So sometimes great things happen when you’re watching sports, and sometimes soul crushing things happen when you watch sports. So what is the highest you’ve ever felt as a sports fan, and since the bitter comes with the sweet, what’s your lowest sports moment?

My high isn’t hard to guess. Only one of my teams has won a title in my lifetime and only one of their two titles do I remember. The Royals in extra innings winning the 2015 World Series is as sports happy as I’ve ever been (Close 2nd: watching the Royals beat the Giants 10-0 live in the 2014 World Series. Only slightly hurt because of the next days result)

My low is the last Big XII Mizzou Men’s Basketball team winning the Big XII tourney with a team of seniors, going into the NCAA tourney in an easy bracket as a 2 seed... and losing in the first round. It was absolutely gutting. It was close the whole way, so you thought the Tigers might do the upper seed thing and tread water till the end, but nope never turned it around. I didn’t watch tv for two or three days, sports for a month. It was awful.

Super Bowl 46 is my highest. 42 gets more attention because of the helmet catch and 17-1, but that was only my second or third year following the NFL.

Lowest would be Australia getting knocked out of the 2006 World Cup against Italy. That was our great ever team and having vanquished our Uruguayan demons in qualifying (my 1b highest moment as a fan) and Cahill's goals in the group stage everything was going brilliantly until that dubious penalty. If not for that we could have very easily made it to the semifinals (would have beaten Ukraine) which would have been utterly unbelievable.

My high and low are both in the CFL (yeah, laugh away if you must.) In 2013 the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup at their home stadium which 25 years earlier seemed impossible (we're like the Chicago Cubs of the CFL 4 cups in 109 years). They needed a telethon just to keep the team going in 1987 and in 1996 the NFL had to lend them money to keep from going bankrupt. They played a near flawless game to win 45-23. In 2009 the Riders were in the Grey Cup and leading by 2 with 3 seconds left. Montreal lined up a field goal but missed causing euphoria on the Rider sideline. However the Riders were flagged for too many men so the Al's got to move the ball up, make the field goal and seal the win by 1.

SUPER BOWL XLV - An easy high for me , sure the Packers had a Super Bowl before this but this was MY TEAM , a team I rode hard for and defended tooth and nail. Aaron Rodgers was my guy from the day he was drafted and this was vindication for the decisions TT made. I've never had more fun during season/playoffs/Super Bowl in my fandom.

NFC Championship Game - There are a ton of bad losses I could choose from , but the latest and worst was when we had the Seahawks dead to rights and fucking blew it for a chance to go to the Superbowl. That loss affected me for a long time. That was our year and we fucking blew it 6 different times in that game.

Man it's hard to pin down a high. None of my teams ever won a Super Bowl and I can't imagine what it would be like if it did get to that, like if the Texans ever advance to an AFC Championship or a Super Bowl I would probably die of some type of stress induced heart attack, I was a nervous wreck for wild card games or even big regular season games like against Dallas or Tennessee. I just don't think a Texans Super Bowl run would be good for my health.

The Astros winning the World Series last year was one of the greatest things I've seen but I'm just not a baseball guy, football is my jam. So when the Texans finally made the playoffs in 2011 when TJ Yates scored that touchdown against the Bengals to clinch it I had waited a full 10 years to see it so it was a pretty amazing feeling, then the actual playoff win was right there if not even better.

Low would have to be Oilers losing to Chiefs in 93 playoffs. I had really fallen in love with football in 92-93 even though I was really young I was a fanatic about it, would keep notes and stats in notebooks, would watch every game and every pregame show I could(used to love Monday countdown when either Chris Mortenson or Ron Jaworski or whoever it was would break down plays and analyze them), would gobble up every bit of NFL Films I could, would have newspapers spread out on Saturday and Sunday morning reading and writing about football. Throughout the 93 season I REALLY loved that Oilers team that year that won 11 games in a row. Watched just about all of their games that year and was just completely engulfed with that team all season long.

Me and my brother begged our mom for the Warren Moon helmet/jersey/pants package they sold at Academy that came with shoulder pads, I wish I could find the pictures of us putting those on Christmas day 93 that same night the Oilers beat the 49ers(on the road I believe) and the hype for them was really just through the roof going into those playoffs. I really thought they would beat the Chiefs and it was really the most heart breaking loss I can remember, I think I might have even cried a little. I rewatched the game on Youtube a few years ago and it legit made me depressed, probably will never watch that game again and I hate even hearing about it whenever it's brought up, sad sad shit.

That team was legit one of the greatest I can remember ever seeing though and one of the reasons I love the sport of football so much today, 93 Oilers 25 year anniversary this year too.

High- Steelers beat the Seahawks to win their first Super Bowl since the 70s.

Honorable Mentions

-Broncos annihilate the Falcons to win their 2nd straight Super Bowl.
-Being at Camden Yards when Cal tied Gehrig's streak/Ripken hits homerun in the same game.
-Some random Orioles vs. Yankees game I went to in September 2012. It was a roller coaster ride in front of the loudest baseball crowd I've ever been a part of. Both teams were in playoff contention. O's got out to a big early lead. The hated Yankees came storming back to tie it up on Pedro "The Worst" Strop. O's came back to win it. We were coming off 14 straight losing seasons. The whole year I wanted to believe but, like, it's the Orioles. O's teams in the past would have folded here. Not this time. There was no more denying us after this game. I just "knew" we were finally heading back to the playoffs. Plus it was a real home run derby with my favorite player at the time, the much-maligned Mark Reynolds, hitting two dingers.

Low- Orioles are eliminated from playoff contention after losing back to back games to the Blue Jays in 1989. No worst to first this year

Dishonorable Mentions

-Broncos lose Super Bowl 21...and 22.....and 24.
-Miami beats Florida St. on Wide Right I & Wide Right II.
-Braves beat the Pirates to go to the 1991 World Series. Ex-Pirate Sid "The Sloth" Bream scores the winning run.
-Christian Laettner beats Kentucky. I didn't like Kentucky so much as I HATED Duke.
-Ravens win Super Bowl by blowing out the Giants.
-My then-favorite team the Saints gets blown out by my Dad's then-favorite team the Vikings in the '88 Wild Card leading to a long year.
-Bills come back from 32 down to beat the Oilers. I am stuck with Buffalo in yet another Super Bowl.
-Every single 49ers, Cowboys, Yankees, Blue Jays, Miami Hurricanes, Duke Blue Devils, and Chicago Bulls championship of my lifetime.
-Reggie Miller beats the Knicks/Patrick Ewing misses a finger roll.
-Bill Buckner/Mets beat the Red Sox to win the '86 Series. One of my first memories, period. I didn't understand the concept of seasons back then. I thought baseball was now over and the Mets were champions forever and I might have cried 

*I'm sure I can think of a lot more lows but I'll stop now. Life was not easy growing up as an Orioles/Broncos/Knicks fan.

Oct 23, 2018 0:07:32 GMT Shootist said:

My high and low are both in the CFL (yeah, laugh away if you must.) In 2013 the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup at their home stadium which 25 years earlier seemed impossible (we're like the Chicago Cubs of the CFL 4 cups in 109 years). They needed a telethon just to keep the teaming going in 1987 and in 1996 the NFL had to lend them money to keep from going bankrupt. They played a near flawless game to win 45-23. In 2009 the Riders were in the Grey Cup and leading by 2 with 3 seconds left. Montreal lined up a field goal but missed causing euphoria on the Rider sideline. However the Riders were flagged for too many men so the Al's got to move the ball up, make the field goal and seal the win by 1.

Those are my highs and lows as well.  Although I would put the '89 Cup over the '13 Cup as my high.  That 1989 Grey Cup game was an all-time great game, with all-time great plays, and an all-time great finish.

Oct 23, 2018 2:57:20 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Oct 23, 2018 0:07:32 GMT Shootist said:

My high and low are both in the CFL (yeah, laugh away if you must.) In 2013 the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup at their home stadium which 25 years earlier seemed impossible (we're like the Chicago Cubs of the CFL 4 cups in 109 years). They needed a telethon just to keep the teaming going in 1987 and in 1996 the NFL had to lend them money to keep from going bankrupt. They played a near flawless game to win 45-23. In 2009 the Riders were in the Grey Cup and leading by 2 with 3 seconds left. Montreal lined up a field goal but missed causing euphoria on the Rider sideline. However the Riders were flagged for too many men so the Al's got to move the ball up, make the field goal and seal the win by 1.

Those are my highs and lows as well.  Although I would put the '89 Cup over the '13 Cup as my high.  That 1989 Grey Cup game was an all-time great game, with all-time great plays, and an all-time great finish.

For my money the 1989 Grey Cup was the greatest football game ever played on either side of the border. I went with '13 though due to the home crowd element and what happened in recent years with the horrible loss in '09 and losing again in 2010.

'89 was a good year, another high was the Calgary Flames being the first visiting team to capture the Stanley Cup on Montreal Forum ice. I was a big Flames fan from the mid 80's to early 90's.

SB 42 hands down for my high. NO ONE thought the Giants could beat the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl...especially on these boards. No one except me that is....and the Giants SHOCKED THE WORLD that night and pulled off the biggest upset in Super Bowl history.    This here was the cherry on top.




Michael Strahan got to retire with the championship ring he so richly deserved and took his spot in Canton with a Super Bowl ring around his finger.


For the low, it was no doubt the Super Bowl  35 against the Ravens.    After our 41-0 demolition of the Vikings in the NFC championship my hopes for this team were sky high...and they came crashing down to earth by half-time.   We literally did NOTHING against this Ravens Defense.   Ron Dixon's 97 yd kickoff return for a TD gave the team a glimmer of hope, only for it to be utterly crushed by Jermaine Lewis's 84 yd kickoff return.   After that it was all over but the crying, any fight left in the Giants completely left the field that day.   It was hands down the WORST Super Bowl of my lifetime, and arguably the very worst experience I've ever had watching Giants football.  

Oct 23, 2018 0:07:32 GMT Shootist said:

My high and low are both in the CFL (yeah, laugh away if you must.) In 2013 the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup at their home stadium which 25 years earlier seemed impossible (we're like the Chicago Cubs of the CFL 4 cups in 109 years). They needed a telethon just to keep the teaming going in 1987 and in 1996 the NFL had to lend them money to keep from going bankrupt. They played a near flawless game to win 45-23. In 2009 the Riders were in the Grey Cup and leading by 2 with 3 seconds left. Montreal lined up a field goal but missed causing euphoria on the Rider sideline. However the Riders were flagged for too many men so the Al's got to move the ball up, make the field goal and seal the win by 1.

NO ONE is laughing...it's pretty badass the CFL is representing in this thread.   

Oct 23, 2018 3:38:57 GMT thereallt said:

Oct 23, 2018 0:07:32 GMT Shootist said:

My high and low are both in the CFL (yeah, laugh away if you must.) In 2013 the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup at their home stadium which 25 years earlier seemed impossible (we're like the Chicago Cubs of the CFL 4 cups in 109 years). They needed a telethon just to keep the teaming going in 1987 and in 1996 the NFL had to lend them money to keep from going bankrupt. They played a near flawless game to win 45-23. In 2009 the Riders were in the Grey Cup and leading by 2 with 3 seconds left. Montreal lined up a field goal but missed causing euphoria on the Rider sideline. However the Riders were flagged for too many men so the Al's got to move the ball up, make the field goal and seal the win by 1.

NO ONE is laughing...it's pretty badass the CFL is representing in this thread.   

I guess people still appreciate the likes of Warren Moon and Cam Wake (among others) huh?

Not to mention they had a guy who could've gone to the NFL and be a star, but decided to stay and play his whole career in Canada. A man who until 1985, held the professional football record for rushing yards (16,116 yards, compared to Jim Brown's 15,034). Not to mention that Sports Illustrated traveled with the team to do an article on him breaking said record. Fullback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and my favorite football player of all time. #34, George Reed.

Oct 23, 2018 4:23:03 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Not to mention they had a guy who could've gone to the NFL and be a star, but decided to stay and play his whole career in Canada. A man who until 1985, held the professional football record for rushing yards (16,116 yards, compared to Jim Brown's 15,034). Not to mention that Sports Illustrated traveled with the team to do an article on him breaking said record. Fullback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and my favorite football player of all time. #34, George Reed.

No doubt the greatest Rider of all time in my book and a very nice man in person. He worked for Molson and was a sponsor for my dad's softball team back in the day. Didn't miss a game either in 13 seasons, he was a beast.

Plus just last week rookie kicker Lewis Ward broke the pro football record held by Adam Vinateri for most consecutive field goals at 45.

NRL

Highs - Origin 3 2006. Starring down the barrel of four consecutive defeats, on the wrong end of some highly contentious calls and missing their most potent attacking weapons, Queensland had it all to do in the final 10 minutes. Camped inside their own half, Queensland appear to be out of options. Then unheralded fullback Clinton Schifcofske desperately tosses an offload to halfback Johnathan Thurston. Thurston breaks through the defence, fires a long pass out to Tate who proceeds to race 60m to finally get Queensland on the board in the second half. 14-10 NSW, but Queensland are finally showing signs of life. To make that moment sweeter, Tate's career should have been over by this point after he suffered a serious nerve injury in his neck, so to see his persistence pay off was just the icing on the cake.

7 minutes to go as NSW have to cart the ball out of their own half. Likeable fullback Brett Hodgson comes up with the biggest mistake of his career as his long pass to King sails wind into the hands of maligned Queensland five-eighth Darren Lockyer. Lockyer beats the swarming defence before crashing over the line to the thunderous applause of the neutral Melbourne crowd. Lead play-by-play announcer Ray Warren summed it up best when he bellowed 'They can't take that off him, they won't take that off him, it's a TRY!' After being on the end of those controversial calls there wasn't a more cathartic moment. The fact it happened to be Lockyer made it extra sweet. Lockyer also captained my team, the Brisbane Broncos, and his standing as one of the best players in the game had been called into question after a string of failures. No doubt about it, if Queensland had lost the series, Lockyer's representative career would have been over.

After the longest 5 minutes of my life, Queensland finally got the monkey off their back winning their first Origin series outright since 2001 and Lockyer went onto win a Premiership and Tri-Series all in the same year. To go from the abyss to pure ecstasy and witness the start of the 8 consecutive series in a row was unspeakable.

Low - 2015 Grand Final. I've been more cut-up about other things, but this is by far the best on paper. When Darren Lockyer retired in 2011, Brisbane became the also-rans of the competition and were rarely in contention. From 2012-14, there was little to be excited about as a Broncos fan and for a franchise that prides itself on success it was sad to see. So Brisbane brought back Wayne Bennett, their former coach of 21 years who had been to two clubs and had premiership success with the Dragons. Everybody expected them to improve, but nobody thought they'd have the season they did. Not only did they play an entertaining brand of football, they were successful too, finishing second and in prime position to win their 7th Grand Final.

Standing in their path? Little brothers, North Queensland. North Queensland are probably the most likeable team in the competition. They're a club that wouldn't exist if their fans didn't keep turning up and supporting them, even though they were perennial losers and horribly managed. Through the years they had clawed their way into becoming a consistent feature in the post-season, but always seemed to be on the end of controversial decisions that didn't go their way. It was quickly becoming a case of now or never for the Cowboys and no victory would be sweeter than one over the Broncos.

A minute to go, 16-12 Broncos and Brisbane deep inside their own half are struggling to make any ground. When all of a sudden live-wire five eighth Anthony Milford makes a nice 30m break up field. The ball is knocked out of his grasp, but his halfback Ben Hunt is there...only for him to also have the ball knocked out of his grasp. The first time the ball came out appeared to be a knock on from the Cowboys, but the referees allow play to go on. Cowboys work through their set until the last play. The dummy half fires out a terrible pass to Johnathan Thurston who has to evade a couple of defenders. JT has no idea where the ball has to go, but he keeps running the ball, the Broncos defenders won't commit to the tackle. He hands it off to Michael Morgan who draws in the edge defenders and fires a beautiful flick pass to Kyle Feldt to dot over in the corner as the siren sounds.

My heart sank then and there. Just everything that could have gone wrong in the final minute did. However at 16 all and a difficult conversion, the Broncos had an opportunity. JT's kick ended up hitting the post, sending the game into sudden death.

Up until this point I still believed we could pull it off, I never gave up on the team and gave them every ounce of energy and goodwill I had. Then Kyle Feldt put up this incredible kick-off which was going to be hard to defuse by anyone. In the end, halfback Ben Hunt found himself underneath it and he spilled it. Cowboys ball 10m out from the Broncos line and despite getting enough pressure to cause the Cowboys to go with a Plan B, they eventually found the team to slot the field goal and win their inaurugral grand final.

I thought losing a Grand Final would be a devastating moment, but I couldn't have been prouder of the boys. They had played well all season, given it their all and just had no luck in the big game.

What makes it worse is that I was actually down there for the game. I didn't have the money to afford a flight and book hotels, so I ended up taking a 14 hour train ride down to Sydney, spent two nights at a 24 hour internet cafe and took the train back. I was hoping to get some sleep on the way down, but I had this dip-shit young family a few rows ahead of us who spent the entire trip fighting, cussing, running around and just being the worst version of themselves. So I was awake for 72+ hours and by the time I got back to Brissie, I was just a wreck.

I suppose the real low-point is that I can't watch Inside Out anymore. I watched it on the way down and adopted the Bing Bong 'Take her to the Moon For Me' as my mantra for Grand Final night. Watching that movie back conjured up that memory and it stung like a mother.

On paper, it's without a doubt the lowest moment, but I enjoyed that get-in get-out adventure, the atmosphere and being there for one of the most dramatic grand finals in history.

I've taken a few results worse - the 2005 State of Origin series, the 2008 Semi Final between Brisbane & Melbourne, the 2008 World Cup, the 2016 Semi Final between Brisbane & North Queensland etc.

The lowest point may have been the Melbourne Storm salary cap scandal of 2010. To have five years of NRL basically rendered meaningless because the best team in the competition had systematically cheated the game made me feel like I wasted so much time, energy and made me paranoid about what was going on with the rest of the competition. Since then three other teams have been caught cheating the cap, while another was caught giving their players PEDs. That to me was a disgrace, especially since that team went onto win a premiership 2 years after they served their 'four match' suspension. Anyways the fallout of the 2010 saga led to one of my least favourite years in the NRL. Without Melbourne, the competition became incredibly weak as a lot of clubs were rebuilding, allowing the Dragons to win it playing the most boring methodical brand of football imaginable.

High - Hal Robson-Kanu's goal to give Wales the lead against Belgium in the Euro 2018 quarter-final. For such a small country to go so far, it will never be topped IMO.

Low - Leigh Halfpenny missing a penalty for Wales rugby union team against France to win the 2011 World Cup semi-final. I still can't watch it to this day. To have participated in a World Cup final in rugby would have brought the country to a standstill.

Baseball - Cardinals
High: Cardinals winning the World Series in 2011, highlighted by the greatest World Series game of all time, Game 6
Low: Watching the best team in baseball, the 2004 Cardinals, get swept by the Red Sox in the World Series

Football - The Rams
High: The Rams winning the Super Bowl in 2000
Low: Watching my team leave my home city and move (back) to LA

College Football - Mizzou
High: Even for a fleeting week, seeing Mizzou Football ranked No. 1 after defeating Kansas in an amazing final regular season game
Low (tied): The same 2007 season, seeing Mizzou shit the bed vs. OU in the Big 12 Championship. Otherwise, Mizzou losing in a shootout to Auburn in the SEC Championship in 2013. Both games cost them their first National Championship Game appearance.

Missouri over kU in that football game was probably my high before the Royals made the Series in 2014.

That or the elite 8 run in (I believe) 2002 as an underdog every round. Being on campus made that one awesome.

Low would have to be Oilers losing to Chiefs in 93 playoffs.

I'm surprised you didn't pick the Bills coming back from being down 35-3 at halftime in the 93 AFC Wild Card. I saw that game on TV when it was playing and there are times this day I still have problems believing it happened.

Oct 24, 2018 1:02:12 GMT thereallt said:

Low would have to be Oilers losing to Chiefs in 93 playoffs.

I'm surprised you didn't pick the Bills coming back from being down 35-3 at halftime in the 93 AFC Wild Card. I saw that game on TV when it was playing and there are times this day I still have problems believing it happened.

Also caught that game, remember several times turning the channel but just kept coming back.

Was a little sad that one of my earliest highs (that Oilers win was last Chiefs playoff win for 20 years) was someone else’s low.

Oct 23, 2018 0:07:32 GMT Shootist said:

My high and low are both in the CFL (yeah, laugh away if you must.) In 2013 the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup at their home stadium which 25 years earlier seemed impossible (we're like the Chicago Cubs of the CFL 4 cups in 109 years). They needed a telethon just to keep the team going in 1987 and in 1996 the NFL had to lend them money to keep from going bankrupt. They played a near flawless game to win 45-23. In 2009 the Riders were in the Grey Cup and leading by 2 with 3 seconds left. Montreal lined up a field goal but missed causing euphoria on the Rider sideline. However the Riders were flagged for too many men so the Al's got to move the ball up, make the field goal and seal the win by 1.

Being a huge CFL fan when Baltimore had a team in 94-95, I would never, ever laugh at the CFL. In fact, I feel another storytime coming on....

The NFL hated Baltimore. This was not opinion, but fact to every Marylander who was alive between 1983-1996. First that scoundrel Bob Irsay moved the beloved Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis. Then the St. Louis Cardinals were looking to relocate. They chose Arizona over Baltimore. Then came the expansion draft that ended up giving the world the Panthers and Jags. Baltimore was in the running as well. The NFL actually postponed the process so either Carolina or Jacksonville (I think it was Jax) had time to submit a better bid. What kind of bullshit is this?! Everybody 5 years older than me and above spent my entire childhood waxing nostalgic about the Colts and preaching that Bob Irsay was the most evil man who ever lived. Naturally this had the opposite of the intended effect on young contrarian asshole me, and I became a big fan of the Eric Dickerson era Colts. But that's neither here nor there.

By this point I was starting to become....not an NFL hater. That's too strong a term. The NFL was already far too ingrained into my life. But an NFL disliker for sure. Into this football-starved void stepped in local businessman Jim Speros and the CFL, which was undergoing a US expansion project. Now I only vaguely knew about the CFL in that it was a thing which existed and sometimes NFL players came or went from there. But I was immediately all in because fuck the NFL. 

Our team was originally supposed to be called the Baltimore Colts. Yet once again the Evil Empire that was the NFL threw their weight around. They used legalese to block us from calling our team the Colts. Baltimoreans hated this as you might expect. So for our first CFL season we did not have an official team name. However, the PA guy would announce them as "YOUR Baltimore CFL..." and the crowd would shout "COLTS!" They can't sue us all! Awesome. 10/10 troll move. Because, again, fuck the NFL.

The CFL's US expansion flopped....with the short-term exception of Baltimore. Our team drew good crowds at the Colts old Memorial Stadium stomping ground. And we were actually good! We went to back to back Grey Cups- losing in '94, our very first year, to BC and that damn Lui Passaglia. Then we won in '95 over...Calgary, I think.

I was super into the CFL while watching less NFL than I had since I got into it way back in 1986. Went to a bunch of games. Embraced the quirky differences in the rules. Once won a bookbag full of cookies by getting picked out of the crowd to go on the field and throw a football to a man dressed like a giant cookie. A story like that's gotta be true! I also watched them whenever they were on tv. Our team eventually became known as the Baltimore Stallions. I probably still have my Stallions hat laying around here....somewhere.

Who needed the Baltimore-hating NFL when we had the Baltimore-loving CFL? Who needed Aikman, Favre, Barry Sanders, and Desmond Howard when you could have Flutie, Danny McManus (who I actually remembered from my days as a Florida State fan), Mike Pringle, and Pinball Clemons? Certainly not this guy.

Then tragedy struck. Baltimore stole the Cleveland Browns just as Indianapolis had stolen the Colts over a decade earlier. All of a sudden all these Baltimore NFL/Irsay/Colts hating CFL fans were now all about the NFL again. I was not amused, and never fully embraced the Ravens because of it, although I admit to  quickly coming back to the NFL because how can a lifelong John Elway fan not get back into again with a resurgent Bronco team?

Baltimore did the CFL & Mr. Jim Speros wrong. They were immediately kicked to the curb. We were like an abused lover leaving the good person we found to go back to the abuser. 

For a few years I tried following the CFL as best I could. It was not easy, and I soon lost interest. BUT I would still get excited when a CFL player came into the NFL. Like I remember being WAY too hyped for Mike Pringle getting a tryout with the Broncos. That was like some football fanfic stuff right there  :lol:  And I was hugely into the 1998(?) Bills (the BILLS!) solely due to CFL icon Doug Flutie.

EDIT: Meh. I'll save my path to hardcore Ravens hatred for another day.

As far as I'm concerned Mike Pringle, Tracy Ham, Jerald Baylis, OJ Brigance, and the rest of 'em are Baltimore sports legends. Also, fuck the NFL. Rouges, 110 yard fields, and three downs 4 Life.

Eh. One more storytime since I'm already here.....

I too saw the Bills/Oilers comeback game as it was occurring. I was feeling good about life with the Oilers, whom I was a fan of, putting a whipping on the hated Bills. So with the game well in hand I went outside at halftime to play a little football of my own with my brother and best friend (the Meat Loaf/"Heaven Above" guy. The Oilers were actually his favorite team. He loved Haywood Jeffires). About an hour later my dad calls out to us. Something like "You guys might want to come back inside. The Bills are coming back. They cut it to 35-24 and their driving again." 

"This cannot be happening!" I thought. We went back inside. Fingernails, gone! And I saw the hated Bills come all the way back for the win. Once again I would be forced to suffer through another Bills Super Bowl. How tragic.

Oct 24, 2018 3:49:01 GMT Baker said:

Oct 23, 2018 0:07:32 GMT Shootist said:

My high and low are both in the CFL (yeah, laugh away if you must.) In 2013 the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup at their home stadium which 25 years earlier seemed impossible (we're like the Chicago Cubs of the CFL 4 cups in 109 years). They needed a telethon just to keep the team going in 1987 and in 1996 the NFL had to lend them money to keep from going bankrupt. They played a near flawless game to win 45-23. In 2009 the Riders were in the Grey Cup and leading by 2 with 3 seconds left. Montreal lined up a field goal but missed causing euphoria on the Rider sideline. However the Riders were flagged for too many men so the Al's got to move the ball up, make the field goal and seal the win by 1.

Being a huge CFL fan when Baltimore had a team in 94-95, I would never, ever laugh at the CFL. In fact, I feel another storytime coming on....

The NFL hated Baltimore. This was not opinion, but fact to every Marylander who was alive between 1983-1996. First that scoundrel Bob Irsay moved the beloved Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis. Then the St. Louis Cardinals were looking to relocate. They chose Arizona over Baltimore. Then came the expansion draft that ended up giving the world the Panthers and Jags. Baltimore was in the running as well. The NFL actually postponed the process so either Carolina or Jacksonville (I think it was Jax) had time to submit a better bid. What kind of bullshit is this?! Everybody 5 years older than me and above spent my entire childhood waxing nostalgic about the Colts and preaching that Bob Irsay was the most evil man who ever lived. Naturally this had the opposite of the intended effect on young contrarian asshole me, and I became a big fan of the Eric Dickerson era Colts. But that's neither here nor there.

By this point I was starting to become....not an NFL hater. That's too strong a term. The NFL was already far too ingrained into my life. But an NFL disliker for sure. Into this football-starved void stepped in local businessman Jim Speros and the CFL, which was undergoing a US expansion project. Now I only vaguely knew about the CFL in that it was a thing which existed and sometimes NFL players came or went from there. But I was immediately all in because fuck the NFL. 

Our team was originally supposed to be called the Baltimore Colts. Yet once again the Evil Empire that was the NFL threw their weight around. They used legalese to block us from calling our team the Colts. Baltimoreans hated this as you might expect. So for our first CFL season we did not have an official team name. However, the PA guy would announce them as "YOUR Baltimore CFL..." and the crowd would shout "COLTS!" They can't sue us all! Awesome. 10/10 troll move. Because, again, fuck the NFL.

The CFL's US expansion flopped....with the short-term exception of Baltimore. Our team drew good crowds at the Colts old Memorial Stadium stomping ground. And we were actually good! We went to back to back Grey Cups- losing in '94, our very first year, to BC and that damn Lui Passaglia. Then we won in '95 over...Calgary, I think.

I was super into the CFL while watching less NFL than I had since I got into it way back in 1986. Went to a bunch of games. Embraced the quirky differences in the rules. Once won a bookbag full of cookies by getting picked out of the crowd to go on the field and throw a football to a man dressed like a giant cookie. A story like that's gotta be true! I also watched them whenever they were on tv. Our team eventually became known as the Baltimore Stallions. I probably still have my Stallions hat laying around here....somewhere.

Who needed the Baltimore-hating NFL when we had the Baltimore-loving CFL? Who needed Aikman, Favre, Barry Sanders, and Desmond Howard when you could have Flutie, Danny McManus (who I actually remembered from my days as a Florida State fan), Mike Pringle, and Pinball Clemons? Certainly not this guy.

Then tragedy struck. Baltimore stole the Cleveland Browns just as Indianapolis had stolen the Colts over a decade earlier. All of a sudden all these Baltimore NFL/Irsay/Colts hating CFL fans were now all about the NFL again. I was not amused, and never fully embraced the Ravens because of it, although I admit to  quickly coming back to the NFL because how can a lifelong John Elway fan not get back into again with a resurgent Bronco team?

Baltimore did the CFL & Mr. Jim Speros wrong. They were immediately kicked to the curb. We were like an abused lover leaving the good person we found to go back to the abuser. 

For a few years I tried following the CFL as best I could. It was not easy, and I soon lost interest. BUT I would still get excited when a CFL player came into the NFL. Like I remember being WAY too hyped for Mike Pringle getting a tryout with the Broncos. That was like some football fanfic stuff right there  :lol:  And I was hugely into the 1998(?) Bills (the BILLS!) solely due to CFL icon Doug Flutie.

EDIT: Meh. I'll save my path to hardcore Ravens hatred for another day.

As far as I'm concerned Mike Pringle, Tracy Ham, Jerald Baylis, OJ Brigance, and the rest of 'em are Baltimore sports legends. Also, fuck the NFL. Rouges, 110 yard fields, and three downs 4 Life.

Eh. One more storytime since I'm already here.....

I too saw the Bills/Oilers comeback game as it was occurring. I was feeling good about life with the Oilers, whom I was a fan of, putting a whipping on the hated Bills. So with the game well in hand I went outside at halftime to play a little football of my own with my brother and best friend (the Meat Loaf/"Heaven Above" guy. The Oilers were actually his favorite team. He loved Haywood Jeffires). About an hour later my dad calls out to us. Something like "You guys might want to come back inside. The Bills are coming back. They cut it to 35-24 and their driving again." 

"This cannot be happening!" I thought. We went back inside. Fingernails, gone! And I saw the hated Bills come all the way back for the win. Once again I would be forced to suffer through another Bills Super Bowl. How tragic.

Ironically enough Baltimore won it's lone Grey Cup at fabled Taylor Field (RIP 2016) home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Needless to say the 90's were a dark time, we had no chance with the likes of Steve Sarkisian as our quaterback.

And fuck Tracy Ham, another proud moment was when the 9-9 Riders upended Ham's 16-2 Edmonton Eskimo juggernaut in the 1989 west final. Pringle was a respected opponent, he left tire tracks on our D-line in the 90's.

I just remembered Jerald Baylis was with the Riders before being picked up by Baltimore in the dispersal draft. He was a bright spot winning defensive player of the year in 1993, that one hurt when Baltimore got him.

I might have a new low after the clusterfuck I just watched today. What say you, mikec

Oct 27, 2018 23:51:15 GMT KJ said:

I might have a new low after the clusterfuck I just watched today. What say you, mikec

I gave up on the Drew Lock era a while back. Much less Saturday disappointment.

Oct 27, 2018 23:59:13 GMT mikec said:

Oct 27, 2018 23:51:15 GMT KJ said:

I might have a new low after the clusterfuck I just watched today. What say you, mikec

I gave up on the Drew Lock era a while back. Much less Saturday disappointment.

Literally the most over-hyped era in this history of Mizzou football.

Honestly, would you take him over Mauk, Franklin, Gabbert, Daniels, Smith or Jones? Those are the guys that preceded him, and 44 TDS not withstanding, he wouldn’t see the field ahead of any of them head-to-head.

My high: The 2016 World Series. Seeing the Cubs comeback from a 3-1 series deficit, to end their 108 year drought was a thing of beauty.

My low: Probably the 2003 NLCS. The Cubs being that close to a World Series, but collapsing, was painful.

High: seeing Michael Jordan play live in Chicago. Nothing has come close to being that exciting for me.

Low: the Maple Leafs made the playoffs for the first time in a while back in 2013 and they really shouldn’t have. They weren’t that great but took advantage of a short season to get in. They played the Boston Bruins in the first round and everyone wrote them off, especially when they were down 3 games to 1.

Toronto forced a Game 7 and were up 4-1 with 10 minutes left in the 3rd period. They would go on to lose 5-4 in overtime.

I cried.