Ultimate Ennui Showdown Comment Count

BiSB

No Twitterverse this week. Instead, we shall plumb the depths of our collective sadness.

We live in some the headiest of times of modern Michigan fandom. The basketball team is coming off a NCAA runner-up season and it is bringing in another bumper crop of highly-ranked recruits. Brady Hoke and Greg Mattison are in the early stages of assembling some sort of Megazord. Michigan’s facilities are new and shiny and fantastic. But to move to the future, it is important to understand the pain of the past.

So, with a few weeks before anything actually happens in the sports world, this seems like a good time to try to answer a simple, cathartic question: what was the worst moment to be a Michigan fan?

Like the Highlander, there can be only one. So I guess this is our search for the Lowlander. Use whatever criteria you wish, but bear in mind what we’re trying to determine. We’re limiting the competition to the 1990’s and on. Obviously crappy things happened before that, but many of us can’t remember too much farther back. The events in question have been divided into four regions:

  • The Daggers Region: It was there. It was so close. WE COULDA HAD HIM, MAN. And then... lightning bolt blue screen of death.
  • The What-Could-Have-Been Region: The quantum mechanical gateway to an alternate universe in which we were showered with glory and the heavens rained Pop-Tarts and pleasing music played throughout the land.
  • The Well-That-Was-Thoroughly-Unenjoyable Region: These were the games or events that hurt your soul from start to finish. Nothing about them was pleasant. Hope was crushed consistently and repeatedly, and then The Fates really went to work on you.
  • The General FML Region: Generic embarrassments. A catch-all for the stuff over the years that still has you saying, "ugh, don't even get me started on ______"

We’ll cover the first two regions this week, and the other two soon enough.

I’ve included some concise arguments for and against the thing in question being the worst thing ever. As a palate cleanser, for each entry I’ve also included a comparable event that went Michigan’s way. The wonderful Yang to the craptastic Yin, if you will. When you’re done reading, Vote HERE: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/99RQK2Y.

Again: read. THEN VOTE. Then cry a little.

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Are you ready for this? I mean, we’re gonna pick at some serious wounds here. Okay. Let’s do this. (after the jump)

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Daggers Region

#1 Miracle in Michigan (Colorado '94) vs. #8 Kalin Lucas/Peedi Sims (MSU '10)

Abombination in Michigan - Michigan led by 12 points with just over 2 minutes left, and by 5 points with 0:06 on the clock and Colorado on its own 37 yard line. And, well...

  • FOR: This was a clash of top-ten teams that Michigan had in the bag. This wasn't "They were in a good position to win." This was 'they're too far out for Kordell Stewart to even get the ball to the endzone!" This stuff just doesn't happen. Make one play in the last three minutes, and the game ends. Don't allow a -3 StDev play at the end, and you win. And yet, Westbrook.
  • AGAINST: We got an epic Keith Jackson call out of it, which is nice. It was a non-conference game, so it wasn't THAT big a deal, I guess. It could have been karma for Michigan's last second Remy Hamilton win over Notre Dame the week before. I know, even two decades later they don't make me feel much better either. KNOCK IT DOWN.
  • YANG: Wide open is Gallon. They left him alone. Needs a block.

Kalin Lucas - Michigan hadn't beaten State in basketball in thousands of years, but they had played the fifth-ranked Spartans close all night, and held a one point lead in the last ten seconds. Kalin Lucas then buried a long jumper, and DeShawn Sims missed a lob leaner at the horn. Sad Peedi.

  • FOR: STAEE
  • AGAINST: We weren't supposed to win that game anyway, and subsequent wins over State eased the pain of this one. Two years after this, Michigan was B1G champ. A year after that, they made an NCAA title game. Time heals all wounds, but winning heals them faster
  • YANG: MSU '12, in which Draymond Green had another 17 footer to beat Michigan at Crisler, and it clanged away.

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#2 Spartan Bob (MSU '01) vs. #7 Ben Brust (UW '13)

Spartan Bob - Michigan led their 2001 game at Spartan Stadium by four points, but Michigan State had driven inside the Michigan five yard line with 17 seconds left (not cool, Jeremy Lesueur). Smoker scrambled to the 2, but was tackled in the field of play. The clock ticked down, and then it just kinda stopped. A TJ Duckett touchdown later, we had us some controversy and much lamentation.

  • FOR: There's no way to sugarcoat this one; this was an utter and complete screw-fleecing. They changed the damn NCAA timekeeping procedure because of this game. To add insult to officiating injury, Larry Stevens was massively held on the scoring play. Plus, STAEE
  • AGAINST: Everyone kind of agrees that Michigan got screwed, so State fans don't try to rub this one in. As such, the outrage is limited. Plus we won the next six games after this, so scoreboard.
  • YANG: Penn State fans will tell you this was Lloyd Carr getting two extra seconds in '05 for Touchdown Manningham. They are wrong. That was legit. If anything, this was Penn State not getting credit for the Bryant Johnson catch in '04. Honorable mention goes to the Brandon Minor Pylon Touchdown of '08, but that one ended up not mattering.

Ben Brust - Michigan held a three point lead over the Wisconsin Fightin' Handcheckin’ Shooter-Undercuttin’ Gingers on a Tim Hardaway 3-pointer. All that remained was to avoid THIS:

  • FOR: Michigan fans were new to this "being the basketball juggernaut" thing, and we were genuinely concerned that Brust had broken Michigan permanently, because what did we know? Plus Bo Ryan is the devil. Plus Michigan had a foul to give, and didn't (or didn't get a chance to) use it.
  • AGAINST: Wisconsin lost to Ole Miss in their first game in the NCAA tournament. Michigan was national runner-up. The universe unfolded correctly.
  • YANG: The jump ball to Roy Roundtree against Northwestern this year, which sent that game to overtime. Yes, Yang Events can cross sport boundaries.

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#3 Evan Turner (OSU '10) vs. #6 Josh Gasser (UW '11)

Evan Turner - An upstart Michigan team was making a late-season bid to make the NCAA tournament, and held a two point lead in a crucial game. Their opponent had an inbound play with a couple of seconds left, and a ridiculous three-point prayer broke Michigan hearts.

  • FOR: Unlike the Gasser shot, this one actually ended Michigan's season. Bonus shame for it being Ohio State.
  • AGAINST: OSU was the top seed, and Michigan really wasn't expected to win this game. It was also kind of a fitting end to a disappointing year.
  • YANG: The Trey.

Death to Backboards - An upstart Michigan team was making a late-season bid to make the NCAA tournament, and held a two point lead in a crucial game. Their opponent had an inbound play with a couple of seconds left, and a ridiculous three-point prayer broke Michigan hearts.

  • FOR: Death to backboards
  • AGAINST: Michigan made the tournament anyway, and they won their first-round game and almost knocked out Duke.
  • YANG: The Trey. I know. Just shut up and watch it again.

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#4 The Fall of Tiny Jesus (UMD, '11) vs. #5 Gong Show (Miami (NTM) '10)

Fall of Tiny Jesus - After standing on his head against North Dakota, diminutive/fun-sized/mighty mite/scrappy/Eckstein goaltender Shawn Hunwick had Michigan an overtime goal away from a national title. Unfortunately, it also left them an overtime goal away from sadness.

  • FOR: Michigan had beaten 'better' teams to get there. They probably should have won this game in regulation, and they were still *this* close to a title. Exit Shawn Hunwick.
  • AGAINST: A runner-up finish was a pretty nice consolation prize, and UMD pretty much owned the overtime. It wasn't a cheap goal or a ref screw job. He beat me. Straight up. /best Teddy KGB
  • YANG: Josh Langfeld's overtime winner against Boston College in 1998

Gong Show - Ref screw job. In a season somewhat like this year, Michigan made a spirited run through the CCHA tournament to keep The Streak alive, and reached the Regional Final against Rico Blasi's bro-tastic Miami (NTM) squad. Michigan put the puck in the net off a brief (brieeeeefffffffff) scramble in front of the net in the first overtime, but the goal was waived off because the CCHA was a Gong Show of epic proportions. Referee John Gravallese claimed he lost sight of the puck (presumably because he relies on echolocation like a bat, or because he was terrible at his job), and intended to blow the whistle. Miami went on to score in double-OT.

Ariel Bond/Michigan Daily

  • FOR: In addition to the obvious, one of the Miami goals was the result of Miami poking a CLEARLY covered puck out from under Hunwick's pad and into the net. Gravallese could apparently still see the puck through a leg, but not through six feet of air. Even in writing this, I'm tempted to move this up the list, because EFF YOU, CCHA.
  • AGAINST: The team overachieved anyway, so it could have been worse. But still, EFF YOU, CCHA.
  • YANG: Brendan Morrison overtime game-winner over Colorado College. No ref screw job, but an OT winner nonetheless.

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What-Could-Have-Been Region

#1 Webber's Timeout (UNC, '92)  vs. #8 Pitch it to Breaston (Neb. '05)

Webber's Timeout - You all know the story. Down by two points in the 1992 NCAA Championship game, Chris Webber grabbed a rebound with about 20 seconds left, traveled, dribbled down court, and called a timeout that did not exist. UNC got two free throws, the ball, and the National Title. 

  • FOR: Biggest stage, biggest moment, possibly the biggest mental error ever. This was also the last moment, and the lasting memory, of the Fab 5.
  • AGAINST: Uh...
  • YANG: Rumeal Robinson hitting two free throws after a less-than-obvious foul call in the 1989 Title Game.

Pitch it to Breaston – Here’s a scenario for you. You're Tyler Ecker. You're at the 2005 Alamo Bowl at the end of the Year of Infinite Pain (boy, how that label looks now). It's the last play of the game, and you're down by four. You're in the open field. Steve Breaston is next to you in the open field. He is Steve Breaston. You are, I remind you, Tyler Ecker. You have the ball. Steve Breaston does not have the ball. What should you do?

  • FOR: PITCH THE BALL TO BREASTON. YOU ARE TYLER ECKER AND HE IS STEVE BREASTON.
  • AGAINST: It was the Alamo Bowl. No one really cares who won that game anymore. Plus it was the worst officiated bowl game ever played.
  • YANG: I dunno, we'll say Alabama's missed extra point at the end of the 2000 Orange Bowl.

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#2 Crable NOOOOO (OSU, '06) vs. #7 Roundtree at the One (Illinois '09)

Crable NOOOOOO - Football Armageddon featured #1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan. Midway through the 4th quarter of a well-fought game, Michigan was down 4, and OSU faced a 3rd down just across midfield. Troy Smith threw an incomplete pass, and Michigan was about to get the ball back with a chance to regain the lead. Except...

The 15-yard penalty kept the drive alive, and OSU scored to effectively put the game out of reach. Saddest of Pandas.

  • FOR:  Playing your arch-enemy on his turf for a National Championship berth two days after the architect of your entire football universe passes away. This doesn't require a diagram.
  • AGAINST: Michigan can't beat Urban Meyer, so it wasn't worth trying* [citation needed]
  • YANG: Brian Griese's scramble in the Rose Bowl (at 7:58) to keep a Michigan drive alive when he probably should have been sacked. The drive that basically ran out the clock and secured a National Title.

Roundtree at the One -  In 2009, Michigan was 5-3, and held a 13-7 lead on a very beatable Illinois team when Tate Forcier hit Roy Roundtree for what appeared to be a 77-yard touchdown. After a review, it was (correctly) determined that Roundtree was down at the one yard line. Four straight stuffed running plays later, Illinois had the ball and some sort of magical momentum-juju. They drove 99 yards for a touchdown, and then tacked on another 24 straight points for good measure. Michigan lost the game 38-13. At one point the scoreboard read 19-7 Michigan.  That’s… something

Roundtree1Roundtree2Roundtree3

  • FOR: Score on that play, and Michigan probably wins that game. Win that game, and they probably beat Purdue and finish 7-5 instead of 5-7. That yard was bowl eligibility. Decent odds that yard earns RichRod a 4th year at least.
  • AGAINST: /Everyone serenades Brady Hoke with a chorus of Bless the Broken Road.
  • YANG: Michigan’s goal line stand against Penn State in 1993.

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#3 2003 Frozen Four (Minn.) vs. #6 Goodnight Sweet Ulnar Nerve (Neb. '12)

2003 Frozen Four - There’s nothing fancy about Michigan’s loss to Minnesota in the 2003 National Semifinal. It was just… blerg. MIchigan held a 2-0 lead late in the 2nd period, but lost the lead within a few minutes. Michigan dominated the overtime, but a soft-looking goal ended things.

  • FOR: The winner played the University of No Hardware, so this was basically for a NCAA Championship. Michigan had lost to Minnesota in the previous year’s Frozen Four. This would be Michigan’s last and best shot at a title for a long time. 
  • AGAINST: When you’ve had two titles within the previous seven years, it’s hard to feel TOO sorry for yourself. Besides, there was always a chance that New Hampshire could have beaten… sorry, couldn’t type that with a straight face.
  • YANG: Michigan’s 2-0 win over North Dakota in the 2011 Frozen Four.

Goodnight Sweet Ulnar Nerve – Not sure I’m ready to talk about this one yet. Denard was a quarterback, then he scrambled for like 6 yards, then he wasn’t a quarterback anymore. Russell Bellomy stepped in, and was… well, not Denard. The resulting loss also may have cost Michigan a Bo Division title.

  • FOR: Division titles. Denards. These are things one would like to have.
  • AGAINST: Devin Gardner got to step in, which will help for this year. And… aw, hamburgers. We love you, Denard.
  • YANG: Michigan breaking Drew Stanton in the second half of Braylonfest

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#4 An Inch from a B1G Title (IU '13) vs. #5 High and Tight, Train (NU '00)

You remember this one. I wrote about it. Michigan was up 5 with under a minute left in a game that would have given them a share of the Big Ten regular season title, as well as a bye in the Big Ten Tournament. Poor free throw shooting saw them down 1 with a few seconds left, and Jordan Morgan’s putback somehow didn’t fall.

  • FOR: C’mon, it’s an inch from a Big Ten title. Make a free throw. Make a stop. ANYTHING.
  • AGAINST: Again, National Runner-up. Indiana bowed out in the Sweet 16. Scoreboard.
  • YANG: The same stuff above, but remembering that Michigan’s loss cost Michigan State AND Ohio State shares of the Big Ten title.

High and Tight, Train – This was the birth of Michigan’s decade-long struggle with spread teams, but Michigan had this one in hand. With a five point lead with under a minute left, Anthony Thomas took a handoff, busted through the right side of the offensive line, and headed to daylight. Without the ball.

The loss basically gave Northwestern a Big Ten title that would have been Michigan’s. We still love you, A-Train.

  • FOR: Not to be a broken record, but Big Ten titles are good. Making Gary Barnett sad is good.  [ED: as someone pointed out, this was Randy Walker's 2nd year, so all animus-related motivation is forgotten].
  • AGAINST: Let the smart kids have their moment, or something.
  • YANG: Rees

VOTE YOUR SORROW: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/99RQK2Y

Comments

borninAnnArbor

July 11th, 2013 at 6:38 PM ^

I remember watching this game in the basement with my brother growing up.  We were jumping around celebrating Michigan's apparent victory, when Colorado caught it and out of frustration I turned around and punched the closet wall...and put a hole in it.  

To resolve the issue, I went up to my bedroom and brought down a Cecil Fielder poster and placed it over the hole.  I thought I had gotten away with the crime when the poster fell down a few weeks later and I got in trouble.  I think this one stands out more because of the aftermath than the actual loss.

mgobaran

July 11th, 2013 at 11:22 AM ^

I realize that this was the game Denard stopped playing QB, but that ulnar nerve was already messed up. Remember that goaline play against Illinois? He came out, Bellomy in, TD Rawls or something. 



That being said, it sucked losing him more than that game.



2006 Ohio St game was the worst. Wasn't that a borderline late hit too? Or am I just being a homer?

ClearEyesFullHart

July 11th, 2013 at 11:24 AM ^

Down 17 points, around 6 minutes to go.  Think we were about on the 30.  Rodriguez punts.  That was when I knew the grand experiment wasn't going to work out.

Smoked Gouda

July 11th, 2013 at 11:25 AM ^

We need the anti-post.

A glorious schadenfreude filled post detailing the same disappointment we've inflicted on legions of other fans since the dawn of sport.

M-Dog

July 11th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^

OSU - 1969 - Bo's grand entrance steps all over "Best Team Ever".

OSU - 1976, '77, '78 - Three in a row.

OSU - 1985 - Harbaugh to Kolesar.

OSU - 1986 - The Guarantee.

OSU - 1988, '89, '90, '91 - Four in a row, plus Strike a Pose
 
OSU - 1993 - From undefeated to dominated.
 
OSU - 1995 - Beat them because they did not take us seriously enough.
 
OSU - 1996 - Beat them because they took us too seriously.
 
OSU - 1997 - They finally had a chance to ruin our season.  How'd that work out?
 
OSU - 2003 - Knocked them out of the NC picture once again.
 
OSU . . . It's time for more.
 
 
 

South Bend Wolverine

July 11th, 2013 at 12:19 PM ^

This absolutely has to happen.  Remy Hamilton in '94.  Gallon Cloaking Device.  Kolesar goes nuts in the waning seconds against OSU in '88.  Braylonfest obviously.  2-0 win over NoDak in the Frozen Four.  Pretty much anything connected with the name "John Cooper."  The Trey.  Trey getting the steal to lead us to victory over Sparty.  Touchdown Manningham.  Where's the Threat?

There, that's like half the work right there for you, BISB!  Please put together the Ultimate Other People's Ennui Showdown once we wrap this bad boy up!

M-Dog

July 11th, 2013 at 1:03 PM ^

Michigan over Alabama, 1987 season.

Michigan over Ole Miss, 1990 season.

Michigan over Arkansas, 1998 season.

Michigan over Alabama, 1999 season.

Michigan over Auburn, 2000 season.

Michigan over Florida, 2002 season.

Michigan over Florida, 2007 season.

"ESS  EEE  SEE!!"

 

 
 
 

saveferris

July 11th, 2013 at 11:28 AM ^

I have a couple of thoughts...

For the Thoroughly Unenjoyable Region - 2003 @ Oregon

For:  Coming off an epic bitch-slapping of ND and being everyone's new sexy contender for the BCS title game.  The 2003 squad is definately one of those "what could've been" teams.

Against:  Pooping the bed against Iowa two weeks later because our special teams just suck.

Yang:  1997; Michigan 28, Iowa 24

 

For the General FML Region - 2010 vs. MSU

For:  Showdown of 5-0 teams with Denard at his Denardiest ending in utter disappointment, plus unprecedented 3rd straight loss to Sparty, plus being trolled by Juggalos on every street corner within a mile of the stadium

Against:  Emperor Rich Rod has no clothes.  Dead man walking, just hasn't laid down yet

Yang:  2004 - Braylonfest.  Runner-up 2012 - Drew Dileo is the mother-fucking threat.

UMman316

July 11th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^

At least in App State you thought we would win until the end. We were thoroughly embarrassed pretty much from the start at the Oregon game the next week. Dennis Dixon made us look like Pop Warner kids, especially on the fake statue of liberty touchdown where he walked in. It was one of the only times I thought the Michigan players quit before the game was over.

Close second for me would be Brad Banks' 2002 Iowa squad that rolled us 34-9 at home, the first time I saw big blue lose live at the Big House. Heartbreaking and humiliating.

antidaily

July 11th, 2013 at 1:38 PM ^

I remember being at Lincoln Station in Chicago for that game. A crappy bar in Lincoln Park and almost no one was paying attention to that kickoff. No even sure we had sound on that game anymore. I kindof made a scene, screaming GO! and knocking over my beer.

UofM-StL

July 11th, 2013 at 11:39 AM ^

I don't think that one yard would have made as much of a difference as we all hope.

2009/2010 Michigan reminded me a lot of some of the 2000s Mizzou teams I had the misfortune of rooting for. Those teams displayed a tendency that we dubbed "The Mizzou Fade," in which Mizzou would shoot out to an early lead, appear to have everything in hand, and then completely blow it in the second half. This came in microcosm and macrocosm versions, as the "good start, terrible finish" tendency was often duplicated across the course of a season as 5 - 1 starts turned into 6 - 6 finishes.

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that even with a touchdown to go up 20 - 7, the "Michigan Fade" that was on display pretty consistently in 2009 and 2010 would very likely have still dragged Michigan to a loss in that game.

Kermits Blue Key

July 11th, 2013 at 11:37 AM ^

I'm sorry, but the pain of the Yin FAR outweigh the joy of the Yang. In addition, there is no Yang to something like The Horror - that would require Michigan beating the AFC Pro Bowl team or something.

Don

July 11th, 2013 at 11:42 AM ^

in the nominated "Dagger" games, at least when it comes to football. I understand that the vast majority of MGoBloggers are young enough to be my kids, and that I'm a fossilized relic of the dim misty past that nobody under the age of 60 gives a shit about. That's the way life is, and it doesn't bother me at all.

However, in terms soul-searing, black doom-shrouded, all-encompassing head-in-the-hands disaster, not having the '72 OSU game (Harry Banks scored the late go-ahead touchdown but officials ruled he never crossed the goal line), or the more famous '73 and '74 games, is an oversight. None of the Michigan fans who grew up with Michigan going routinely to bowl games each and every year can understand what it was like to sit home three straight bowl-less holiday seasons after seeing Michigan go 30-2-1 (as RoanDave helpfully pointed out).

Maybe there should be a "Classic" or "Senior" or "Depends" division?

Don

July 11th, 2013 at 1:41 PM ^

It's mind-bottling to consider that UM fans born in '93 or later will have no direct memories of the Kordell Stewart game. To them, it's as dusty and moldy and emotionally irrelevant as the 10-10 tie is to you younguns. Each generation has its own unique stretch of UM trauma.

Mi Sooner

July 11th, 2013 at 11:46 AM ^

as the yang to the #4 OT loss in '11.  i sat next to him and his dad for the frozen four.

 

no #5 clearly hurt worse, since we had it won not once but twice.  we go to that frozen and i think we win it all.  if memory serves, that one was play here at ford field.  one last F you gong show!!!

Leatherstocking Blue

July 11th, 2013 at 11:51 AM ^

I was living in Boulder with two Michigan housemates and after the first half, we decided to watch the rest of the game at a bar near the CU campus. It will be fun, we said. We made sure the CU students had ample opportunity to hear "Hail to the Victors" through the third and fourth quarters. When Westbrook hauled down that pass, the place erupted and time honestly stood still. Instantly there were faces, mean faces, surrounding us screaming horrible things I've only said to my wife. And parents.

Worse? The local ABC affiliate used the last five seconds of the game as their station identification. How many times did I hear hear Keith Jackson say "Incredible!"? Oh, like, every hour.

itauditbill

July 11th, 2013 at 11:54 AM ^

Even if Weber doesn't call the timeout and Michigan scores the winning basket, it then gets yanked away due to the infractions. So it should be part of the overall FML bracket probably. That timeout only hurt at the time.

My nomination for the FML bracket, Michigan Winning the National Championship in 1989. Without that Bo doesn't hire Fisher.

Now before you destroy me, realize that I was a Freshman that year and winning that was the single greatest Sports event I have been any part of. I was even in the band the played at Crisler to welcome the team back. Happiest I've ever been with Michigan Sports.

gwkrlghl

July 11th, 2013 at 12:04 PM ^

would you ever post this? A compilation of all of the absolute worst things to happen to Michigan sports in recent memory. I don't want to ever see anything about that Minnesota-Duluth game ever again. I wish I could -1 this

WestSider

July 11th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^

that was one of the damnest things I've ever seen. I suffered shock like no other game I can remember. Other piss-me-off's include interference on DHoward in endzone, CharlesWhite's phantom TD in RoseBowl, and the others you all mention.

xxxxNateDaGreat

July 11th, 2013 at 12:16 PM ^

Definitely a tie for my worst moment between Appalachian State and Crable NOOOO.

I guess a special consideration was given to the Mississippi State Game AKA "Rich Rod's Last... Stand?" I think that one hurts me more than the whole 3-9 year because we actually were given some promise, NAY, some hope of success, and we all know that you can't truly feel the depths of despair without that glimmer of hope that is to be snatched away.

stephenrjking

July 11th, 2013 at 12:34 PM ^

I can't believe the NU '00 game is that low of a seed.

And the soul-crushing quality of the '03 Frozen Four loss is way underrated. Even after the tie Michigan came hauntingly close to winning it.

You could have an entire region composed entirely of heart-breaking season-ending overtime hockey losses from the Red Berenson era. Perhaps with '97 thrown in as a wildcard. And probably should.

gwkrlghl

July 11th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^

Overtime is the worst thing ever:

2008: #1 seed and best team by a mile, got down 3-0 early because Billy had a meltdown, tied it up at 4-4 to go to OT and then lost to ND in OT. Should've won the title that year

2010: Rage against the referees. Twice we got totally jobbed in that game. 1) Miami poked the puck out from under Hunwick's glove when he had it covered 2) Waving off Kevin Lynchs GAME WINNING GOAL THAT WAS AN ACTUAL GAME WINNING GOAL BECAUSE THE REF LOST THE PUCK. We lost on 2OT. So much rage. We f'ing won that game. Should've gone to the frozen four in DETROIT with all the momentum and fans behind us.

2011: As BiSB just so kindly reminded me, the national title game was an ultimate soul-dong kick because it was Hunwick and a magical run and we just couldn't finish off one of the greatest sports-underdog stories ever. Damn it all. We lost 3-2 in OT.

2012: After tying the game against Cornell late and coming awfully close to winning it out-right in regulation, we immediately forget what hockey is and allowed Cornell to win 3 minutes into OT.

Overtime is awful for Michigan hockey. I remember being fairly shocked when we beat UNO 3-2 in OT at the beginning of the 2011 tournament because Michigan always ends their season by losing in OT

stephenrjking

July 11th, 2013 at 6:09 PM ^

That's just the last 5 years. In addition to those and the ones already posted in the OP, there are lowlights like the BC loss in '04, the triple-OT Maine loss in '95, the single-OT loss to Paul Kariya on that same Maine team in '93, and...



The flukey, seeding conspiracy OT loss to an LSSU team coached by Berenson kryptonite Jeff Jackson at Munn. That was as loaded as any Michigan team ever. When, at the Frozen Four, Jackson was asked if he thought the Lakers were the best team, he said, "The best team isn't even here."

I'm going to go vomit now.

In reply to by M-Wolverine

gwkrlghl

July 11th, 2013 at 7:29 PM ^

I think that game was the biggest ref hack-job I've ever witnessed happen to Michigan sports. The puck was in the net. We scored, we won but it called back because the ref...lost the puck.  I will never not be furious about that game

We won that game and should have gone to the Frozen Four in Detroit. F those refs

The FannMan

July 11th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^

In my humble opinion, this is not close.

I was at the Colorado game in 94.  It wins the contest for the worst to EVER HAPPEN PERIOD.  Not just the worse thing in Michigan sports history.

KNOCK IT DOWN!!!  The ball's been touched, just F*&%KING TACKLE WESTBROOK!!!!!  Moeller, - WHY YOU NO RUSH MORE THAN THREE!!!!!!!  

WHY??, Why? whyyyyyyyyy????

/closed door to offce so soft sobbing doesn't distract co-workers. 

//looks up number for therapist last visted in 2008-2010.

  

PAproudtoGoBlue

July 11th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^

While these are all painful moments in my life nothing touches the two streaks broken by RR and that WTH 3-3-5 defense.  Born in 1976 never to endure a below .500 season until....never in December or January did I not have to figure out how I was going to cut away from my PSU family to watch OUR bowl game during Holiday activities until... But if I had to pick a moment it was every time after we gave up 30-40 points and we broke the D huddle the next game in that stupid 3-3-5.   

 

Gitback

July 11th, 2013 at 1:00 PM ^

God that '94 Colorado loss was hard.  MAN.

As a student manager I was directly across from Stewart when he heaved that ball, winding up Coach Carr's cords on the sideline.  Lloyd and Coach Mattison were hugging, literally hugging each other as they set up for that final play.  Coach Carr had handed me his headset and began walking up the field to get a view of the pass from deeper in the secondary.  I was winding up the cord, at the Buffs' 30 yard line, when Kordell reared back and I yelled "keep dreaming my man!  You ain't got that kinda arm!!"  Turns out, he did.  He threw that thing from his own 27 to our 3.  



As the ball went up in the air a few players (all taller than me) stepped out in front of me and I lost my view.  I just put my head down and kept winding the cord, smiling and waiting for the crowd to erupt.  Instead, the stadium gasped and went dead.  I mean DEAD.  I looked up the sideline just as a fellow manager turned around and threw his hands up over his head in dispair.  I yell out "what?!"  and he blubbers "they fucking caught it!"

That game just felt HUGE at the time.  We were coming off of 5 straight Big Ten titles (4 outright) from '88 to '92 and then the year before, my first year as a manager, we go 8-4.  We had been 4-4 at one point in '93 (after that horrible Wisconsin game in Madison), but blasted through the rest of the season, beating down an OSU team that thought it was Rose Bowl bound and thrashing NC State in the Hall of Fame Bowl.  We felt really good going into '94.

Before the Colorado game, the '94 team had *secret* talks of making a national championship run.  Not just "Rose Bowl" talk as tradition dictates, but actual national championship talk.  Coach Moeller wasn't even discouraging it.  We had an experienced QB, Wheatley was back, a huge and talented O-line, Mercury and Amani, and a veteran defense.  We beat Notre Dame in South Bend the week before and we figured we we're on our way.  Then... Stewart to Westbrook and that damn SI cover.  "THE CATCH!"

Then we ended up on the cover of SI again a month later after another heartbreaking loss, this time to Penn State.  We lost to Wisconsin two weeks later (back to back losses to the Badgers was unheard of back then) and then dropped the final game in the 'Shoe to a pretty crappy OSU squad and watched them haul John friggin Cooper off the field on their shoulders like he'd just been fired for lying. This was the game where various pieces of equipment "came up missing" from our locker room inside OSU's stadium, including Wheatley's helmet and other rather essential items.  A bowl win against Colorado State to end the season was of little solace (although San Diego was nice).  

Jesus 1994 sucked.  Even after all we've endured since; from the Season of Infinite Pain, the Horror on through the Rich Rod years, 1994 will continue to live in infamy.