Why didn’t the Seahawks hand off the ball to Marshawn Lynch? Why did they throw the ball? That is something many of us will be asking for a long, long time. It was a head scratching moment in sports history and that moment has inspired this article, where we look at some of the head scratching moments in sports history.
Worst Canadian Sports Decisions of All-Time
In the 1998 Winter Olympics, NHL players were finally allowed to play for their respective countries. Team Canada was expected to be a top contender for the gold medal with players like Wayne Gretzky, Ray Bourque, Steve Yzerman, Eric Lindros, Joe Sakic, Scott Stevens, and Patrick Roy headlining the roster. In the semi-final game against the Czech Republic the game was all tied up at one a piece and the game was set to be decided in the shootout. Robert Reichel of the Czech team scored the first goal which turned out to be the winner as the Canadian shooters Theoren Fleury, Ray Bourque, Joe Nieuwendyk, Eric Lindros and Brendan Shanahan all failed to score and team Canada would lose their shot at the gold medal. To this day people still ask the same question, “Why wasn’t Wayne Gretzky one of the greatest hockey players ever one of the shooters in that shootout?” Its a question that only Canadian coach Marc Crawford can answer. Heartbroken, Canada would look uninspired and lose to Finland in the bronze medal game.
The 1981 Major League Baseball NLCS between the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers went all the way to series deciding game five. The Expos and Dodgers were tied at one a piece in to the 9th inning, Ray Burris had a stellar performance for the Expos going 8 innings allowing only 5 hits and 1 run, but in the bottom of the 8th Tim Wallach came in as a pinch hitter for Burris. Now in the top of the 9th the Expos needed a reliever and although they had Jeff Reardon waiting in the bullpen they elected to go with starting pitcher Steve Rogers and the rest as you know is history. Rick Monday would hit the game winning homerun off of Rogers and the Expos would lose their only NLCS in franchise history. This day is always known as Blue Monday to the people of Montreal. In defense of the Expos, Rogers had been the best pitcher in the post-season up to that point and it made sense to have him go with the potential risk of extra innings, unfortunately it didn’t work out and many feel that a closer, or at least a reliever might have been better suited for that spot.
A big moment Montreal Canadiens history that still stings, and some believe started a curse, is the day Mario Tremblay left Patrick in net for nine goals against in a game against the Detroit Red Wings in 1995. When Roy was finally pulled from the game he told then team president Ronald Corey that he played his final game in Montreal. Four days later Roy would be traded to the Colorado Avalanche where they would win the Stanley Cup that year. Without Roy, the Canadiens would fall into some dark times.
Heart breaking is an understatement in this moment; Canada has never been seen as a summer Olympic power, which is reserved for the winter Olympics, but in London Canada had a Bronze medal and then lost it within a matter of minutes. Canada had finished third in the 4 x 100 relay and was celebrating the victory only to find out that they had been disqualified for stepping on the line that marked the border of the lanes. It was a mistake, an honest mistake, it’s just unfortunate that it happened in a medal race.
The 13th man is something that has always been a positive in Saskatchewan for the Roughriders , but in the 97th Grey Cup against the Montreal Alouettes it would become a pain for every Riders fan in Canada. The 97th Grey Cup saw a Roughriders team dominate for majority of the football game, but a late game comeback administered by Anthony Calvillo and company put the Als within field goal range with a chance to win it all. With almost no time on the clock the Alouettes looked to kicker Damon Duval to kick a 43-yard field to clinch the victory, however the kick went wide and the game was seemingly over with the Riders celebrating the victory. To everyone’s surprise a flag was thrown on the field and it turned out the Roughriders had too many men on the field. The penalty gave an extra 10 yards to the Alouettes and another chance to win the game. This time Duval didn’t miss and the rest is history.
These are just a few instances of moments in sports where some things just leave you at a loss for words and there are many more out there and I invite you to share with us below moments that had you scratching your head.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @NVincelli. Also please support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for?
Main Photo by Frank Gunn
