Falcons not alone in big game collapse

If you were like Mark Wahlberg and gave up on Super Bowl LI early on Sunday, you missed the greatest comeback in postseason football history as Tom Brady and the New England Patriots stormed back from 25 points down to stun the Atlanta Falcons in overtime, 34-28.

Right now, the Falcons and their fans probably feel alone in their bewilderment, but that comeback/collapse isn’t unique in the sporting world. There are others who feel their pain…not that it provides any relief today.

2005 Champions League Final – Things got off to an inauspicious start for Liverpool when Milan captain Paolo Maldini scored in the game’s first minute. Things got considerably worse when Argentine hitman Hernan Crespo scored twice within five minutes before the half to give the Rossoneri a commanding 3-0 lead going into the break on what is now a famous day in Istanbul along the red half of the Mersey.

As the Reds were on the way to an ignominious defeat, Steven Gerrard and company flipped the script in a 15-minute span after kick-off. Goals from the captain, little-used Czech midfielder Vladimir Smicer and Xabi Alonso brought Liverpool level by the 60^th minute.

When the final 30 minutes and extra time solved nothing, Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek put on a show in penalties. First, his “spaghetti legs” routine distracted Serginho into skying his attempt over the bar. Then, he produced a fine save on Andrea Pirlo before reaching back to deny Andriy Shevchenko and hand Liverpool its fifth European Cup.

1992 NBA Finals – While the Chicago Bulls dynasty was born in 1991 with a five-game NBA Finals triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers and Michael Jordan’s infamous hand-switching layup over Sam Perkins, it was cemented in the finals a year later.

The fourth quarter of Game 6 started with Phil Jackson pretty sure that there was going to be a Game 7 at Chicago Stadium against a Portland Trail Blazers team looking for its first title since 1977. Stuck 13 points and featuring a lineup with Scottie Pippen and a quartet of reserves, the Bulls turned into stoppers in the final frame. They outscored the Blazers 33-14 in the quarter and limited them to six points in the game’s final four minutes to claim their second of three straight titles.

2011 World Junior Hockey Championship – Artemi Panarin won the Calder Trophy last June as the NHL’s top rookie, but what he was capable of was put on display five years earlier at the WJHC in Buffalo.

In the gold-medal game between Canada and Russia, the Canadians were on their way to a sixth championship in seven years, holding a commanding 3-0 lead after two periods on goals from Ryan Ellis, Carter Ashton and Brayden Schenn.

Panarin, though, had other ideas. Starting with his goal just under three minutes into the third, Panarin and the Russians would score five times in the next 16 minutes to stun a shell-shocked Mark Visentin and Canada, 5-3, for Russia’s first gold since 2003. The Chicago Blackhawks star’s second marker of the period at 15:22 proved to be the game-winner.

1997 World Series – It’s been 20 years, but Jose Mesa’s name in Cleveland is still spoken in the same angered tones normally reserved for mothers-in-law and Gary from accounting. Prior to the Cavs’ triumph in the 2016 NBA Finals, the 1997 edition of the Tribe was a pretty good indicator that Cleveland was, in fact, cursed.

With a 2-1 lead over the Florida Marlins in Game 7 of the World Series, Mike Hargrove sent out Mesa, his closer, to win Cleveland its first World Series since 1948. He proceeded to surrender a leadoff single to Moises Alou. After getting a K from Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson advanced Alou to third with a single of his own on a two-strike count. Up next, Craig Counsell’s sac-fly scored the tying run. Two innings later, Edgar Renteria would win the game, driving home Counsell off of Charles Nagy, and give the Marlins an improbable World Series title.

Though the enmity might have subsided a bit over the years, shout “Hey, there’s Jose Mesa!” on the concourse at the Jake next season and don’t be surprised to see a couple of torches and pitchforks emerge from nowhere.

Oh, yeah. The Cavs…

2016 NBA Finals – Before there was 28-3, there was the 3-1 lead.

You know the story – the Golden State Warriors were well on their way to a second straight NBA title. LeBron James and his hometown Cavs, for another year running, would be also-rans. That, of course, isn’t what happened.

Up 3-1 in the series, the Dubs dropped Games 5 and 6 before settling down and taking an eight-point lead midway through the third quarter of Game 7 at home in the Oracle. That cushion would be enough on most nights, but not against the Cavs last June. Though, the Warriors’ commitment to defence was impeccable, the Cavaliers were one step ahead. They held the champs to just 13 points in the final, quarter and none in the final four minutes.

The indelible moment from that game came with just under two minutes left and the scored tied, 89-89. James sprinted down the court and improbably blocked a go-ahead layup from Andre Iguodala in a jaw-dropping feat of determination. Kyrie Irving would go on to hit a dagger three and the Cavs claimed Game 7, 93-89, and win the NBA title.

With the win, the Cavs forever eradicated sporting heartache from the city of Cleveland…well, for a couple of months, at least…

2016 World Series – Cleveland was on top of the world. Still buzzing from their NBA title, the Indians dispatched the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays to head to the World Series where they had the Chicago Cubs on the ropes. The sentimental favourites, the Cubs in their first Fall Classic since 1945 had one ace up their sleeve: being down 3-1 in a series. As the Cavs proved months earlier, it was a surefire path to success.

A 3-2 win in Game 5 followed up by a 9-3 shellacking of the Tribe in Game 6 meant there would be a Game 7 back in Cleveland. What unfolded was one of the best deciding games in World Series history. After the Cubs built up a four-run lead, the Tribe would tie the game in the eighth at 6-6 on a dramatic two-run home run by Rajai Davis off of Aroldis Chapman.

Before there would be extra innings, the heavens would open and drench the field as if the gods knew something momentous were about to occur. And it did. The Cubs would score twice in the 10^th and hold off the Indians for their first World Series title since 1908.

The heights of the June NBA title victory were long gone from the minds of Cleveland sports fans with disappointment anew taking the city back to the days of *Sideshow Bob shudder* Jose Mesa.