There’s a famous saying about sports, that it’s the perfect platform to illustrate the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. That’s a very true statement, and sometimes we forget just how fine a line there really is between those two things. The thrill for one side equals agony for the other, and anyone who has played sports can tell you that losing is never easy, and the relief of not losing is often a better feeling than the thrill of winning. In some cases, the agony of defeat is especially strong, such as with 10 of our favorite meltdowns and collapses in sporting history.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Now and then we like to dig back into the TopTenz.net archives and re-share some of our best content as TopTenz Classics. With the Cleveland Cavs trying to become the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 Finals deficit, please enjoy this classic list from 2012.)
10. Edmonton Oilers v Calgary Flames (Hockey, 1986)
Some people may not remember this, because virtually nobody cares about hockey outside of Canadians and Russians, but the Edmonton Oilers were an absolutely unstoppable dynasty back in the ’80s. That’s what happens when you have guys like Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier scoring goals, a guy like Paul Coffey breaking the records for most goals and points by a defenseman in a single season, and guys like Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog stopping almost every goal in their path. And it looked like they might have been well on their way to their third straight Stanley Cup victory, and only they would be able to beat themselves. Unfortunately for the Oilers, that’s exactly what happened.
The Oilers faced the Calgary Flames in the second round of the 1986 playoffs and, with the score tied at 2-2 in game seven, Edmonton had possession of the puck late in the third period, and pretty much everyone just assumed they’d either score late or win it in overtime. Because, you know, Gretzky. However, when defenseman Steve Smith tried to make a pass near the Oilers’ goal, the puck bounced off of Fuhr and into the net, giving the Flames a 3-2 lead, and an eventual win on an own goal. You probably shouldn’t feel too bad for the Oilers, though, since they just turned around and won three of the next four Stanley Cups.
9. LSU Tigers vs. Kentucky Wildcats (Basketball, 1994)
In 1994, Kentucky marched into Baton Rouge with a No. 11-ranking, and every intent on moving up in the polls and stopping a two-game losing streak, as they took on SEC rival LSU. Very promptly, they discovered that a victory might not be so easy. That’s because the Tigers raced out to a 48-32 halftime lead and, after an 18-0 run early in the second half, found themselves ahead by a whopping 31 points. To put things in perspective, the largest comeback in NCAA basketball history had been a 29-point halftime deficit overcome by Duke…in 1950.
The Wildcats decided that night would be a good time to make history, however, as Kentucky scored 24 of the next 28 points to get back into the game, and a steal and dunk by Walter McCarty closed the gap to 82-74 with 6:25 remaining. It was McCarty again who gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game, on a three-pointer with 19 seconds left, to make it 96-95, and Kentucky would go on to win 99-95 and break the record for largest comeback in NCAA history.
8. Portland Trailblazers vs Los Angeles Lakers (Basketball, 2000)
Oh, those crazy Lakers. A franchise despised by many, primarily for being insanely successful, they were on the verge of submitting one of the great collapses in NBA history. They had led the Portland Trailblazers 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals in 2000, only to allow the Blazers to battle back and square things up at three games apiece, heading into the decisive seventh game. It looked like that collapse would soon be complete, as the Blazers grabbed a 75-60 lead in the fourth quarter.
And that’s when the Lakers, with Shaq and Kobe, remembered that they were the Lakers, and, oh yeah, they had Shaq and Kobe. So they went ahead and mounted what is one of the biggest fourth-quarter comebacks in NBA history. The comeback started with a 15-0 run to knot things at 75-75, and wound up putting the Blazers away 89-84, on their way to an NBA championship. We imagine that Portland fans stewed for a bit, and then returned to creating computer software, cutting down trees, and smoking weed. That’s what people do in Oregon, right?
7. New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers (Football, 2002)
There have been some pretty devastating playoff losses in NFL history, including one we’re going to get to in just a little bit. But, for the fans of the New York Giants, perhaps none were as much of a gut punch as their 2002 choke job against the San Francisco 49ers. The Giants led by 24 points midway through the third quarter, and were seemingly well on their way to a victory, when that pesky little Jeff Garcia, and his soon-to-be-arch-nemesis Terrell Owens, decided to take the game over.
The Niners battled all the way back from being down 38-14, scoring 25 unanswered points to take a 39-38 lead, with Garcia passing for three touchdowns and running for another, with Owens hauling in nine catches for 177 yards over the course of the game. The Giants had a chance to earn the victory in the waning seconds, but a botched snap, and a penalty flag as time expired, wiped out any hope for last-minute heroics from Kerry Collins. Their real problem, of course, was that they were hoping for heroics from Kerry Collins.
6. California Angels vs The American League West (Baseball, 1995)
It’s never a good thing in professional sports when the late part of your season is described as a “disastrous collapse,” but that’s exactly how the final month of the California Angels’ 1995 season is remembered, and for good reason. On August 16 of that year, the Angels found themselves running away with the American League West Division, leading the next closest team, the Texas Rangers, by 10.5 games in the standings.
And then, from August 25 through September 3, the Angels dropped nine straight games. Still, they were atop the standings, now leading the Seattle Mariners by six games, and looked like they might be able to hang on. They could not. For the second time in a month, the Angels lost nine straight (from September 13 through September 23), dropping them out of first place. They managed to win five in a row to close out the regular season and force a one-game playoff, but were utterly dominated by the Mariners and missed out on what should have been a sure-thing playoff appearance.
5. Greg Norman vs. The Masters (Golf, 1996)
Chances are pretty good that, if you enter the final round of a golf tournament boasting a six-stroke lead, you have to like your odds of winning said tournament. Greg Norman probably woke up on Sunday of the 1996 Masters feeling pretty confident for precisely this reason, as he found himself with a score of 13 under par, while the next closest competitor, Nick Faldo, was sitting at seven under.
What unfolded in that fourth and final round of the Masters will live on in infamy, and has forever tainted Norman’s otherwise-stellar career. After shooting an astounding 63 in the opening round, followed by strong rounds of 69 and 71, Norman was on the verge of being a wire-to-wire leader and Masters champion. It looked like it would be an absolute butt-stomping, and that’s actually what it turned out to be. Except Norman was the one getting stomped. The Aussie shot a 78 in that final round, while Faldo shot a 67 as the gap between the two swung by a staggering 11 strokes, with Norman going from leading by six strokes to ultimately losing by five. But hey, at least he makes pretty good wine, right?
4. Houston Oilers vs. Buffalo Bills (Football, 1992)
For most professional football teams, if they find themselves leading by 32 points in the third quarter of an NFL playoff game, they’re probably feeling pretty confident that they’re going to move on to the next round. That’s especially true when the other team’s future Hall of Fame quarterback, in this case Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills, has been forced to the sideline with an injury. Of course, the Houston Oilers probably didn’t count on Frank Reich, who had a history of leading teams to improbable comebacks.
While a backup quarterback at Maryland, Reich took over with his Terps down 31-0 in the first half, and led the team to a 42-40 win over Miami, so it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that he was able to do the same for the Bills. Reich led the Bills to 35 unanswered points as Buffalo took a 38-35 lead and, after the Oilers got their fans’ hopes up by sending the game to overtime, the Bills would prevail on a Steve Christie field goal. We just hope that Houston fans took solace in the knowledge that the Bills went on to be absolutely annihilated by the Cowboys in the Super Bowl.
3. Jean van de Velde vs. The 18th Hole (Golf, 1999)
Before the 1999 Open Championship (or British Open, so as not to confuse anyone), no one had ever really heard of Jean van de Velde. He was an obscure pro golfer from France, who stormed to a commanding lead in the final round of the Open in 1999, and strode to the 18th tee needing only a double bogey six, on a par-four closing hole, to win the major, which would have made him the first Frenchman to do so since 1907.
At that point, you just play it safe and go for the par, right? There’s no need to take any chances that things might go awry. Well, that’s not what Van de Velde thought, and he chose to hit his driver, as he had birdied the hole twice already over the course of the tournament. Naturally, it was the first of many errors he made on the hole, as he drove the ball wildly off of the tee and, rather than playing it safe with his second shot, tried to go for the green. You can probably guess how well that worked out for him. Five strokes later, he had triple-bogeyed the hole, and ultimately lost the Open in a three-way playoff with Justin Leonard and Paul Lawrie. But hey, on the bright side, he’s no longer an obscure golfer. Now he’s the classic case of boneheaded decision-making at the worst possible time.
2. Boston Red Sox vs New York Mets (Baseball, 1986)
Even though they’ve had some great success over the last decade, it’s no secret that the Boston Red Sox toiled as one of the most cursed franchises, with one of the most tortured fan bases, in all of professional sports for nearly a century. Perhaps nothing illustrated the torment that Sox fans felt quite like Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, better known as the Bill Buckner game or, if you’re Bill Simmons, simply “THAT GAME.”
Of course, blaming Buckner only tells part of the story about what happened in that colossal meltdown of a final inning for the Sox. Sure, the only thing anyone remembers is Buckner’s egregious error, but what far fewer recall is that closer Bob Stanley threw a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score from third. That was also the second run of the inning, as the Sox had entered the bottom of the 10th with a 5-3 lead. Ultimately, Mookie Wilson’s slow grounder got past Buckner, and allowed the winning run to score, and the Mets went on to win Game 7 and the series. Buckner’s error was just one of many things that went terribly wrong in that fateful 10th inning but hey, at least he got to redeem himself in a pantheon episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm last year.
1. New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox (Baseball, 2004)
Most Red Sox fans were of the belief that they’d never see a World Series title, particularly after the gut punch of the 1986 World Series. When the New York Yankees took a 3-0 lead in the 2004 American League Championship Series, Boston fans just chalked it up as yet another disappointment, and Yankee fans were planning on raising yet another banner. And then came Game 4, and Dave Roberts made his mark in baseball lore, sparking what would become the most epic meltdown in baseball history.
The steal by Roberts started the rally that would not only give the Sox a victory in Game Four, but would begin a snowball effect that resulted in four straight wins, including a decimation at Yankee Stadium in which Boston jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings and never looked back, on their way to an eventual World Series championship. So, while the Sox have had some historic meltdowns of their own over the years, at least Boston fans can take solace in the fact that they helped their arch rivals achieve arguably the greatest choke job in sports history. Before 2004, no baseball team that led a series 3-0 had ever lost a seven-game series. The Yankees remain the only ones to do so.
39 Comments
Lakers were helped by crooked refs. Game 7 was fixed.
Number 10 isn’t an “epic” anything, as losing game seven of a playoff by one point can’t be that bad.
Number 8 isn’t a collapse, as you so pointed out right in the description.
TopTenz Master. I hope that you didn’t write this list. If not, it was written by a Middle School Student. Lets put our memory caps on and that’s for everybody……..1). The 1964 Philadelphia Phillies of The National League (Baseball). An 8 1/2 game lead in first place with only 12 Games left. They blew it to the St. Louis Cardinals who went on to win the World Series vs. The New York Yankees……2). October 2, 1978. The Boston Red Sox vs. The New York Yankees. The Red Sox had a 14 game lead after the All-Star Game and blew it forcing a one-game playoff with The New York Yankees. Up to the plate walks Bucky Dent (who only had 40 Home Runs in a 12 season career) and hits a Home Run by just a couple of feet. They ehded up as World Series Champions…..3). The infamous “Heidi” game (Football), 1968. The New York Jets vs. The Oakland Raiders. With one minute to play and The Jets winning 32-30 with one minute left to play, the game was shut off to air the movie “Heidi” (NBC’s protocol of time limits. In the one minute left to play, Oakland scored two unanswered touchdowns to win the game 43-32….October 3rd, 1951. Bobby Thompson’s Home Run against the Brooklyn Dodgers in a forced playoff game. The “Shot Heard ‘Round The World” and broadcaster Russ Hodges yelling four times in succession “THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT”……..and if you want the exact date of No. 2, it was October 25th, 1986. Being a hard-core Red Sox fan, I likened it to Kennedy’s assassination or Japan’s invasion of Pearl Harbor in which FDR said “A Day That Will Live In Infamy” I remember the city I lived in (Concord, N.H.), The Brand of Beer that I was drinking (Rolling Rock), the food I was eating (Nachos with melted cheese), the Television set I was watching it on (Zenith, 25″ screen) and the celebratory bottle of shots that my friends and me were going to drink (Chivas Regal)…..after the game, dead silence for 15 minutes and many beer empty beer cans being thrown at the TV…..by the way, the bottle of Chivas ? We still polished it off to drown ourselves in sorrow and to cry into our drink.
And here is another that is more impressive than most of the others on the list – write up and video @: http://www.sportsscientists.com/2011/12/science-of-sport-awards-comeback-of.html
BTW, sevens rugby is one of the more representative international sports with competitive teams from a large number of countries (including the USA) participating in an annual World Circuit of tournaments (there is an American leg in LA I think).
The final of the tournament above was held in Edinburgh so the list might be too Scottish is you included it though :).
Another one missed (that is American but many international people will know) is Mike Tyson’s loss to James “Buster” Douglas.
As a reader from Africa, I generally enjoy reading your lists for recreation and to to increase my general knowledge and the best posts are those that are diverse and well researched.
This list is made up of only 5 sports (golf, basketball, baseball, American football and ice hockey) and only one instance does the sport take place outside of North America – is Canada a real country anyway? :).
Agree with the previous statements – an American centric top 10 view on life is fine but the title is erroneous (just remove the British Open golf and replace with another US example that no one outside of North America will care about or has heard about before and your list is sorted!).
Would also say that there is difference between a collapse (or “choke”) and comeback (which is what some of the entries are).
For me the one big collapse that is missing is in the Wimbledon tennis ladies final between Jana Novatna vs. Steffie Graf. Manchester United’s win over Bayern Munich is pretty famous (and I expect that even many ignorant American have heard of this, especially is they follow soccer) but was more of a comeback by United than a collapse by Bayern.
Is Africa a real country? No, so shut up. Put the bone back in you nose and go hunt a rhino.
Sadly many Americans do think Africa is a country (from your statement it is difficult to know whether you know that or not). The rhino hunters would be the Vietnamese and other nations almost as ignorant as many Americans.
Put the bone back up the orifice of your choice and go eat a Twinkie while you still can.
Wow 10 out of 10 of the most epic collapses in sports history just happened to have happened in the US, and all within the last 30 years. What are the odds of that? Once again I think you guys really need to reconsider the titles of some of your articles as they can be misleading. Top 10 Most Epic Collapses In US Sports Of The Last 30 Years would be a more accurate title.
Oh yes of course. Those well known American towns of Calgary and Edmonton, and that little known American territory of GREAT BRITAIN are the highlights of this American dominated list.
Thanks, Jason.
I really don’t understand this criticism of this list. If those of you are so darn passionate about the list being TOO American… do something about it. Don’t read it, or post your own. Call it “Epic sports fails of Europe, or Africa, or Central Asia, or the World for that matter” Who the hell cares what the title says? It’s a list in which the writer is expressing THEIR personal opinion. If you don’t like it, create your own. Good gravy people!
Sorry I meant to write North America to cover Canada as well. I didn’t notice the ONE entry from a Non-North American country. Guess my point is completely null and void now.
The 1986 Edmonto Calgary series scared me for life, I was 5 and at that time just assumed the Oilers always won, I think after I saw Steve Smith bounce the puck in off of Grant Fuhr’s leg I cried untill they won the cup in 1987. Intersting note I know Smith played for Calgary later on in his carreer and after Furh came back from being suspended for snorting a dump truck worth of blow he might have played for them too.
I remember the Houston Oilers game. Wow, I was an Oiler’s fan and thought we had it all wrapped up. Surprise! I meant Frank Reich years later when he spoke at my church. I felt a lot better after talking with him and finding out he is really a nice guy, who just happened to crush my teams Super Bowl hopes.
Ugh!! Every time I see one of these lists I know the Oilers are going to make an appearance. I was born and raised in Houston so of course I was a die hard Oilers fan (now a die hard Texans fan-Bulls on Parade). I was stationed in Yorktown, VA when this game was played and was helping a buddy and his wife move. We watched most of the game but by the time Houston had that huge lead we went ahead and staring moving furniture (TV being 1st of course). In the twenty to thirty minutes it took us to get everything to the new house and get the TV hooked up we turned it on to see the game was going into OT. Talk about a WTH moment. Epic collapse.
I too remember this game VERY well. I was working as a real estate salesperson at the time and I was at our office that afternoon which was a Sunday if memory serves. It was just me and my trusty 12″ black and white portable TV I had brought from home to watch the game. I remember thinking after halftime that I wished I had brought my VCR and some movies with me because this game was going to be pretty darn boring now. How wrong I was of course, thank God the phone didn’t ring all day and nobody came to the office. Maybe that’s why I moved to South Carolina that spring… cause I didn’t make a dime working there.
The only thing this list demonstrates is that to Americans, the word World and the word America have the same meaning.
Or, this list is written by Americans for a predominantly American site with a predominantly American audience. No offense meant.
Or you lose international readers because the posts are predominantly written by insular and ignorant Americans! All you need to do is change the title – no one cares if the list is about American sports. If you refer to “Sports History” (without a subset or qualifier) then you need more than just the token British Open entry!
If we lose international readers because we can’t write to everyone’s satisfaction then we are doomed. Every list for a variety of reasons falls short for just about everyone, except the writer. 😉
The point is not that every list needs to interest everyone but that if a list is called “The Greatest x in y History” and 90% of it is American then you are going to irritate anyone outside of the continent (which in turn is why you get so many comments when this occurs).
In addition you are just perpetuating the stereotype that Americans are myopic and ignorant.
Personally I find most of your lists interesting regardless of whether they are “American” (e.g. about American presidents) or not but for some reason lists that pose as The Greatest x in y History” really rub me up the wrong way. Based on the comments on this list (and in previous ones I have seen) this is a common trend.
“common trend” is very subjective. I would argue that when there are over 1,000 lists on this site. Lists that are fairly or unfairly criticized for being too American are a very small percentage. Less than 5%-10% I would imagine. Hardly a common trend. But your point is taken. We can all move on to today’s uncontroversial list (note sarcasm) on genocide.
Great point. So, since i’m not American, i’ll stop visiting your website – since it’s clearly not aimed at me. Nice work.
That us your choice. Good luck, I hear the Internet is a big place. And I keep telling everyone that this is the worst list ever here: https://www.toptenz.net/top-ten-hats.php – I know, I wrote it. Or you may want to join in with why we suck here: https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-complaints-about-toptenz-why-toptenz-sucks.php – which mentions our lack of international diversity. And if you choose to leave because of a very few lists that don’t encompass the entire world and ignore the larger percentage of our lists that do, then we never really had you as a reader anyway. We hope you stay. Maybe this list will convince you https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-international-beauties-of-2012.php, assuming you are male that is.
And you are right, not every list is aimed at you or any one person.
Yeah a title change is required. To ignore something as recent as Man Citys title win, or Man United Champions League win with the 2 late goals is embarrassing.
It’s all about the location. I just asked a few friends and no one knew anything about this. Just as you probably didn’t know much about some or all of these sporting collapses.
Indeed, I just asked a few of my friends about the entries in the list and none of them knew anything about any of the baseball, basketball, ice hockey or American football entries (80% of the list).
To be honest I knew about the Yankees – Red Sox one but the rest are pretty obscure for anyone outside the US.
I’m sure your country must have a top 10 list site, right? Not that I want to lose readers, but we don’t have the insight and aren’t immersed in other cultures to write on all topics relating to other countries. I don’t know where you live, but surely there is a site doing lists that focus on your country and has plenty of American’s claiming it isn’t international, right?
We do lists that are international, and now one seems to care, at least no one comments on them to that fact. We keep trying though.
I agree it is all about your location. No one in the world will find this list perfect, not even us Americans.
I have no problem with lists having only American sports…but Toptenz Master would you mind changing the title to ” Top 10 Most Epic Collapses In American Sports History”
If we did that, where would that leave the two hockey teams from Canada? Or The Open Championship played in Scotland?
Saying that only Canadians and Russians care about hockey is an ignorant statement (which there has been a lot of lately). Just because most American like lame sports like baseball doesnt mean there arent plenty who like hockey. Hockey is popular in Finland, Sweden, Slovakia etc.
Who said only Canadians and Russians care about Hockey? Certainly not I.
this was meant to be a general comment not a reply. It is directed at the writer
I think the next time this site uses the word epic, is when a list is written titled “Top 10 Epic failures of lists that use the word epic”. This list can be at number 1!
I agree with the loosely used term epic in any setting. This one got by me. Give us some credit though. We have only used the word “epic” in the title twice, with over 1,000 lists on the site. The first time was here: https://www.toptenz.net/top-10-epic-ebay-auctions.php
See, we’re not all bad, but we probably aren’t epic either.
And i must say, ye the creator of this list, you live in the blind side. “Epic”…? “Sports History”…? And where are you, the Great American Plain, where football (true football) and many other “World” games are mowed down in “Epic” slinger battles of the Great-American-Bullying style? When will you Americans wake-up from your self-proclaimed ownership of everything “Epic” and all things “Historical”? A foolish list, certainly one which will be an “Epic Collapse’ for a toptenz fan…!
I remember the Kentucky / LSU one distinctly. I was on a couch and could not find a remote to change the channel while I was at college at Ole Miss. The only reason why I kept watching that game. The LSU basketball program was not right for years after that game. The same thing happened with an improbable comeback of the Dallas Cowboys on the New York Giants when Emmitt Smith played with a bum shoulder. But for the life of me, I dont have a date on that one.