I would say the most disappointing defeat as opposed to soul crushing was Manchester City 0 Southampton 1, probably back in 2003. It was our last ever game at Maine Road, our home for over 70 years and the scene of the biggest recorded attendance in British club football, 84000 back in 1934. It was a carnival atmosphere – it was nice and sunny, we had secured a nice mid table position, and everyone was looking forward to seeing off the old ground in style.

And then the team decided to take a giant, runny shit all over the assembled 34000 and turned in one of the most pathetic, dispirited snoorefests this side of Sunday’s meltdown. At the end of the game I was so angry, so upset that I stormed out without even bothering to take in the post-game festivities as they closed the old girl down.

OH SHIT! I FORGOT! HOW THE FUCK DID I FORGET THIS?!?!

1996. Euro 96. Germany Vs England, penalty shootout, sudden death, Gareth Southgate … oh shit.
1998. World Cup. Argentina Vs England, penalty shootout. David Batty … oh shit.
2004. Euro 04. Portugal Vs England, penalty shootout, sudden death. FUCK PORTUGAL … oh shit.
2006. World Cup. Portugal Vs England, penalty shootout, sudden death … SERIOUSLY, FUCK YOU CHRISTIANO RONALDO YOU FUCKING COCKMUNCH PIECE OF SHIT, I HOPE YOUR HOUSE CATCHES FIRE AND FALLS ON YOUR FUCKING SKULL.

Which doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I was 18, still lived in Olympia and had never been to a game at Safeco before. I was working 70 hour weeks scrubbing toilets and cleaning carpets, usually seven days a week. I had to ask for the half day off weeks in advance and knowing I could go to that game was the only thing that kept me from drinking a bottle of floor stripper. So to have those expectations and then lose to the fucking Tigers, not only lose but watch Freddy give a leadoff HR and have that be enough, was a kick in the teeth.

aka the game that exposed Chris McIntosh as a first-round bust. I had never seen a more clueless offense, totally bewildered by Philly’s blitzing scheme. Hass gets sacked like eleventy times. Dilfer chants by the third quarter. Most of the Seattle fans fled by the third quarter, so we were surrounded by rowdy Iggles fans who wanted to fight now that they outnumbered us. No beer (Husky Stadium). A thouroughly dispiriting game. I think this was also the game where Holmgren said the fans can go eff themselves.

probably because I haven’t been to any postseason games. However, I did suffer a bit of heartbreak in screwing up a ticket order, thus causing me to miss game 5 of the 2005 ALDS versus the Yankees. When they went on sale, the site got slammed. I got in line for two decent tickets, and it said I had a 15 minute wait until I could get to the purchase screen due to the high volume. Thinking the nicer tickets might sell out in that time, I grab nosebleed seats in another tab as a backup. When time comes to purchase, Ticketmaster says that I’m trying to cheat the system and am only allowed to wait for one pair, fuck you. And so I get none.

I missed this:

Jose Mesa.

No, Not in Our House!

What game in 2000 did Clemens shut us out in the ALCS? That one sticks out as does game 6 of the 1995 ALCS.

Is there some sort of WE chart that lets us know who is more likely to win the cockpunch/mod bet?

Apparently “decent seats” are terrace club or better.

here

I was a big Erik Zabel fan at the time (because of his 96-01 run at the Tour de France) and he was looking to be in a good shape coming into the last few hundred meters. His domestique was setting a really good pace when all of a sudden Tom Boonen (who didn’t have any of his team anywhere near him) launched a solo attack that no one even bothered to chase down, because no one thought he had any chance of keeping his lead over Klier’s pace.

I was a the finish line, and I heard the cheers getting closer and closer, so I turned to watch the pack come around the corner and see Zabel smoke everyone in the sprint…

Then Boonen came rolling around the corner with no one else in sight and coasted across the finish line, sitting up in his seat a good half minute before the rest of the pack. I wanted to leap out and tackle him off his bike for robbing me of seeing in a sprint finish in the ONLY RONDE VAN VLAANDEREN I’LL PROBABLY EVER SEE IN PERSON.

Thanks Tom, it was great.

When will teams learn not to announce which players will be featuring on bobblehead night months before it actually takes place?

I’d love to get my hands on a load of them and microwave them into oblivion.

LA JOLLA — Don’t let the dogs out — at least not yet.

That’s the latest dictum from U.S. District Court Judge William Hayes, who said yesterday that his temporary restraining order preventing harassment or dispersal of the seal colony at Children’s Pool beach in La Jolla remains in force.

San Diego officials, under orders from Superior Court Judge Yuri Hofmann, announced a plan May 22 to use the amplified sounds of barking dogs to scare away the seals.

Councilwoman Sherri Lightner, whose district includes La Jolla, then suggested using real dogs — an idea that met stiff criticism from hundreds of residents. She has scheduled a news conference for this afternoon to discuss the issue.

In 1931, state law designated Children’s Pool as a beach for human swimmers, but it’s now home to about 200 harbor seals who foul the area with their feces. Under a 2005 Superior Court ruling, the city is supposed to reduce the bacterial contamination so the site can be returned to human use.

We’d won 50 straight at home. We’d won every game in the new arena to that point, years’ worth (38). That Santa Clara team wasn’t any good. We would’ve won if Heytvelt hadn’t gotten caught with ’shrooms.

I’d elaborate, but I’ve blocked out the details like it was some horribly scarring childhood memory. I’ll deal it with in therapy some day.

speaking of a kick in a painful place.

It was at the UW and Martsch and crew totally wailed. Best guitar performance I’ve seen yet. Ra Ra Riot was a good opener and the best part is the it was completely FREE. Great great show.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter?game_id=29069&displayPage=tab_gamecenter&season=2006&week=REG15

The Be Good Tanyas track titled “Dogsong #2”
is a melodic/rhythmic rip off of Palace Music’s “We All, Us Three, Will Ride”
Can any musicologists confirm/deny. Warning: both tracks severely lack testosterone, so don’t go researching unless you dig mellow.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009289960_websexwithdogs02m.html

Portland gets…Burnley FC! That’s right, the mighty, newly promoted and hungry for blood Burnley come to PGE Park in July to show the Timbers Army….uh…..something. It’ll be the beginning of a fierce rivalry that will last until the Timbers turn into an MLS team and want to play the Chelseas and Barcelonas of the world.

Here’s the Boxscore.

This game was what taught me that frustration, futility, and despair are bigger part of baseball than the triumphs and glories. It also set the tone for the catastrophic bullpen work that would define the next four years of Mariner baseball.

The first baseball game I ever went in my life to was Game 3 of the 1995 ALDS (when I was in third grade). Neither my dad nor I had ever had the slightest interest in baseball before September 1995, but my dad bought playoff tickets because, with the Mariners set to move away, he figured it would be the first/last/only time we would ever see playoff baseball in Seattle). I fell in love with baseball after going to those six playoff games at the Kingdome in 1995. I sobbed like only a child with a broken heart can after we lost Game 6. But I realized even then that there was something cathartic, beautiful, and special about that season – this was a loss that had meaning. I’m glad we lost in a way, because my dad was able to teach me the most beautiful thing about baseball: “there’s always next year.”

The Hoiles grand slam taught me that sometimes there is no meaning or reason in loss – sometimes God just treats you like Job just for the hell of it. The ultimate grand slam – the walk-off GS to win the game by one run – has only happened 23 times. The cliché ultimate grand slam – the 3-2, 2 out, bottom of the 9th, down by three grand slam – has happened between 3 and 14 times (not sure how to figure out how many exactly). That makes it even rarer than a perfect game (17 times).

As a little kid, it’s hard sometimes to realize that storybook endings in baseball require someone on the losing side, too – and gaining that wisdom was perhaps the most painful moment I’ve ever had as a baseball fan – the only things that might be worse are the two decided losses to the Yankees in the 2000 and 2001 ALCS playoffs.

The Orioles knocked Bob Wolcott (the hero of Game 1 of the 1995 ALCS) out in the third inning, and the Mariners were down 7-2 after 3 innings. Then, in the top of the sixth, the Mariners got two runs against Arthur Rhodes (yes, Arthur Rhodes) and knocked him out before he retired a batter. Then the Mariners got two more runs that inning to make in 7-6 Orioles. Then in the bottom of the 7th, some scrub I don’t even remember named Scott Davidson gave up a two-run homer to Rafael Palmeiro to give the Orioles a 9-6 lead. Then in the top of the 8th, after a Dan Wilson RBI single, A-Rod hit a grand slam to give the Mariners an 11-9 lead. Seriously, this game felt as wild and fun as this year’s May 3 15-inning game against the A’s. Ripkin hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th to make it 11-10, but it didn’t matter – we had this game won as soon as "the Sheriff" Norm Charlton came in with 2 outs in the 8th. The two insurance runs we got in the 9th seemed superfluous with the Sheriff pitching. Then, in the bottom of the 9th:

Roberto Alomar: Walk
Rafael Palmeiro: strikeout
Bobby Bonilla: Double, Alomar to 3rd
Billy Ripkin: Foul popout
Cal Ripkin: Walk (AUGH! NOT MORE WALKS!)
INTERLUDE OF UNBEARABLE DREAD
Chris Hoiles: 3-2, 2 outs, game-winning Grand Slam. The Orioles’ crowd goes “The Double” crazy.

After I hit that, I remember leaping into my mother’s arms and, weeping, telling her: "It’s not FAIR! We DESERVED to win that game!" Oh, the innocence of youth.

From my freshman year. Stanford comes in undefeated, ranked #1. Cougs have a five point lead with about 28 seconds left and manage to lose on a fadeaway 28 footer at the buzzer by Matt Lotich. The agony was magnified when UW beat Stanford two days later and Lotich couldn’t hit a shot.

From my senior year, I drove to Sacramento for NCAA tournament. The Cougs lead pretty much the entire game against Vandy in the second round. I was sitting behind the bench and Daven Harmeling missed a three to win right in front of me at the end of regulation. We ended up losing in two overtimes. It was my last basketball game as a student. Afterwards I drove 14 hours overnight back to Pullman.

Now I’m moving to Nashville in August because my lady’s master’s program is at….Vanderbilt.

So says Microsoft.

Soccer teams in England had slogans which were bold statements of intent, like:

Arsenal: Victoria Concordia Crescit (Victory Through Harmony)
Tottenham: Audere et Facere (To Dare Is To Do)
Blackburn Rovers: Arte Et Labore (By Art And By Labour)

Now, when a team signs a new shirt sponsorship deal, they release a statement like

“We look forward to being closely aligned with the world leader in risk management,”

which it could be said falls somewhat short of the St. Crispin’s Day speech, as far as rousing the fanbase goes. Still, I guess it’s a relief that I’m no longer a sponsor of Manchester United.

I SAY CHAPS, JOSH BECKETT HAS A NO HITTER!