Levels of Losing

Bill Simmons is at his best in defining how we experience sports, from a fan's perspective, not masturbating online over the recent successes of Boston-area teams. He adds to his Levels of Losing chart here, and it made me think about my own worst experiences with my favorite teams losing. Here's my top choice:

1993: Pittsburgh Penguins lose to Islanders in OT, Game 7, 2nd round of the playoffs. In 1991 and 1992, the Penguins won Stanley Cups with a roster of Hall of Fame talent, not just Lemieux, but Mark Recchi (traded for Rick Tocchet for the 2nd cup), Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, Larry Murphy, and a gangly perm-mulleted Czech named Jaromir Jagr (his first name is an anagram for Mario Jr.), plus Kevin Stevens (who was the original John LeClair), Ulf Samuelsson, Troy Loney, and other names only I would know..

In 1993, this team ripped through the regular season, winning the President's Trophy for most points overall, and beat the Devils in five and then faced the Islanders, who were a low seed. The Islanders hung tough through 6 games though, forcing a Game 7 in Pittsburgh.

I didn't even expect to watch this game, because it was on during the day and my family was traveling to Lancaster PA for a wedding. When we arrived at the hotel, I insisted that we see if the game was on. My mother, tired from the trip I guess, said no, we couldn't watch it. We would make alot of noise and we were all in one room and she didn't want to have to deal with us moping and cursing if the Pens lost. Despite my dad's unwillingness to take a stand, I precipitated shouts and gestures and raised tempers, and prevailed in the cause of truth and righteousness, and we turned the game on. Then my face fell. 3-1 Islanders, five minues to go in the 3rd period.

With "I told you so" ringing in my ears, the Penguins then mounted a glorious comeback, getting 2 goals to tie it up, the last one with only a minute or so to play. We bounced on the hotel bed, giddy with anticipation as overtime started. NO Mom, I Told YOU so!

Five minutes later, I wanted to throw myself off the hotel balcony. David Volek scored on a one-timer to end the game and eliminate the Pens from the playoffs. This loss combined 3 of Simmons levels of losing: XII--Sudden Death (self-explanatory), VIII--This Can't Be Happening (Pens heavily favored), and III, Stomach Punch (The loss was that much harder to take BECAUSE of the improbable comeback to tie the game in regulation)

This game was the death knell for the budding Pens dynasty. In the next few years, the Pens would make decent playoff runs, only to lose to less talented teams that played better defense and had much better luck. Meanwhile, they kept giving away their talent, like Markus Naslund, who they traded for peanuts to Vancouver, only to see him become a star, and getting rid of incredibly gifted players like D-Man Sergei Zubov because they didn't mesh well with Lemieux's style of play (Zubov was a key player in the Dallas Stars Stanley Cup victories). And of course Lemieux would be plagued by back problems and Hodgkins disease.

This game also featured the end of 50 goal scorer Kevin Steven's career. He collided with an Islander defenseman and hit the ice face first, requiring facial reconstructive surgery. He was never the same again and only got alot of press when he was arrested with a crack whore in 2000. Meanwhile, top goaltender Tom Barrasso--who rivaled Ron Hextall in stickhandling ability and level of prickitude--would give up soft goals and was never the brick wall he used to be.

In honor of that gut wrenching lost, here is all you need to know about the game: (thanks to www.thepensblog.blogspot.com)



Other gut wrenching losses: Steelers/Chargers AFCC 1994, the Neil O'Donnell Super Bowl Giveaway, and the 1992 NLCS loss to the Braves, which has made me hate baseball to this day.

So Steelskins, tell us about your worst losses experienced in separate posts.