I was recently reading a column by ESPN’s Bill Simmons (Sports Guy) about losing. Because of the Mets’ recent collapse, he was updating a column originally written by him in 2002 called “The Levels of Losing.” In this column he basically ranks different types of sports losses based on how emotionally debilitating they are for the fans. He chronicles these various types of defeats with many examples from all sports, and when reading it I couldn’t help but think back on some of the worst losses (individual games or playoff series) as a fan that I’ve endured over the years. Here are my top 10 in descending order: (keep in mind that this is most depressing blog I’ve written thus far, so if this list ends at like #7 or something, it’s because I’m dead and someone else has stumbled upon this Word document and decided to post it in my memory).

First a few honorable mentions:

1996 NHL Western Conference Finals – after a best of all time regular season, and following a loss in the Stanley Cup Finals a year earlier (more on that later), the Red Wings lost a brutal Conference Finals against the hated (I mean hated) Colorado Avalanche. Stupid Avalanche.

1991 NBA Eastern Conference Finals – the Pistons got swept and embarrassed by the Bulls after dominating them for several years straight. Detroit walks off the court in game 4 without congratulating Chicago after the bitter loss…and the Bulls deserved the walk-off…punks.

2000 NFC Championship Game – After a strong regular season, and after easily disposing of the Saints in the Divisional game, the Vikings seemed ready to make it back to the Superbowl (after many years) and mend the hurt of an ailing fan base still recovering from 1998 (more on that later as well). However, instead of moving on to the NFL’s biggest stage, they were absolutely dismantled by the Giants 41-0. It was a massacre unlike anything I’ve seen before or since.

Michigan – Ohio State 2006 (Football) - thought to have been basically the national championship game at the time, this meeting of two 11-0 teams (#1 vs #2 and bitter rivals) was an absolute shoot out (especially for the smash mouth style Big 10). Michigan eventually lost the game down the stretch (with help from a controversial “helmet to helmet” call late) and along with the game it’s shot at a national title…maybe it’s best shot for a while.

1994 Stanley Cup Finals – the NJ Devils swept the Detroit Red Wings using their neutral zone trap. This was the Red Wings first appearance in the Finals in 42 years, and I had very high hopes for them going into this series. However, they were totally outplayed every second of every game against New Jersey. When you haven’t been to the Finals in over 40 years, you never know when you’ll be back. I was downright disappointed.

Now, the top 10:

#10. 2006 World Series – the Detroit Tigers hadn’t made the playoffs in 19 years. Then out of nowhere they treated us to a magical season in 2006. On second thought, maybe I should replace the word “magical” with “roller coaster.” Losing the final game of the regular season, the Tigers also lost the division that they stood atop for the entire season. They entered the playoffs as a wild card with no momentum and had to face the mighty Yankees. They surprisingly took care of NY in convincing fashion, though (hopes were high), then ousted Oakland via sweep (hopes were elevated to off the chart), then literally fell apart in the world series losing to St. Louis…the worst team to ever win a world series. Ugh.

#9. 2007 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 – Lebron James. Need I say more? Lebron scored Cleveland’s last 25 points, and 29 out of their last 30, to win this pivotal overtime thriller against the Pistons. This game may have been higher on the list except that I had already begun to see the writing on the wall that this wasn’t going to be Detroit’s year. Plus, I was already emotionally numb from the heartbreak of previous years Pistons’ collapses.

#8. 2006 NBA Eastern Conference Finals – the Detroit Pistons fell apart and lost to the Heat in 6 games. After a dominating 64-win regular season, Detroit looked like a shoo-in to run through the weakened Eastern Conference. However, after a tiring 7 game series with Cleveland in the Semis, they had nothing left in the tank for the East Finals. They were literally run out of the gym in a laugher in game 6. The height of my expectations for the Pistons at the time made this one sting all the worse.

#7. 1988 NBA Finals – the Detroit Pistons lost to the LA Lakers in 7 games. This was the Pistons’ first trip to the Finals ever. It was a classic, hard fought, heartbreaking series that culminating with an injured Isaiah Thomas being unable to get a shot off (because he was fouled, but we won’t talk about that) at the buzzer in game 7. Being only 7 years old at the time, I can’t remember too many specifics save for Isaiah’s absolutely heroic performance in game 5. That was one of the best, most gritty individual performances in history, and this was one, if not the, best NBA Finals of all time. Unfortunately though, I can still feel the hurt, and I still hate the Lakers to this day.

#6. 1987 NBA Eastern Conference Finals Game 5 – “now there’s a steal by Bird, underneath to DJ, what a play by Bird!” That nasally call recounting the infamous thrown away pass by Isaiah Thomas basically losing the game for Detroit to the hated Celtics was one for the ages. That Celtics team was easily the ugliest group of guys ever assembled in the history of the world, and I hated them with a passion. They were arrogant and dirty, and they deserved to lose in 1987. However, they didn’t, and it took one more year for Detroit to hand them their just dessert.

#5. 1987 ALCS – ahhh, I hate the Twins! Still do too because of this series. Up until last year, this was the Tigers last playoff appearance. They were heavily favored entering this series but were ran out of town losing 4-1. When you’re only a young child, and your dad is a die-hard Twins fan, and your Grandma (visiting from Minnesota) is talking smack about the losses, it hits home. This loss seemed to grow on me too, since I would be 26 years old before I had another chance to watch the Tigers in the postseason. See #10. Ahh!

#4. Michigan – Appalachian State 2007 (Football) – a Division 1-AA team. Seriously. Starting at #5 in the polls entering the 2007 season, coming off of a year where a bounce of the ball here or there could have given them a national title, and returning with 4 key offensive stars that all chose to defer NFL careers to give it one more shot at a national championship, Michigan looked poised to dominate. In tradition of scheduling cupcake games early, they scheduled Div. 1-AA Appalachian State at the Big House on week 1. Down early, they fought back, but lost the lead again late. The game was over, though, (along with the season) when Michigan had their potentially game winning field goal blocked at the end. Man, I’m still ticked about this one. The thing is, in college football to lose a game like that, even on week 1, will automatically crush any hope of a national title. After entering the season with a seemingly bright future, suddenly Michigan had to look forward to a basically worthless season because of one stupid, stupid loss.

#3. 1998 NFC Championship Game – the 1998 Vikings were special. They are still the highest scoring regular season team of all time. They never scored below 24 points in a game all season tallying a staggering almost 600 points total. Randall Cunningham, Cris Carter, Randy Moss, Robert Smith. They were 15 -1, losing only to Tampa by 3 points on week 9. This was a dominating offensive team. Running through the playoffs they encountered the “one hit wonder” Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. Leading by 7 with about 2 minutes left, Viking’s kicker Gary Anderson (a perfect 35 for 35 on the year) missed a 38 yarder that would have sealed it. The Falcons then tied it at 27, and with 49 seconds left the Vikings opted to down the ball and go into overtime instead of trying to advance it downfield (even with the most potent offense of all time). Atlanta ended up wining in overtime on (ironically) a 38 yard field goal. I felt physically ill, and to add insult to injury I had to watch the game in a dorm lounge at college (where literally half of the students seemed to be from the Atlanta area). Immediately following the game, I went up to my room and slept…and kept sleeping until morning. This one left a very, very sick feeling in my gut.

#2. 2005 NBA Finals Game 5 – this game has haunted me over and over again. Maybe time will heal the pain, I don’t know. The Pistons won the NBA Finals in 2004, and were back in them again in 2005 looking to repeat. Down 2-0, they rallied back to win two straight against San Antonio, and were in command in game 5 as well. Then Robert Horry happened. Gosh, I freaking hate that guy. I mean, I’m sure Horry is a nice guy and all, but I hate him for this game. After being quiet the whole game, Horry put the Spurs on his back and scored 21 points in the final 17 minutes, including 5 threes and a ridiculous left-handed dunk and the foul (all scored with the Spurs trailing). All of this culminated with Horry’s three-pointer (when Rasheed went to double Ginobili instead of staying on Horry – a tragedy of near unparalleled proportions) with 5.8 seconds left in overtime to put the Spurs up 96-95. The game would end with that being the final score, and I would end up going to bed that night more demoralized than I had been in over 10 years of sports watching…so much so, that my wife kept asking me over and over if I was ok…I believe that I mustered up the strength to grunt a “no” once in reply to her, but that was it. This game still haunts me; it really does.

#1. 1993 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship Game – North Carolina 77 – Michigan 71. This is the type of game that one never truly recovers from. This was the Fab 5 in all of their glory. Hated my many, the Fab 5 – Chris Webber, Juan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson – were absolutely loved by Michigan fans (that would include me). All Sophomore’s, (and in their second straight appearance in college basketball’s biggest game) they were positioned to finally live up to the hype. When Michigan beat a really, really good Kentucky team in the Final 4, the Championship was theirs for the taking. I was ready to celebrate, ready to silence the haters, ready to talk junk to anyone and everyone. The championship game went back and forth. Then after enduring a ridiculous performance all night by UNC’s Donald Williams, Michigan regained possession when star Chris Webber grabbed a defensive rebound with 19 seconds left trailing 73-71. After traveling (which wasn’t called), Webber hurriedly advanced the ball over mid court and called timeout. Problem was that Michigan had no more timeouts; this resulted in a technical foul squashing any chance that they might have at a game tying or go ahead score. Game over. I had just turned 13 years old when this game was played, and I’m not ashamed to say that as soon as the final whistle sounded, I bolted downstairs to my room and cried myself to sleep. To say I was heartbroken is the understatement of the year. Then adding salt to the wound, allegations of illegal activities now have the legendary Fab 5 Michigan teams completely shunned by the University…banners were taken down as if this team never existed. It probably would be easier if they hadn’t.

Oh, the agony.