Greatest Sports Collapses

Add the Boston Bruins to the list of "greatest sports collapses" in history.

Boston hockey fans thought it was finally going to happen tonight, that their beloved Bruins would come to the "Gahden" and skate to win and advance to the next round of the playoff, inching closer to the coveted Stanley Cup.

Can you all see me rolling my eyes from here? Can you feel the mad and disgust rolling off of me in tsunami waves?

Tonight I witnessed yet another greatest sports collapse: The Boston Bruins, who had built a 3 games to none lead over the Philadephia Flyers in their best of 7 series, lost four straight games, the fourth being tonight's game - a 4-3 loss which has now effectively ended the Bruins' season.

Oh, and do I rub salt in fans' wounds by saying the B's lost this deciding game - AT HOME? The Garden was as silent as Grant's tomb. Disbelief was etched on the faces of all.

My first thought after the buzzer sounded? The B's are the New York Yankees of 2004. I remember that year - and that series as clear as granite quarry water.

The Boston Red Sox had dropped 3 straight games to New York of the American League Championship series and Red Sox Nation was already thinking 2005.

But the Sox did the unthinkable. Call it a miracle or call it whatever you want but the Red Sox won four straight games over the Yankees and (god I have goosebumps writing this LOL) advanced to the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, won four more consecutive games and erased the curse of the Bambino and 86 years of sheer frustration.

The Flyers did that tonight although I can't tell you when they last won a Stanley Cup nor do I really care.

What I CAN tell you is the that the Bruins have NOT won the Stanley Cup since the 1971-72 season when they defeated the New York Rangers.

And now the 38 year drought has turned to a 39 year drought.

So I am adding insult to the injury by mentioning a few more noted greatest sports collapses:

1. 1964 Phillies. A 6 1/2 game lead in September evaporated as the Phillies dropped 11 games in a row and finished tied for second.

2. Houston Oilers v. Buffalo Bills in the 1992 AFC wildcard game. Oilers built a 35-3 lead into the 3rd quarter but unraveled like a rolling ball of yarn, ultimately losing 41-38 to the Bills. Ouch.

3. Ugh. I remember this all too well. 1978 Red Sox. How about a nice 14 game (yes, 14 game) comfortable lead in the AL East go down the tubes between late July, August & September when the Sox finished 17 1/2 games out of 1st place. El Foldo was the expression someone used. No shit.

4. 1942 Detroit Red Wings. Ha, they did what the Bruins did tonight. Except the Red Wings collapsed in the Stanley Cup series. The Red Wings led 3 games to none over the Toronto Maple Leafs and forgot to show up for the next four games as they, too, lost all of them and watched the Maple Leafs carry that Cup around the Leafs' home ice. Footnote: The Red Wings actually took a slim 1-0 lead into the third period but allowed 3 goals in 10 minutes to effectuate their collapse.

5.  And of course, my favorite as aforementioned, the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS series. Gotta love that one, though, if you are a member of Red Sox Nation.

But tonight, Bruins fans everywhere are shaking their heads, coming up with every excuse in the book for this horrific collapse (most likely the blame will be placed upon numerous injuries to key players) but realizing that the B's have now earned themselves a permanent place in the record books and not in a good way, either.

I've been a Boston fan so long that I can't help but think eh, wait till next year but if you could see the eye rolling' going on here supports my jadedness and cynicalness about that saying. OK, so I did get 2 World Series in 3 years. But damn, that nice shiny ginormous Stanley Cup would have been a really nice way to kick off a 2010 win streak for Boston teams.

Not!