ESPN's Bill Simmons has defined at least
16 levels of losing, with #3 being determined to as the "Stomach Punch."
Simmons defines it as, "...any roller-coaster game that ends with (A) an opponent making a pivotal (sometimes improbable) play or (B) one of your guys failing in the clutch. ... Usually ends with fans filing out after the game in stunned disbelief, if they can even move at all. ... Always haunting, sometimes scarring. ... There are degrees to The Stomach Punch Game, depending on the situation. ... For instance, it's hard to top Cleveland's Earnest Byner fumbling against Denver when he was about two yards and 0.2 seconds away from sending the Browns to the Super Bowl."
Reminded of this level by yesterday's
NY Giants loss to Philadelphia, I give you some of my own personal Level 3 Losses as a sports fan.
#7 - Vikings 23, Giants 22 (1997 NFC Wild Card). When
Chris Calloway was unable to snare an onside kick,
Randall Cunningham led the Vikings to the winning score, capping a 10-point swing in the last 90 seconds.
#6 - Bulls 97, Knicks 94 (Game #5, 1993 Eastern Conference Final). Charles Smith
can't seem to dunk the basketball.
#5 - Pacers 97, Knicks 95 (Game #7, 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals). Reggie Miller injures the Knicks for seven games; Patrick Ewing kills them when he misses
a finger roll at the buzzer. Where was
George Gervin when you needed him?
#4 - Rams 19, Giants 13 (1990 NFC Divisional Playoffs).
Flipper Anderson runs into the tunnel.
#3 - 49ers 39, Giants 38 (2002 NFC Wildcard). The
mother of all personal stomach punches.
#2 - Canadiens 4, Rangers 3 (OT) (Game #3, 1986 Wales Conference Final). Dominant all game long, Rangers are
stoned by Patrick Roy and Claude Lemieux scores in OT.
#1 - Dodgers 2, Expos 1 (Game #5, National League Championship Series). October 19, 1981.
Blue Monday. My introduction to the stomach punch.
Gary Carter and his Expos were my boyhood idols. Looking every bit like a World Series contender until
Rick Monday homered off
Steve Rogers.
