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 Post subject: A Look at Some Blown Historic Seasons
PostPosted: Fri Sep 18, 2020 4:39 am 
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The world of sports has seen its share of upsets, but in my lifetime, I've seen a number of instances where teams have near historic seasons and are heavily expected to win it all, only to either come up short, or not even come close. Here are a few examples:

1996: The Detroit Red Wings set two NHL records: wins (62) and points (131). They were coming off being swept by the Devils in the Stanley Cup Final, but they were heavily favored to win the Cup that year. They didn't even make it to the Final, as they lost a six game West Final to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the Colorado Avalanche.

2000: It's fitting that I mention this, because right now, the Chicago White Sox are on a tear in this short season. 20 years ago, the White Sox won 97 games; the best record in baseball. They ended up swept in the Division Series by the Wild Card Seattle Mariners. That, 1995, and what I'm about to mention next would be the team's only highlights.

2001: The Mariners were defeated by the New York Yankees in the 2000 ALCS, but after acquiring Ichiro in 2001, Seattle went on a tear. 116 wins--a Major League record. They even had one shot at #117 and owning the record on their own, but they fell short. Nevertheless, 116 wins should equal a championship, right? It didn't even equal a PENNANT! After winning a five game ALDS over the Indians, they lost the ALCS in that same amount to the aforementioned Yankees. Even worse, not only was that season the last time (to date) that the Mariners reached the postseason, but the Bills making the playoffs in 2017 made this drought the longest in sports. And with the Nationals reaching (and eventually winning) the World Series in 2019, the Mariners are now the only team in MLB to have never won a pennant.

2007: The Dallas Cowboys went 13-3 and finished the season as the #1 seed in the NFC, via a tiebreaker over the Green Bay Packers. However, they lost the Divisional Playoff to a New York Giants team that they had beaten twice in the regular season. BTW, that same year, the New England Patriots became the second team to have an undefeated regular season, and the first and only team to do it in a 16-game season. However, they lost Super Bowl XLII to, you guessed it, those same Giants.

2011: This really kills me. Coming off winning Super Bowl XLV, the Green Bay Packers coasted to a 15-1 season and ran away with the #1 seed and the best record in the entire league. But in the Divisional Playoff, we were dismantled by the New York Giants. We remain the only 15-1 team to fail to reach the Conference Championship.

2012: The Vancouver Canucks came off being one win short of the Stanley Cup, but they won 51 games and racked up 111 points to capture the Presidents' Trophy. As I said, in 2011, they were one playoff win short. In 2012, they only WON one playoff game. The Canucks were dominated in a five game opening round series by the eventual Stanley Cup Champions, the Los Angeles Kings.

2016: The defending champion Golden State Warriors won 73 games, edging the mark set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. As a Bulls fan, and as someone who felt that the Warriors were becoming the NBA Patriots, I was disgusted over the heavy anointing of this team, and it looked bad when the Warriors went up 3-1 in the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, the Cavs would win the next three games (two of them on the road) to capture their very first NBA Championship, resulting in the Warriors blowing a historic season and a huge series lead, leading to "Warriors blew a 3-1 lead" becoming a meme.

2016: The Dallas Cowboys did it again; they went 13-3, captured the #1 seed in the NFC, but lost the Divisional Playoff. This time, they were defeated by the Green Bay Packers via a last second FG by Mason Crosby.

2017: Speaking of teams who blew a 3-1 lead, the Cleveland Indians came off doing just that in the World Series against the Cubs. However, the Indians bounced back with a 102-win season which was centered by a historic 22-game winning streak. They took the first two games of the ALDS over the Yankees; a shutout in Game One and a comeback extra-inning win in Game Two. Not only did the Indians lose the next three, they never led in those three games.

2018: The Toronto Raptors set a franchise record by winning 59 games, but what they couldn't do was beat LeBron James and the Cavaliers, as--for the third straight year--they were defeated by the Cavs in the playoffs. In fact, the Raptors were actually swept by the Cavs in the second round for the second straight year. Of course, they made up for it a year later, but it took LeBron heading to the Western Conference.

April 2019: The Tampa Bay Lightning tied the NHL record with 62 wins, but in a huge shocker (even by NHL standards), they were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round. The Bolts made history in the worst way: they not only became the first Presidents' Trophy winner to fail to win a playoff game, they also became the first team to lose a playoff series to the Blue Jackets, who--until that year--hadn't won more than two games in a single playoff series.

October 2019: The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the year as back-to-back National League Champions, and they won a franchise record 106 games. They, too, suffered an embarrassing fate, as they lost the NLDS to the eventual World Champions, the Washington Nationals. Much like the Lightning did six months prior, the Dodgers blew a historic season by losing to a team who had NEVER won a postseason series (the 1981 "Division Series" as the Montréal Expos doesn't count). In fact, their victory in the Wild Card game over the Brewers was the first time they ever advanced in the playoffs.

January 2020: The Baltimore Ravens won 12 straight games to finish the 2019 season, and boy was I annoyed at the boosting of the Ravens that year. Those who didn't pick the Patriots to represent the AFC had the Ravens doing so, even though that team was basically Lamar Jackson, Justin Tucker, and a bunch of nobodies. Plus their winning streak started after they lost at home to the Browns; but I won't let facts get in the way of a good story. Anyway, they ended up 14-2 and with the best record in the entire league, but lost the Divisional Playoff to the Tennesee Titans as part of their Cinderella run. This meant that despite losing three games all year, two of them were at home.

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