The past year has delivered some great moments, and some not so great moments. The Super Bowl was played this past weekend, and the Atlanta Falcons blew a 19-point lead against the Patriots. It got me thinking of some of the biggest heartbreaks and blown leads in sports this past year.
Let's start with the most recent one, Super Bowl 51 from NRG stadium in Houston. It was the New England Patriots and Tom Brady against the reigning NFL MVP Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons. Early on in the game it seemed like the Falcons were going to run away with this one. Points were hard to come by at first, leaving us funs with a scoreless first quarter. But after a LeGarrette Blount fumble, the Falcons managed to take turnover and turn it into the first points of the game. Later the Falcons defense would pick off Tom Brady and take it to the house for the Falcons touchdown. Atlanta was firmly in the driver seat at this point having a 19-point lead with a little over 9 minutes left in the game. Then Tom Brady does what he's done time and time again, he leads his team.
Brady drove his team down the field two times, while also converting on two 2-point conversions, and tying up the Super Bowl leading to the first overtime game in Super Bowl history. The Patriots would later take the first possession of overtime and score a touchdown on a James White 2-yard run, crowning them Super Bowl 51 Champions, while ripping out the hearts of the Atlanta Falcons.
March Madness always seems to deliver and the 2016 NCAA Men’s national championship was no different. The North Carolina Tar heels took on the Villanova Wildcats, in Houston at NRG Stadium. This game was not like the others where one team had a big lead, no this game was close throughout, and was back and forth. The fun starts with 13 seconds left in the game, Wildcats leading 72-71, Josh Hart was at the line for Nova, and he sinks two free throws pushing the lead to three. UNC with no timeouts left, dribble the ball down court and handed it to Marcus Paige who hits the deep three pointer to tie this game 74-74 with 6 seconds left on the clock. What happens next was unbelievable. Off of a timeout, Villanova with the ball, Ryan Arcidiacono goes the length of the floor and finds Kris Jenkins who hits the 3-pointer as time expires to give Villanova the 77-74 win and naming them National Champions, and all while sending the entire basketball universe into a frenzy.
The Chicago Cubs, a well known name in the United States, has finally gotten rid of their curse, by making it to the 2016 World Series. Although they were in a bit of a pickle, when they found themselves down 3 game to 1 to the Cleveland Indians. It looked as if the indians were going to become World Series champs, something that has also been a rare sight for them, after winning one game at home and two games at Wrigley Field in Chicago. After their third win, the Indians had 3 chances to win the World Series including two chances in their home park. But we all know by now how that turned out. The Cubs came back to win three games in a row and win their first World Series since 1908. I am no fan of either team, but the Indians should’ve won, but this just shows how good the young Cubs really are, and that they could easily repeat in 2017.
In a similar situation as the Indians, were the Golden State Warriors, leading the 7-game series 3-1 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Reigning NBA MVP Steph Curry and the Warriors had won the first two games of the NBA finals on their home court, and even managed to steal one from the Cavs, in Cleveland. Heading into game 5, all Golden State had to do was win one. Should be easy enough for a team that had 73 wins in the regular season, and a possible two games at home if they lost. Well apparently that was too much for them, the Warriors had two chances to win at home, but the only problem was that they did not capitalize. The Cavaliers managed to win 3 games in a row and crown the Cleveland NBA Champions. LeBron James was finally able to bring a championship to a city that has given James nothing but love. As for the Warriors they had to watch the Cavs celebrate a championship in their own building, talk about heartbreak.
I feel for fans of either of these four teams it sucks that it their seasons had to end this way for many. But as a sports fan this was probably the best we could have ever asked for. Now we wait to see what the rest of 2017 has to offer, and we don’t have to wait long with March Madness being right around the corner. Let me know which team you thought had the biggest loss by tweeting me, @gpulido_.
