Losing The Unlosable

Everyone loves an underdog story and one of the great thrills of being a sports fan is the moments when your team is down in the dumps and produce something to overcome huge adversity.

Transversely, there is nothing worse than being behind a player or team who are faced with almost 100% chance of success and find a way to not get the job done.

What’s great about some of these examples is the work that has gone into losing the unloseable.

Browns Kick the Ravens to Glory

The Cleveland Browns have been typically inconsistent and largely uncompetitive this season but produced an impressive comeback to force their Week 12 match with the Baltimore Ravens to extra time on Monday. Needing only to pot a close-range field goal to win, the Browns found a way to lose the unloseable.

Hunt Hands The Cowboys a Maiden Premiership

The Broncos and Cowboys were two of the NRL’s standouts in 2015 and it was a promoters dream when the two Queensland rivals were confirmed in the decider. Many considered the result of the game a foregone conclusion in favour of the experienced Broncos, and Wayne Bennett’s men appeared on track to confirm that when they jumped out to an early lead and maintained it until the 79^th minute. Some Michael Morgan brilliance led to the Cowboys scoring to lock the scores up on the buzzer and while JT missed the resulting kick, Broncos halfback Ben Hunt ensured plenty of parties would kick on well into the week in Townsville from the restart.

Mariners Go To Sea for Three Minutes

Brisbane Roar all but dominated the 2010/11 A-League season and appeared on their way to a maiden Premiership until they met the Central Coast Mariners in the Grand Final. With scores locked at 0-0 after 90 minutes, the match was pushed into extra time where the Mariners proceeded to score twice. Everyone had written off the Roar including some of their own, and if not for three lacklustre Mariners’ minutes, they would have been right to do so.

The Dragons Fight for Touch Football

The out of sorts Melbourne Storm and St George-Illawarra Dragons met in Round 6 of the 2014 NRL Premiership; each trying to avoid three consecutive losses. While Craig Bellamy’s men were rated slight favourites, the Dragons flew the gates and immediately laid the pressure; scoring in only the fifth minute. Having traded blows for the first half, the Dragons sensationally pulled out to a 24-10 lead but apparently forgot about defence and let the Storm get back within a sniff. What would have stung most about this is they were still leading when the siren sounded. One tackle had to be made.

Shaun Ainscough Confirms his Super League Status

Everyone knows the quality of the NRL is far and away better than that of the Super League and Englishman Shaun Ainscough did his best to confirm that this year. Ainscough’s club side Batley were ahead of Featherstone at the siren and all he had to do was kick the ball out. Why he chose the far sideline remains one of the biggest mysteries in Rugby League, and Batley lost the unloseable as a result.

Lions Make Meat of the Cats

The Brisbane Lions have been close to woeful since their three consecutive premierships in the early 00s, while the Geelong Cats have been the benchmark in the AFL alongside the Hawks. When the Cats pulled out to a huge lead when the two sides met in 2013, it would have been fair for any fan to get up out of their seat and head to the closest bar for an early start on the night ahead. Just over a year after they’d won the flag, the Cats blew a 52 point, third quarter lead to lose to the Lions. What happened?

Stevie G’s Finest Moments

It’s pretty common knowledge that Liverpool don’t know how to win the Premier League, but in a purple patch in 2005 they worked their way into the UEFA Champions League final against Italian giants AC Milan. When Milan scored less than a minute into the match and continued to lengthen their lead to 3-0 by half time, the result was confirmed. But is wasn’t. Steven Gerrard led from the front in the second half, scoring an absolute ripped of the head before the Reds pegged another back via Vladimir Smicer two minutes later. When Xabi Alonso equalised 20 minutes later, Milan had lost all the wind from their sails and barely made an imprint in a penalty shootout.

Donald Delivers South Africa Defeat

While they only had one wicket in hand, South Africa appeared to be home and hosed in their 1999 Cricket World Cup semi-final against Australia when Paul Reiffel dropped a catch for six in the second last over of the game. Lance Klusener had eaten up the Australia pace attack and tail-ender Allan Donald needed only to pay attention to play and South Africa would have been into the decider.

Dustin Johnson Can’t Find the Hole

Dustin Johnson is yet to win a major title but was home for all money in the US Open this year when he arrived on the final green with a two shot lead. Jordan Spieth has been red-hot for the last 12 months and was right on the heels of his countryman, but Johnson had a couple up his sleeve. To be fair, the first one was very miss-able, but Johnson clearly channelled Greg Norman on attempt two.

Bobby Boucher Grasps Legend Status at Cougars’ Expense

There is perhaps nothing better to witness than the rare instances a rank outsider or underdog finds a way to win in even the most dire of circumstances, and that was certainly the case when Bobby Boucher inspired his side; the Central Louisiana State Mud Dogs to a last-gasp victory over fierce rivals the Louisiana University Cougars in the 1998 edition of the Bourbon Bowl.