ESPN Page 2 - 18 Greatest Teams that ended up Collapsing

[Fran]

Story here

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]

 

[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]

I love you cookie

 

[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.

 

[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!

 

[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.