Spring Break
What Is The Biggest Choke Of All Time?
Point/Counterpoint
Kevin Meacham and Dan Olender
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Sports
2007-08 Patriots
The New England Patriots utterly choked on Sunday. Marvelously, spectacularly, fantastically choked. They were the first team to start a season 18-0, most of those games being blowouts of the highest magnitude. They dispatched the AFC's best in fairly simple fashion.
And then they blew it against a New York Giants team led by Eli Manning.
The fact is that the Patriots had every necessary ingredient to go 19-0, leading 14-10 late in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.
The 'unbeatable' Patriots choked much more against a middling Giants team than a good Yankees team did against a good Red Sox team in 2004.
Contact Kevin Meacham at
Kevin.Meacham@UConn.edu.
2004 Yankees
Seeing a team from Boston choke against a team from New York is nothing new. It happened in 1978 (Bucky Dent), 1986 (Bill Buckner), 2003 (Aaron Boone) and now in 2007 with the Patriots losing to the Giants.
But it's rare to see the shoe on the other foot, which is what we saw in 2004 when the Red Sox erased a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS to come back and beat the Yankees in four straight games and advance to the World Series.
Failing to close out a series after going up 3-0 is embarrassing and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the Yankees choking against the Red Sox is worse than the Patriots losing to the Giants.
Contact Dan Olender at
Daniel.Olender@UConn.edu
Kevin Meacham: There's no doubt that the Patriots' loss to the Giants was one of the biggest choke-jobs in sports history. You cannot win your first 18 games and lose and expect to escape this fact.
Dan Olender: I would agree with that 100 percent, but the bigger choke-job in recent memory would have to be the 2004 Yankees blowing a 3-0 series lead to the Red Sox in the ALCS.
Kevin: It would be, but for three things: the Yanks and Red Sox were about even that year, the Yankees did not go 162-0 and the Patriots were supposed to have all of the clutch guys, while the Yankees had supposed chokers like A-Rod, Kevin Brown and Javier Vasquez. The fact that the Patriots had everything on their side and still lost is just an embarrassment that should keep Boston fans quiet for the next five years.
The New England Patriots utterly choked on Sunday. Marvelously, spectacularly, fantastically choked. They were the first team to start a season 18-0, most of those games being blowouts of the highest magnitude. They dispatched the AFC's best in fairly simple fashion.
And then they blew it against a New York Giants team led by Eli Manning.
The fact is that the Patriots had every necessary ingredient to go 19-0, leading 14-10 late in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.
The 'unbeatable' Patriots choked much more against a middling Giants team than a good Yankees team did against a good Red Sox team in 2004.
Contact Kevin Meacham at
Kevin.Meacham@UConn.edu.
2004 Yankees
Seeing a team from Boston choke against a team from New York is nothing new. It happened in 1978 (Bucky Dent), 1986 (Bill Buckner), 2003 (Aaron Boone) and now in 2007 with the Patriots losing to the Giants.
But it's rare to see the shoe on the other foot, which is what we saw in 2004 when the Red Sox erased a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS to come back and beat the Yankees in four straight games and advance to the World Series.
Failing to close out a series after going up 3-0 is embarrassing and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the Yankees choking against the Red Sox is worse than the Patriots losing to the Giants.
Contact Dan Olender at
Daniel.Olender@UConn.edu
Kevin Meacham: There's no doubt that the Patriots' loss to the Giants was one of the biggest choke-jobs in sports history. You cannot win your first 18 games and lose and expect to escape this fact.
Dan Olender: I would agree with that 100 percent, but the bigger choke-job in recent memory would have to be the 2004 Yankees blowing a 3-0 series lead to the Red Sox in the ALCS.
Kevin: It would be, but for three things: the Yanks and Red Sox were about even that year, the Yankees did not go 162-0 and the Patriots were supposed to have all of the clutch guys, while the Yankees had supposed chokers like A-Rod, Kevin Brown and Javier Vasquez. The fact that the Patriots had everything on their side and still lost is just an embarrassment that should keep Boston fans quiet for the next five years.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Bob Smith
posted 2/07/08 @ 10:03 AM EST
Saying the Pats choked would seem to make the statment that On any Givin Sunday any team can beat another. The Pat's offensive line didn't get the job done, but there was a lot of good luck for the Giants, Eli escaping the sak and the David Tyree Helmet-Hand catch, unless you think that was a planned play. (Continued…)
difference between upset and choke
posted 2/07/08 @ 11:54 AM EST
pats didnt choke. they played like they always do (as you said, they failed to adjust). their need to run the score up every game ruined their chance to do something new when they needed it most. (Continued…)
BJ Cook
posted 2/07/08 @ 12:41 PM EST
My guess is that if the Patriots and Giants played the best out of 7 the Patriots would win so there is no comparison, the Yankees in 2004 by far the biggest choke job ever. (Continued…)
jeff
posted 2/07/08 @ 5:48 PM EST
Although the Pats loss was pretty much a choke, and a huge upset to me, I'd still have to say the Yankees choke was worse. The kid had a good point about the Pats only having the end of one game to put away, while the yanks had x amount of innings. (Continued…)
whammy
posted 10/23/09 @ 12:33 PM EST
Let's not forget the blown calls by the refs before we call the pats losing to the giants the biggest Choke ever. Blown calls are part of sport I realize that but blatantly blown calls like the missed 4th and 10 offensive pass interference, make me think that the winner of each game on each Sunday is preapproved to maximize the Drama in the NFL. (Continued…)
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