What's the Worst Sports Moment of Your Life?
What a deep question.
I feel uniquely qualified to answer this, seeing that I am from Atlanta, Georgia and attended the University of Tennessee during a time when it had both a roster full of NFL talent which failed to even win the SEC East and also when it lost eight games for the first time ever.
I thought nothing could ever top Super Bowl LI for me as a Falcons fan — and I'm pretty sure nothing else than this one event ever could — but Tennessee's overtime loss to Purdue in the Sweet Sixteen last year did it. The confluence of it being my senior year of college, how much everybody in the state adored that team and how fun it was to watch and then the stunning way in which it ended still hurts. I will never get over the Super Bowl either, but that last Vols game with grant Williams and Admiral Schofield just felt more personal.
Even writing this and seeing those videos, I feel a sort of peace when it comes to the Super Bowl because everyone has so mercilessly driven "28-3" into the ground that it just goes in one ear and out the other at this point. But seeing Ryan Cline still hit those ridiculous threes and Carsen Edwards get fouled at the end of regulation still kill me.
Ans although nothing tops those two, I could craft a second tier that would trounce most fanbases' worst moments by far: the 18-inning loss in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS, the 10-run first inning in Game 5 of the 2019 NLDS, giving up a 17-0 lead in the 2012 NFC Championship Game, the Loyola-Chicago buzzer-beater and on and on down the list.
Advertisement
It feels oddly cathartic to list these things out and see that you came out the other side. If there's any benefit — and there really isn't, but I'm trying to talk myself into it — of there being no sports right now, it's that at least our lives have a little bit less frustration in them from time to time. But that also means you don't get the good moments, either.
The pain is what makes sports fun. You have to suffer through a lot of shit to be able to hopefully one day feel that ultimate pride and glory — unless you were born in Massachusetts in the late 20th Century.
So what was your most heartbreaking moment as a sports fan? Let me know in the comments.