• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

The Worst Moment in Cleveland Sports History

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Worst Moment in Cleveland Sports History?

  • Red Right 88 – Cleveland Browns vs. Oakland Raiders, AFC Divisional Playoffs, January 4th, 1980

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Shot – Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Chicago Bulls, May 7th, 1989

    Votes: 4 7.0%
  • The Fumble – Cleveland Browns vs. Denver Broncos, January 17th, 1988

    Votes: 3 5.3%
  • The Drive – Cleveland Browns vs. Denver Broncos, January 11th, 1987

    Votes: 6 10.5%
  • Game 7, October 26th, 1997 World Series – Cleveland Indians vs. Florida Marlins

    Votes: 15 26.3%
  • The Catch, September 29th, 1954

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Game 6, October 28th, 2005 World Series - Cleveland Indians vs. Atlanta Braves

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • The Decision - LeBron Takes His Talents to South Beach on National TV

    Votes: 13 22.8%
  • Novembe 6th, 1995 - Art Modell Announces the Browns Are Relocating to Baltimore

    Votes: 14 24.6%
  • Steve Olin and Tim Crews Killed in Boating Accident - March 21st, 1993

    Votes: 2 3.5%

  • Total voters
    57

Steve_424

Hall-of-Famer
Joined
Mar 22, 2009
Messages
10,541
Reaction score
13,170
Points
123
We've all seen the montages, but which one hurt the most and why?

Note: Accidentally put 2005 instead of 1995 for the Indians vs. Braves, can a mod fix?
 
Well I'm not old enough for a lot of them...but the fumble seems like the worst. From a potentially game winning TD to a loss because he dropped the rock in the fucking endzone. Awful.

In my lifetime? The Cavs losing to the Magic hurt the most. I was able to accept the fact that the Celtics were a better team. But Orlando was fluke city.

Tribe blowing the 3-1 lead to the Sox though, is probably the actual worst in my lifetime. Or blowing the WS against the Marlins. Idk lol.
 
To me, the 1997 World Series was the worst. The other moments have "what if's" - would the Browns have beat the Giants in 1987 or the Redskins in 1988? Could the 1989 Cavs beat the Pistons and/or Lakers?

1997 was as close as you get - two freaking outs away. Nothing else - just those two outs separated the Indians and that elusive championship. It still hurts to this day.
 
In my lifetime, the Cavaliers getting knocked out of the playoffs during the last few years of the LeBron era pissed me off like crazy. We kept winning 60+ games, why couldn't we win a fucking championship, or at least get there again? Christ.

I've always been a bigger Tribe fan though, and when they choked that 3-1 lead to Boston in '07, I honestly cried a bit (I was eleven).

Asswipe leaving is up there, but I was more pissed off than depressed over that.

The '97 WS is up there for sure, but I was barely over a year old so I obviously don't remember.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside of my lifetime, I can't see how it wouldn't be the Browns location. Sure, we lost Super Bowls and the like, but when Modell moved the team... we completely lost our team. That has to be the worst.
 
I picked the drive, only because I was there live. Otherwise I pick the "the shot" with "the fumble" as an option because I loved Byner.
 
There are so many choices in this group one can go with but after thinking about it, how can anyone not say it was game 7 of the World Series. We had the lead, our closer on the mound and were 2 outs away from the 1st World Championship for Cleveland in 33 years.

I felt very uneasy with Jose Mesa coming in for the 9th inning but he had been so clutch in years past, I thought he could rally to get 3 little outs. I never saw Counsel cross home plate live. I silently stood up while the ball was hit to the outfield, walked outside of my dorm and screamed obscenities as loud as I possibly could. I was joined shortly thereafter by many other tortured soles around campus doing the exact same thing.
 
Has to be The Drive. We were winning the Super Bowl that year.

Fuck you Marty!



The Browns moving is close second.
 
I go with the FUMBLE.

The year before, we allowed a late drive to tie the AFC title game at home, then lost in OT. The following year, against the same team, on the road, we are driving to tie the game late. Poetic justice would dictate we tie the game and win it OT. Instead, we lose in excruciating fashion.

97 WS, Model and The Decision are right up there as well.

Honorable mention - 1906 Cleveland Naps (precursor to Indians). Lead the league in runs scored, era and fielding percentage, yet finished 3rd.
 
You missed some. The Jim Chones broken foot. The death of Don Rogers.

Sadly, I have been there for everything but the '54 World Series. Suffered through basically all of them.
 
I'd feel like a dick if I didn't choose Olin and Crews dying over some losses no matter how heartbreaking they may be.

Taking that out of the equation, '97 was the worst for me. I was only born in '88 though.
 
Ugh. 97 series was so brutal and SO Cleveland. Phills' rundown is identical to my experience minus 5-6 years of age. I watched that one in my parents living room. Jaret pitched an absolute gem and it was pretty clear that it was finally going to happen.

It felt incredible knowing that the curse would finally be buried.




















Then...Cleveland happened.
 
not old enough for most, but my vote is for 97 world series. It was on the line, we had it wrapped up if this didnt happen. The browns are the browns, we werent even on a roll or anything and we got the team back. Lebron also hurt.. a championship wasnt EASILY within our grasp, but I would be lying if I didnt say repping Cleveland, the then LA Lakers of the Nba, wasnt fun. That was a hobby that instilled pride in the hometown that was immediately yanked away.
 
I voted for the '97 world series. I was born in 1987 so was 10 years old, could recite that entire Indians lineup like the alphabet, and remember watching that game 7 loss and crying like a little bitch when Mesa blew it. Everything before that I was kind of too young to understand. If I was a few years older the Browns move would've been number one I'm sure. The LeBron decision was heartbreaking as well. I had just graduated from college and started my internship a few months before the night of the decision. That night I got so belligerently drunk I had to call in sick the next day. I owned a lot of LeBron gear.. jerseys, t-shirts, ball shorts, shoes. None of them had thru the night. Just a surreal moment when that happened.
 
I voted for the move, but in retrospect, I remember I felt more hurt by losing the World Series. Of them all though, I was more emotionally invested in The Decision. I got over the World Series, I felt like - there's always next year. We were a good team, and had been for some time. I never thought we wouldn't be contenders; it just never occurred to me at the time.

The Decision though, man, it was like Revenge of the Sith. "You were the chosen one." It still hurts to this day. Disappointment, anger, sadness, grief.. Like, damn man you really couldn't see you had everything? You ruined your legacy, and destroyed something special in sports. Sucks... LeBron was to be the greatest sports legend in Cleveland history, and had a chance at becoming the GOAT. It would've been more meaningful if the Cavaliers had won a title with LeBron than if the Tribe won the series, simply because LeBron is one of us.

At least, from my perspective as a Clevelander.
 

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-12: "Max Strus Juice"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:11: "Clipping Bucks."
Top