I've been a die-hard fan of the Washington Capitals dating back to childhood. My Mom and I had a 10-game plan every year during the Cap Centre era of Scott Stevens, John Druce, Mike Gartner, Bobby Carpenter....you get the picture. Last night's loss to the Rangers was the equivalent of a Daniel LaRusso crane kick to the nads.
For those that missed the game or don't care, the Caps had a one goal lead with a little over twenty seconds left when forward, Joel Ward, committed an inadvertent high-sticking penalty that drew a four-minute double minor. The Rangers scored with 6.6 seconds left on the first power play, and again early in overtime on the second power play. Foot meet crotch (with steel-toed Timberlands). Now the Caps have to win both games six and seven. Ugh.
So, this got me thinking about the Redskins. What losses have they had which brought me to a teary fetal position? Playoffs excluded, there's too many to count. The Pete Kendall deflection game, the botched XP vs Tampa two years ago to send it to OT, and Swinging Gate come to mind. The regular season game that STILL kills me is the game at Tampa in 2000 where the Redskins blocked the game tying XP only to be called off-side. So they gave it to Alstott for the two-point conversion. Game over. We all know ALSOTT DID NOT GET IN, but we're talking D.C. sports so of course the refs sided with him. In regards to the playoffs, three games come to mind:
The Redskins two Super Bowl losses (VII and XVIII) did not have the devastating drama like this Caps' game, so we'll exclude those off the bat. Also, the Redskins are 2-0 all-time versus the Cowgirls in post-season, so that also knocks the flare down.- 1940 Championship: Redskins 0, Bears 73 - A couple weird things about this game that make it especially bad. First, the Redskins had beaten the Bears three weeks earlier 7-3. Second, it was a HOME game at Griffith Stadium. At what point would you leave a home Super Bowl when your team is getting blown out? I guess one has to stay at least for the half-time show. This game still stands as the most lopsided game in NFL history.
- Jan 15th, 2000 - NFC Divisional Game: Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14, Washington Redskins 13....Dan Turk botched the snap to Brad Johnson for the game-winning 51 yard FG attempt. That was Dan Turk's last game as he died of testicular cancer the next year.
- 1979 - Final Regular Season Game of the Year: The Skins opened the 1979 season 6-2 and were 10-5 heading into the season finale at Texas Stadium, against whom a win would assure a playoff spot and a possible NFC East title. Skins were up 17-0 early in the 2nd quarter off three Cowgirls fumbles. Washington led 34-28 with time running out, but quarterback Roger Staubach then led the Cowboys in a fourth-quarter comeback with two touchdown passes. The 35-34 loss knocked the 10-6 Redskins out of playoff contention. Ouch.