehow the game went to overtime and then Kyle Williams muffed a punt and we were treated to the excruciating spectacle of waiting for the inevitable game-ending field goal. This loss wouldn't have been quite as upsetting if it hadn't come to a team with a negative point differential for the season. The 49ers had every reason to win that game and it didn't happen.

That's underrating how good the Giants were that season and how mediocre the 49ers were on offense.  Alex Smith couldn't throw the ball outside the numbers so Vernon Davis had to be their entire passing game. 

[7,052,770]

2014: Alabama 25, Mississippi State 20.

After years and years of agony, we finally get a chance at glory and we blow it.

[7,052,770]

Oh, and also this travesty:



I would've thrown my garbage all over the field too.

[Хahar 🤔]

the advanced metrics very much disagree with "the 2013 Seahawks weren't even very good".

Obviously in retrospect this was not true, but I strongly felt it to be true at the time.

That's underrating how good the Giants were that season and how mediocre the 49ers were on offense.  Alex Smith couldn't throw the ball outside the numbers so Vernon Davis had to be their entire passing game. 

394 points scored, 400 points allowed. I'll make no claim that the 49ers' passing offense was anything more than adequate (in the game-winning drive against New Orleans, the 49ers were forced to use Brett Swain as a receiver), but that Giants team was nothing more than mediocre.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Oh, in terms of which defeats were hardest on me? Then of course the 2014 Champions League final. Dear God, that was just horrible.

[RI]

1. Oct. 26, 2002, World Series Game 6: Angels 6, Giants 5. Everyone I know knows what happened here. I was seven years old and infatuated with baseball and convinced that my team was going to win. The Giants were up 5-0 with eight outs to go and then Felix Rodriguez got the ball and everything fell apart. That was Robb Nen's last game of his career, because he gave his arm to the team down the stretch and the team came up empty and he was never healthy again. Of course the Giants lost again the next day, but nobody remembers that. Barry Bonds, the best hitter of all time, never got to win a World Series. I don't think a sporting event can ever again mean as much to me as that one did, now that I'm older and I've seen some sports success in my life.

Nah, this is the greatest game in MLB history. It's hard for me to feel bad at all for SF considering their three subsequent WS wins and the fact that Bonds was on that team; he never deserved a ring. It was pretty much the Angels slaying the devil.

[Associate Justice PiT]

1. Oct. 26, 2002, World Series Game 6: Angels 6, Giants 5. Everyone I know knows what happened here. I was seven years old and infatuated with baseball and convinced that my team was going to win. The Giants were up 5-0 with eight outs to go and then Felix Rodriguez got the ball and everything fell apart. That was Robb Nen's last game of his career, because he gave his arm to the team down the stretch and the team came up empty and he was never healthy again. Of course the Giants lost again the next day, but nobody remembers that. Barry Bonds, the best hitter of all time, never got to win a World Series. I don't think a sporting event can ever again mean as much to me as that one did, now that I'm older and I've seen some sports success in my life.

Nah, this is the greatest game in MLB history. It's hard for me to feel bad at all for SF considering their three subsequent WS wins and the fact that Bonds was on that team; he never deserved a ring. It was pretty much the Angels slaying the devil.

     The three subsequent wins shouldn't be a factor, considering that this loss marked 48 years without a title for us and the sheer length of the drought is something that hung over the Giants' heads until 2010. It sucked pretty badly at the time.

     With that said, I think little of that entire era in retrospect. If anything good came out of the 2002 WS loss, it is that Willie Mays is still the uncontested all-time hero of the Giants. He was a real sportsman and I am quite livid that A-Roid has passed Mays on the Career HR leaderboard.