By Corey VannThe Dartmouth Staff
When it comes to golf, I usually see eye-to-eye with my good friend Happy Gilmore "Gold jacket, green jacket, who gives a sh*t?" but I think even Happy would have tuned in to watch the final day of the Ryder Cup on Sunday at Medinah Country Club. Like Happy, any true sports fan appreciates a raucous atmosphere and fervent nationalism.
I mention Happy Gilmore because many of the American players seemed to adopt his rambunctious approach to the Ryder Cup. On one hand, Bubba Watson was actually inviting the crowd to cheer for his tee shots, when most golfers demand complete silence. On the other hand, teammates Keegan Bradley and Phil Mickelson were chest-bumping after made puts. Tommy Patek '13, who was in attendance, told me that the environment was insane.
"[It was] the frattiest, and one of the best sports events I have ever been to," he said.
It's no wonder the ratings for the Cup were the highest since 1999, but I think it may have been a bit sweeter for Tommy and the rest of the country if the United States team had not blown it. The Americans entered play on Sunday with a 10-6 lead against Europe, the biggest lead entering the singles since 1981, and quite simply, they choked.
If you're unfamiliar with the term "choking," here is a quote from Pete Sampras (14 Grand Slam singles titles) to enlighten you on the topic: "Choking is being in a position to win and then experiencing some critical failure of nerve or spirit. That never happened to me, and I can't help but think it was because I was never afraid to lose." So when six of the 12 matches get decided on the last hole, I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a choke, according to Sampras' definition.
Sunday's epic collapse got me thinking about the biggest chokes I have seen in sports. For every incredibly clutch moment in sports history, there is another moment that is exactly the opposite.
A perfect example of this is former New Orleans Saints kicker John Carney's missed extra point at the end of regulation against the Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2003. I really had no reason to be watching this game with the Jaguars up by seven, with seven seconds left and the ball on the Saints' own 25-yard line. Even coach Jim Haslett's headset was off. I didn't have the excuse of watching the Red Zone Channel (one of mankind's greatest gifts to earth, by the way) because it was not in existence yet, but Aaron Brooks and Joe "Little Big" Horn were on my fantasy team, and I'll admit I was hoping for some garbage-time yardage.
If you haven't seen Jerome Pathon's touchdown that set up John Carney's kick, YouTube it immediately. It's reminiscent of "The Play," with the only caveat being that the University of California, Berkeley won the game and the Saints did not. All Carney had to do to send the game into overtime was make the extra point which, aside from basketball layups, is probably the most trivial task in sports. Carney, however, decided to channel his inner Gary Anderson and go wide right, leaving the announcers and myself to wonder, "How could he do that?"
Carney's fail wasn't too difficult to stomach; it was a more a feeling of shock. But Darius Washington, Jr.'s choke was hard to watch. Washington led an upset-minded Wildcats team to a date with the sixth-ranked Louisville Cardinals in the conference tournament championship game, with a chance to earn an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Down 75-73 with 6.7 seconds on the clock, Washington dribbled the ball coast to coast and got fouled while in the act of shooting a three-pointer as time expired. After winking to his teammates and making the first free throw, Washington missed the next two as he fell to the ground in despair, covering his face with his jersey. I'll never forget commentator Jim Spanarkel's reaction: "Somebody's gotta go help that kid up."
Sports are an unforgiving business, and as fans, it's hard to put choking into perspective when your favorite team blows a game. But at the end of the day, everyone involved the athletes, the coaches are just humans like you and me. So in this day and age in which the wall between players and fans is almost invisible due to Twitter, Facebook, etc., I hope when the next John Carney or Darius Washington, Jr. comes around, you'll show support rather than hate. Cross your fingers that the Big Green takes the Pete Sampras route when the game is on the line this fall.
