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The most depressed you've been after a sporting event

Lillian Thomson

Well-known member
As with most emotions it usually just happens that way so it doesn't necessarily follow that the bigger the occasion the worse the feeling.

My own experience is extraordinarily random. 1995/96 season. We (Plymouth) were 2-0 up at Scarborough with 10 minutes to go and they eventually equalized in the 7th minute of injury time. Just a run of the mill Division 4 game, but for some reason at the time it felt worse than any Play Off losses or last day relegations, or indeed any of the depressing England performances at major tournaments - or any other sporting event.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Relegation to the conference, by a long stretch. The play-off final defeat in 2017 probably a close second.

The other two legitimate relegations were hard to stomach as we were the three play-off semi defeats. The league cup semi defeat to Villa in 94 still breaks my heart now too.

I used to get really upset by England tournament exits but I guess they are old hat these days.

Finally, the recent vote to move Tranmere illegitimately into League 2 made me unhappier than any other sporting event ever, but it wasn't really a sporting event at all so doesn;t count.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Losing to Chelsea in the CL quarter final in 2004 felt really dire at the time.

A strange one to pick out, given all the other incredibly dire Arsenal failings since, but that one really got to me at the time, and has stayed with me ever since. Mind you, the thought of losing in a CL quarter final seems like but a dream nowadays.

Losing to Barcelona in the CL final also a dreadful moment, but I have mostly managed to purge that from my memory. Basically non-canon in my mind now.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Losing the unbeaten streak to Utd at Old Trafford one of the all time worst moments as well obviously. Not really depressing, but just fury-inducing, even now.
 

duffer

Well-known member
The 2006 CL Final was the first one to pop into my mind. I remember one of the old timers I was watching the game with call it a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' for us. Lo and behold he was so correct.

Sydney Test in 2008 a close second, although the shitposting in the tour thread that year was a good way of venting.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
The 2006 CL Final was the first one to pop into my mind. I remember one of the old timers I was watching the game with call it a 'once in a lifetime opportunity' for us. Lo and behold he was so correct.

Sydney Test in 2008 a close second, although the shitposting in the tour thread that year was a good way of venting.
It felt like that at the time to me. Was painfully obvious that it was basically the final days of what was left of the invincibles team, and loads of the other usually strong opposition were on the decline and/or had stacked it in the earlier rounds (although tbf to Arsenal, their knockout performances against Real Madrid and Juventus were really impressive).

Reaching the final really felt like a last hurrah that had been fought really hard for, and that it would be impossible to do again. Was a real "the team is not as good as it once was, but just once it can be as good as it ever was" sort of thing.

Final game in which Pires, Campbell, Cole and Bergkamp ever appeared on the team sheet for Arsenal as well. Dire.
 

Tom Halsey

Well-known member
City in 2012 the obvious choice. The only time in my life I've gone for a walk to nowhere in particular out of anger. I ended up at Southampton Airport Parkway station with no real plans on where to go then had to get a cab home because I'd calmed down by that point and cbf with another long walk, or going anywhere else by train. Arsenal in 1998 as mentioned in the other thread, too.

One that still rankles with me a bit is our CL exit to Real Madrid in Fergie's final season. We were leading and looking the far better team until Nani's red card. I think the game has changed a bit in the intervening 7 years because everyone at the time was shocked that he'd been sent off, whereas I think you'd be fairly likely to see a red card for that now. I don't think it should be a red though even if it's usually given, and Real were just a bit too good to play the rest of the second half against with 10 men. Ronaldo getting the winner was the crowning turd in the water-pipe that evening. Even Mourinho, in a rare moment of humility, said that the better side lost in his post match presser.

Leverkusen in 2002 the other obvious choice on the European front.
 
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sledger

Spanish_Vicente
City in 2012 the obvious choice. The only time in my life I've gone for a walk to nowhere in particular out of anger. Arsenal in 1998 as mentioned in the other thread, too.

One that still rankles with me a bit is our CL exit to Real Madrid in Fergie's final season. We were leading and looking the far better team until Nani's red card. I think the game has changed a bit in the intervening 7 years because everyone at the time was shocked that he'd been sent off, whereas I think you'd be fairly likely to see a red card for that now. I don't think it should be a red though even if it's usually given, and Real were just a bit too good to play the rest of the second half against with 10 men. Ronaldo getting the winner was the crowning turd in the water-pipe that evening. Even Mourinho, in a rare moment of humility, said that the better side lost in his post match presser.

Leverkusen in 2002 the other obvious choice on the European front.
I remember watching that CL game in the pub. Modric being subbed on was as much of a turning point as the Nani red card imo (though admittedly the former was basically a direct consequence of the latter). Feeling of the match totally changed, and immediately you could see Utd had lost their foothold in the game.

Edit: RE: Leverkusen I can still, completely randomly, remember Forlan having a chance late on and having a shot blocked on the line when he really should have scored. Don't remember much else of that tie though, other than Beckham having his foot smashed in the first leg.
 
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Tom Halsey

Well-known member
Haha yeah, in Varsity or whatever it was I believe. I don't recall exactly what I said about the Modric sub at the time, I imagine I was still too pissed off about the red card.
 

duffer

Well-known member
It felt like that at the time to me. Was painfully obvious that it was basically the final days of what was left of the invincibles team, and loads of the other usually strong opposition were on the decline and/or had stacked it in the earlier rounds (although tbf to Arsenal, their knockout performances against Real Madrid and Juventus were really impressive).

Reaching the final really felt like a last hurrah that had been fought really hard for, and that it would be impossible to do again. Was a real "the team is not as good as it once was, but just once it can be as good as it ever was" sort of thing.

Final game in which Pires, Campbell, Cole and Bergkamp ever appeared on the team sheet for Arsenal as well. Dire.
Yeah, the peak of that core was well and truly over but you'd think winning the big one would have given us a platform to kick on as a club. I mean, our status as a club was still growing at that time so I think we should have managed a successful rebuild even with a loss. Wasn't to be obviously.
 

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
Haha yeah, in Varsity or whatever it was I believe. I don't recall exactly what I said about the Modric sub at the time, I imagine I was still too pissed off about the red card.
Haha those were the days. Burger and a pint (followed by several other pints). Classic.
 

vcs

Well-known member
I thought sport had lost the power to make me unhappy, but the Wimbledon Final last year proved me wrong
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
There's been so many moments of stunned despair, followed by days and weeks of recriminations and those bastard little "what if?" thoughts over the decades it's hard to pick out a single example.

The penalty loss to Jerry in the 1990 WC semi was a crippler; nowadays England losing on penalties is so quotidian as to be more or less accepted with a shrug, but back then it was a new and novel way to lose.

On the ticklish topic of pens, Arsenal's 2000 Wafer Cup final loss to Galatasaray was also a sickener, especially in light of the Turks' fans being literally murderous scumbags. They'd defeated the Dirtys in the semi and two Leeds fans had been stabbed to death in Istanbul. We also played most of extra time against ten men, but didn't craft a chance worthy of the name. Davor Sukur was brought on with five minutes left specifically to take one and, obviously, missed our first effort.

The 99 FA semi loss to Man U that Halsey beautifully recalled from the other end of the ecstasy/agony continuum in the "5 fav games" thread was another one that was hard to stomach. Giggs's goal was worthy of winning any game, but if big Den had scored his penalty it would never have happened. Those ****ing "What ifs?"...

England's union team's loss to RSA in last year's WC final was galling, but perhaps didn't have that one crushing moment where the air is sucked out as we almost literally didn't turn up for the game. Having smashed the All Blacks in the semi though hopes were high and we went in as rightful favourites, English hubris notwithstanding.

If, gun to head, I had to chose one though, I'd probably go for the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup final. Nayim from the halfway line and all that. Seaman seemed to forget how his legs worked, a trick he'd go on to repeat in the 2002 WC quarter when Ronaldinho spawned another 40 yard lob over him.
 

Flem274*

123/5
captaincygate in 2012. i woke up to the nz leadership falling apart. i was absolutely gutted beyond words. my favourite player had just hauled that miserable batting line up to an overseas victory and then got knifed.

taranaki rugby 2018-19 has been woeful, so the end of last season was almost a relief from the constant pain. an absolutely stacked team including but not limited to waisake naholo, seta tamanivalu, te toiroa tahuriorangi, te walden, sean wainui and a pile of super rugby forwards decided to phone it in and lose almost every game to teams containing such mighty names as fletcher smith and finlay christie. some of the big names played well, but most didn't. a highlight was when naholo got chased down by a bloody prop. he then went to the northern hemisphere and immediately began scoring tries again.

it was very noticeable the guys without super rugby contracts were usually our best players barring a few exceptions. jayson potroz should have a super rugby contract.

cricket world cup 2019 will be a common answer for kiwis but i was weirdly fired up. i just wanted that test series to be played the next day so we could kill them all.

the hurricanes are sure to provide a moment for this thread. i have a really bad feeling about this season. that first game against the stormers....yeesh.
 

dontcloseyoureyes

BARNES OUT
Hmm.

At the time I was absolutely devastated when the Roosters lost the 2004GF to the Bulldogs, but looking back on it now it's a lot of whatever.

As a City fan, we haven't had any really devastating moments since I became a fan in the early 2000's. I missed the relegations so I can't claim that, I became a fan just after. We sucked for another 6 or 7 years but nothing really sticks in the mind. Maybe the 8-1 to Middlesborough but even at the time that was just kinda funny. I think the angriest I've been at a City game was the CL QF second leg against Tottenham last year. I'm still so mad Llorente's goal stood, absolute shambles. Then the heartbreak at the end was just.. ugh.

The absolute worst sporting moment ever for me was of course Roddick losing the 2009 Wimbledon final to Federer. I loved Andy Roddick man, he was so broken afterwards. Didn't help that it was like 5am and I'd been up all night.

This wiki paragraph sums it up better than I ever could:

The fifth set would turn out to be a historic battle. Both players were dominant on serve throughout the first sixteen games without a single break point opportunity to be had. A moment of crisis arrived for Federer with him serving at 8-8 down 15-40, but he rallied to deny Roddick the opportunity to serve for the match. There was not another break opportunity until Roddick served at 14-15 and Federer broke him, for the first time in the entire match, to win a record-breaking fifteenth Grand Slam championship. This set remains the longest fifth set in a Grand Slam final. It is the only time in Grand Slam final history where a player has lost despite only having their serve broken once.
When Federer rallied from those 2 break points you knew he would win. The rain delay, man. The rain delay...
 
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dontcloseyoureyes

BARNES OUT
Oh, actually, the Italy loss in the 2007WC really hurt too. At the time I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

2005 Ashes as well, but tbh even at the time I really respected the spectacle of that series. It was amazing to watch every minute.
 

vcs

Well-known member
Hmm.

At the time I was absolutely devastated when the Roosters lost the 2004GF to the Bulldogs, but looking back on it now it's a lot of whatever.

As a City fan, we haven't had any really devastating moments since I became a fan in the early 2000's. I missed the relegations so I can't claim that, I became a fan just after. We sucked for another 6 or 7 years but nothing really sticks in the mind. Maybe the 8-1 to Middlesborough but even at the time that was just kinda funny. I think the angriest I've been at a City game was the CL QF second leg against Tottenham last year. I'm still so mad Llorente's goal stood, absolute shambles. Then the heartbreak at the end was just.. ugh.

The absolute worst sporting moment ever for me was of course Roddick losing the 2009 Wimbledon final to Federer. I loved Andy Roddick man, he was so broken afterwards. Didn't help that it was like 5am and I'd been up all night.

This wiki paragraph sums it up better than I ever could:



When Federer rallied from those 2 break points you knew he would win. The rain delay, man. The rain delay...
Oh man, that must have sucked hard. The agony of a Federer fan not being able to see his guy win his 21st Major is a pretty minor thing by comparison.
 

wpdavid

Well-known member
Crystal Palace have been relegated so many times that it shouldn't really hurt, and usually doesn't bother me too much, but 1993's denouement stank the place out. A couple of weeks from the end of the season, I was there when we beat Middlesbrough 4-1 to establish what should have been a safe points total. The players certainly thought so as they did a lap of honour afterwards to thank the fans for sticking by them in an uninspiring season. This was the season after we sold Ian Wright to Arsenal, so goals had been hard to come by. The problem was that Oldham had games in hand and went on to win all of them. Come the last day of the season, we were away to Arsenal, where we never did a thing. Sure enough, The Gunners easily won 3-0 with Wright scoring the first. We still would have survived had Oldham failed to beat Southampton. Le Tissier's hat-trick should have seen us safe, but Oldham scored four against Saints defence that must have been on holiday mode, and that was that.

For England, 1996 was the worst one. 1990 was rough but we'd played well against a very good German side, and it was the first time we'd lost on penalties, so it didn't completely depress me. But in 1996 we had home advantage, Germany weren't all that (fast forward to the 1998 WC if you don 't believe me) and we still couldn't see them off. Oh, and I almost forgot 1970, which has scarred me for life. My second experience of watching England live, I knew we were world champions, and dad reckoned we were safe as houses when we went 2-0. Instead, Bonetti's mistake, Ramsey's disastrous substitutions and bad luck with one or two English efforts that just missed had me directing language at Gerd Muller's winning goal that was an eye opener to my parents.
 
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