ESPN Page 2 - 18 Greatest Teams that ended up Collapsing

[Fran]

Story here (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=teams/080123)

1. 1996 Detroit Red Wings
2. 2001 Seattle Mariners
3. 1998 Minnesota Vikings
4. 1995 Cleveland Indians
5. 1992 San Francisco 49ers
6. 2007 Dallas Mavericks
7. 1993 Atlanta Braves
8. 2006 Detroit Red Wings
9. 2005 Indianapolis Colts
10. 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers
11. 1986 Edmonton Oilers
12. 1973 Boston Celtics
13. 1985 Boston Celtics
14. 2006 San Diego Chargers
15. 1954 Cleveland Indians
16. 1994 Seattle Supersonics
17. 1971 Boston Bruins
18. 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers

Honorable Mentions - 1906 Cubs (116-36), 1931 Philadelphia A's (105-47), 1969 Baltimore Orioles (109-53), 1973 Los Angeles Rams (12-2), 1983 Washington Redskins (14-2), 1993 Pittsburgh Penguins (56-21-7), 1997 Utah Jazz (64-18), 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars (14-2), 2004 St. Louis Cardinals (105-57), 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers (15-1).

I honestly think that the '96 Wings was the biggest choke job... a dominant force in the regular season, flared out in the playoffs. A good argument could definitely be made for the '06 team.

Hard to swallow that '98 Vikings one though... 15-1 and losing at home with a loaded roster.

Discuss!

What is, in your opinion, the greatest choke job? It could be one of the above mentioned, or your own thought.

[NewYorkSpider]

2007 New England Patriots.

[Fran]

:ninja:

[NewYorkSpider]

I actually think New England is going to win Super Bowl 42.

Out of those teams the ones that stick out are the 2007 Dallas Mavericks, 2006 Red Wings, 2001 Seattle Mariners and 1973 Boston Celtics. Most of the time a team with the best record that loses in the first round sticks out pretty good. The '73 Celtics should have won that series against the Knicks.

Fran, #15 on your list wasnt the '94 Indians. It was the '54 Indians.

[Fran]

Thanks.

MODS - PLEASE CHANGE POLL OPTION TO '54 INDIANS INSTEAD OF '94 INDIANS. THANKS.

[cookiva]

Waaaait....

2004 Yankees??? They were up 3-0 over the lifeless Red Sox. What about the 2001 yankees as well! After 9/11, they were "America's" baseball team, and destined to win the world series.


I know those picks show my red sox bias, but still, those are huge choke jobs.

[Fran]

...Dare I say the 2007 Michigan Wolverines?

[cookiva]

Dare You Shut The **** Up

[Fran]

:csad:

I love you cookie :csad:

[cookiva]

Sorry, I'm at work and it sucks tonite.


BTW, Arizona? Wtf?

[Fran]

I'm all over the world. !

[cookiva]

Yeah, but....Arizona??? When you live in the greatest state with the greatest team with the greatest mascot with the greatest stadium in the world.


And don't fool yourself. Its not State.

[Fran]

Yeah, the Red Wings are the greatest team ever. :yay::up:

[cookiva]

Except for the fact that they aren't, then sure. I even have proof. According to this list, they choked in 2 different years! Only one other team has accomplished that!


So btw, Big Blue rules.

[Ghostvirus]

You could put the Colts up there multiple times. They have made choking an art form.

What about the '94 Supersonics? Can't choke much harder than that.

[Fran]

VOTE DAMNIT! :cmad:

[cookiva]

Yeah, this list is HORRIBLE!


DO NOT VOTE. IT IS LACKING YANKEES, COLTS, AND SONICS!


or vote for everyone. Sorry Fran, its not you. Its page 2. Its one of the few respectable parts of ESPN now, but this is still pretty sorry.

[Fran]

It is a list from ESPN.com, you son of a b****

[cookiva]

Fine. My mistake.


TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. ITS FROM ESPN.COM!


BTW, I voted, and voted seriously...

[E. Nygma]

1998 Vikings absolutely, not only did they smash teams with that high powered offense, but they had that NFC title game won! Gary Anderson who was the best kicker in football that year missed a FG to put the Vikings up two scores with like two minutes left, he misses it, and they ended up giving up a TD very late and lost in OT.

Randall Cunningham, Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Jake Reed, Robert Smith? One of the greatest teams i've ever seen. The only game they lost, they lost barely to the Bucs, by a FG. Had they beaten Atlanta i think they would have stomped Denver and won it all.

[Jerry!]

Team Canada in hockey in the last Olympics. god I loved that.

[Dodger]

Can't believe the dodgers made it onto the list. :(

But, I'm writing in my vote. 2004 Yankees. You don't loose a 3-0 lead to your life long rival. You just don't.

[LastSunrise1981]

Even though they're my favorite team I'd have to say Dallas Mavericks.

While I still have my personal beliefs of shady officiating taking place in the series, in the end, Dallas had a 2-0 lead that could've became a 3-0 advantage had they had played through the distractions and made the shots that count. I say this is the greatest chokejob because they were picked to win, no one gave Miami a chance and I predicted that Dallas would sweep the Heat.

You just don't give up a 2-0 lead and not win any of the games. Miami came back and just punked out Dallas for the championship.

Obviously we know what happened against the Warriors. Personally I think you should've put the 06 and 07 Mavericks as both seasons presented high expectations for them.

[Jerry!]

What about Miracle on Ice? The Commies had the best hockey team in the world and they were beat by college students.

[Fran]

Although you can make cases for both, I'd say the '07 Mavs would take the cake... they were a 67-win team that lost to an eighth seed they should have swept. But Golden State did have Nellie, and he coached the Mavs forever.

[cookiva]

Although you can make cases for both, I'd say the '07 Mavs would take the cake... they were a 67-win team that lost to an eighth seed they should have swept. But Golden State did have Nellie, and he coached the Mavs forever.

Everyone down here thought the Mavs would roll on thru to the finals. I was the only person who expected the Warriors to beat the Mavs.

[Jerry!]

I still say the Commies. Probably the biggest upset of all time. And it ended the Cold War because we won.

[Fran]

I would have to agree with that.

[Ghostvirus]

Everyone down here thought the Mavs would roll on thru to the finals. I was the only person who expected the Warriors to beat the Mavs.

Actually The Riddler, New York Spider, & Myself also thought the Warriors were going to beat Da Mavs.

[Pickle-El]

How about my 04 Lakers with 4 Hall of Famers?

[StorminNorman]

2001 St. Louis Rams

The team of the century. The team on the verge of a dynasty. The team that started the Patriots we know now.

[cookiva]

Actually The Riddler, New York Spider, & Myself also thought the Warriors were going to beat Da Mavs.


......


Down here, ie, Dallas......

[E. Nygma]

what about the 07 Mets, weren't they the best team in the NL for pretty much the entire season?

with one of the best offenses:

Reyes, Delgado, Beltran, Lo Duca, Wright, Alou

and one of the best closers:

Billy Wagner

and solid pitching performers:
Tom Glavine, Oliver Perez, El Duque, John Maine and the returning Pedro.

[Jerry!]

Yeah there are a few weird snubs.

[rdh007]

The '98 Vikings tore my heart out. :(
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee144/rdh007/VikingsCheer.jpg

[Jerry!]

There is a transvestite in the middle. Mercy..

[rdh007]

It's like the old Robert Palmer video.

[E. Nygma]

It's like the old Robert Palmer video.

"might as well face it your addicted to LOVE!" :word:

[Fran]

2001 St. Louis Rams

The team of the century. The team on the verge of a dynasty. The team that started the Patriots we know now.

:csad::up:

[E. Nygma]

the Rams seemed to die when Kurt Warner was slammed to the turf and injured his thumb. Ever since then he was never the same, the greatest shown on turf came to an end, and the Rams really never returned to the success they'd had in 1999-2001. Except a couple of second round playoff exits.

[Fran]

We beat Seattle 3 times in 2004 I think. 2-0 in regular season, and beat them at Qwest Field. What a nice win :):up:

[E. Nygma]

We beat Seattle 3 times in 2004 I think. 2-0 in regular season, and beat them at Qwest Field. What a nice win :):up:

yeah, one game i remember the Seahawks led by like 20 points or something and i went upstairs to have dinner figuring the game was over. I come back down and the Rams are driving on them in OT about to win. I could not believe that.

[VenomXXXXL]

This isn't a very good list. I don't think a collapse should entail teams that acutally made it to championship games. A collapse is losing early or losing to a clearly inferior team.

[Alex The Great]

2007 Rams

oh wait :ninja: just kidding fran :cwink: :oldrazz:

[Fran]

...How did they collapse? And how were they a great team?

[E. Nygma]

they were a great team.....compared to the Dolphins

[SoulManX]

The '98 Vikings tore my heart out. :(
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee144/rdh007/VikingsCheer.jpg

Now that's a bed:o

[E. Nygma]

2001 St. Louis Rams

The team of the century. The team on the verge of a dynasty. The team that started the Patriots we know now.

and now we know how they lost

[CalebYourMaster]

Mavericks choked...but thats my team...therefore its hard to vote for them in this...I went with the 01 Mariners and a couple others

[danoyse]

Waaaait....

2004 Yankees??? They were up 3-0 over the lifeless Red Sox. What about the 2001 yankees as well! After 9/11, they were "America's" baseball team, and destined to win the world series.


I know those picks show my red sox bias, but still, those are huge choke jobs.

I couldn't believe the 2004 Yankees weren't up there either. I was at Game 2, which the Yankees won, and we just had them. It was the most pathetic collapse I ever witnessed.

I wouldn't put 2001 up there, though. They came back from 0-2 to beat the A's in the ALDS, beat Seattle who'd won 116 games in the ALCS, then came back and won those 3 games in NY. Watching Mo blow it at the end was crazy, but the fact that they were there at all was too good to be true anyway.

[Spider-Jay]

Well...now we can say the 2007/2008 New England Patriots!

[Showtime]

2007 New England Patriots...

[StorminNorman]

I don't think the Patriots Collapsed really. Or at least I don't consider this a "Collapse"

[Fran]

No... a collapse would be losing in the AFC Divisional round while holding a 16-0 record.

[StorminNorman]

I put the 01 Rams as collapse not because they lost the Super Bowl - but because their team fell apart afterwards.

[Super_Ludacris]

1994 Seattle Supersonics
1998 Minnesota Vikings
1997 Green Bay Packers
2006 Detroit Pistons
2004 LA Lakers
2007 Patroits
2003 NY Yankees
2004 NY Yankees
2007 Cleveland Indians

[kane9321]

07 dallas mavs..

[ShadowBoxing]

2004 New York Yankees. That was the greatest choke in Sports history, they were one out away from putting the Red Sox down for another year.

[The Game]

2004 New York Yankees. That was the greatest choke in Sports history, they were one out away from putting the Red Sox down for another year.

I agree this is the worst choke in history

[M.O.Steel]

i don't consider NE pats as chokers because they played till the end also, and it was a close game. It wasn't one-sided. If the defense didn't play like crap, they could have held the 14-10 and win. I don't think they choked. I think they lost a regular game, that happened to be the big game.

[Fran]

If the Pats of 2007 are a choke, then they would've lost in the Super Bowl like 49-3 or something.

[NewYorkSpider]

2007 New England Patriots.

:cwink:

[Fran]

2007 New England Patriots.

:ninja:

:up:

[chuckymack]

The Patriots lost the frickin' Super Bowl after going 18-0, with record-setting offense led by Tom 'Mr. Overrated' Brady and Randy 'He's Actually That Good' Moss. Face it, guys: Anything less than another Lombardi Trophy was a choke for them.

Anyone who doesn't think so is in denial. As the saying goes, 'It don't mean a thing if you ain't got that ring'.

[E. Nygma]

the 07-08 Patriots i'd put right at the top of the list now yes