Before we get to the list, there are a few things to say. This is good, because the list isn’t that long.
First, here’s the video of the Jets’ game-tying goal, in case you haven’t seen it.
Second, the Jets scored another goal two minutes earlier. They’d been down 3–1 with two minutes left in Game 7. They won the game.
Third, I know people like to clown Jordan Binnington. Was he at fault for these goals? I don’t know. I’m not on that level with hockey. I think he was at fault for the Namestnikov goal that made it 3–2. I don’t think he was at fault for the Perfetti goal? I do wonder if the Namestnikov goal set him up for the Perfetti goal. On the Perfetti goal, Kyle Connor was almost exactly where Vlad Namestnikov had been and Cole Perfetti was almost exactly where Alex Iafallo had been. Namestnikov shot. Connor passed. Binnington seemed like he was ready for Connor to shoot?
Ok, here’s the list. I will concede it’s not exhaustive. Had to limit it to sports or it got really, really grim.
- Someone dying on the field/court/rink.
- Blowing a 3–0 series lead, especially against your biggest rival who hasn’t won a World Series in 86 years.
- Losing a World Series clincher on an error in the ninth inning when you haven’t won a World Series in 68 years.
- Losing a playoff game because you let the other team recover an onside kick.
- Blowing a three-stroke lead on the 18th hole in a major, especially if you spend part of that hole wading in a creek looking at your ball.
- Blowing a twelve-point lead in the last 45 seconds of a single-elimination basketball game.
Beyond those, I’m sure some exist, and I’m sure recency bias and my own biases are shaping this. For the Blues, though, this was an all-time painful loss.
To address some of the obvious omissions:
- There are bigger NFL playoff comebacks than the 28–3 Super Bowl, and the Falcons knew that was possible. They were playing the Patriots. The game was never fully in the bag.
- In basketball, the 2002 Kings/Lakers series comes to mind, but again, the Kings should have expected some adversity (David Stern rigging the game), and again, it was never fully in the bag.
- I’m a Cubs fan and I don’t know if the Steve Bartman game was worse. In historic context, sure, and Dusty Baker deserves every piece of Grady Little’s reputation for how he managed that game. But again, the game wasn’t over the way last night’s game was over. You see three-run comebacks in the late innings in baseball. You don’t see game-tying goals in the last two seconds in hockey.
Mileage will vary. But I think people aren’t making a big enough deal of how bad that loss was last night for St. Louis. I think they’re too afraid of recency bias. They’re biased against recency bias. Also probably desensitized by the Avalanche collapsing on Saturday. But what do you expect? When you name a franchise after a devastating collapse, you can’t be mad at them for collapsing to devastating effect. That’s the genius of the Colorado Avalanche.
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