Growing up I loved sports. It started out really young. My mom said I was commentating on sports even as a kid. I have been pretty lucky with my teams. My Lakers, Colts, and Angels all have won a championship in my lifetime. Lakers winning it 5 times since 2000 and possibly having the best tandem in sports history of Shaq and Kobe.
Sometimes the pain of defeat is worse than the sweet taste of victory, and those losses you will remember before the wins.
All of my teams have been very competitive.But also, I have been through some heartbreak because of sports. Being such a big fan of my teams the losses really make me depressed and ruin my day or weeks.
The loss that will always be the worst is when the Lakers lost to the hated Celtics in 2008. The team had finally turned the corner after trading Shaq. The amazing trade for Pau Gasol and the emergence of Andrew Bynum had many Laker fans so happy. What happened at the end of the season though, wasn’t so great. Blowing a 24-point game in game 4 which would have tied the series 2-2 and winning game 5 would have had the Lakers up 3-2 going back to Boston. Instead, they lost in 6. This continues to be the worst loss for my team because of a hated rival and knowing we should have won the series even if we were not the better team.
The Colts have had quite a lot of disappointments in the Peyton Manning era. Continually underachieving in the 14 years he was there. Even after he left Tom Brady the Patriots continued to terrorize them. With losses in the playoffs in 2003-4 and 2013-2014. With only one loss even being within single digits. The one that stands out was the super bowl loss to the Saints. The loss was bad, but it was a combination of how we lost, plus the team not going for 16-0 after winning the first 14 games really made this loss hurt. I was down for a week after that loss.
For the Angels, it was the 2005 ALCS. The team was absolutely robbed by the umps. AJ Pierzynski struck out but ran to first base after, and was awarded first. The White Sox went on to win that game and sweep us the rest of the series. I’m convinced if that blatant bs call isn’t called we go on and win another world series. That Angels team was so good. The team collapsed after that game, which may be even more disappointing.
My Sharks have given me the most hurt of all the other teams. They have been a perennial power since Joe Thornton was traded to the team. The problem is the team has underachieved forever. They have so many heartbreaking moments that it’s hard to choose one, but the one that stands out the most is when they lost a 3-0 lead to the hated Kings. They were outplayed the last 4 so badly. It hurt, even more than losing to the hated ducks.
All of these losses made me legitimately sad, and there were other from all these teams that ruined my day. I love sports, but sometimes liking your teams too much can lead to some serious heartbreak.
