2nd Place Is The First Loser

Another season down, another second place finish. Don't get me wrong, if you would have asked me before the season where I thought Utah would end up, I would have told you somewhere between #15 and #25...and that was being optimistic. I should be overjoyed that the Utes finished ranked 2nd in the country. Ahead of USC, Texas, Oklahoma, and other powers nonetheless.

But I'm not.

I'm sick of second place. I am sick of being satisfied to just be there. It's an accomplishment, sure, but you know what? I want that championship. They say victory is made sweeter after the agony of defeat. Agony? Check. Cross it off my list. I don't know what it's like to have a team like the Celtics, Lakers, or Yankees be my team. In fact to be honest it must be quite lame. How can you truly enjoy a championship when it's just an expectation; nothing more? All I know is, when my time comes, it will be awesome.

So, in memory of the 2008-2009 Utah Utes football team, I am going to countdown the "Most Devastating 2nd Place Teams." 8 being the easiest to handle, 1 being the toughest. Here goes:

8) 1999 World Series

I had never lived in a city with a professional baseball team, but 1998 changed my fortunes when we moved to Atlanta. I adopted the Braves as my favorite baseball team when I was younger (I even wore a Braves uniform in my 2nd grade school picture, my mom was furious), but never felt validated as having them be "my team" since I never lived there. In fact I was more of an Indians fan up until this point (Therefore the Braves 1995 World Series win didn't mean much to me, other than the fact they beat the Indians to win it. Ah,the first 2nd place). But it's baseball, and I didn't really care until now. After going to several Braves games, I was hooked. Turner Field is an awesome place to watch a game, especially during the 90's when "America's Team" was a perennial power. 1999 had me going to many games, and witnessing the Braves rise up and become dominant, all the way to the World Series. Then they got swept. I was disappointed, feeling we really had a shot to win it all, but then again, it's just baseball. Thus, the reason this was the easiest to take.

7) 1999 Fiesta Bowl

When I was 8 years old, my grandma bought me a looney tunes shirt. I don't think she realized it at the time, but the shirt actually was a Florida State shirt, with the looney tunes characters wearing FSU football uniforms. I was instantly a fan. In 1999, a new system was put in place to supposively pit the two best teams in college football against each other in a "Championship Game" every year. They called it the BCS. The ever-smart computers decided to place Florida State and Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl, that year's championship game. Florida State was led by star receiver Peter Warrick and Kicker Sebastian Janikowski (Yes, a kicker can be a star). Florida State played terribly and Tennessee won the game. On that day, I promised myself I would never, ever, step foot in the state of Tennessee. Some good that did me. And don't you think it's a little ironic that even in the first season of the BCS I got screwed?

6) Super Bowl XXXIII

Living in Atlanta during the Falcons Super Bowl season was awesome. I attended several games that year, including possibly the biggest sporting event I ever witnessed live: The playoff win against the 49ers. The team was solid, and they were led by Jamal Anderson (A Ute nonetheless) and the ever-awesome dirty bird. I remember going to the mall and they would be having dirty bird dance-offs for Super Bowl tickets. After the stunning victory over the Niners, and the field goal to beat the Vikings, the Falcons were in the Big Game. That week at school was called "Football Week," and the Friday before the game we did nothing but play football and have games all day (Best day of school ever). Then the game came. Not only did the Falcons get smacked around by John Elway, Terrell Davis, and the defending champion Broncos, I lost $5 to my uncle Tim in a bet. Almost as devastating for a 13 year old.

5) 1997 NBA Finals

The Jazz made the Finals! For the first time in franchise history they actually made it. We all remember the 3-pointer Stockton hit to send them there against the Rockets. Amazing. Next up was Michael Jordan and the Bulls. Game 1, Jordan hit a game winning shot, a heartbreaker. But after 4 games the series was tied up 2-2. There was still hope to beat the unbeatable. Game 5 was Jordan's epic "flu game" in which he scored 38 points. The Jazz lost by 2. Game 6 back in Chicago was the clincher, with Steve Kerr hitting a huge shot to seal the win for the Bulls. No one expected the Jazz to win the series, I mean come on, they were playing the Bulls. But they fought hard, and I was proud. Disappointed, but satisfied. We would be back.

4) 1998 NCAA Championship Game

This was unexpected. Keith Van Horn had just left for the NBA and the season was supposed to be a step-back from the Elite Eight they had made the previous year. Led by Andre Miller and Michael Doleac, the Utes entered the tournament as a #3 seed. They destroyed San Fransisco and followed it by grinding out wins over Arkansas and West Virginia to reach the Elite Eight once again. This is where they met Mike Bibby and the #1 seeded Arizona Wildcats. No problem, a 25 point domination put the Utes in the Final Four. But this is where it must end. Next up: Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood, and #1 North Carolina. I had a basketball game the night of the Utah/UNC game and I remember playing terrible. My mind wasn't on my game, rather it was wondering how the Utes were doing against the Tar Heels. My dad came up to me at halftime and told me that Utah was up 15. I told him he was lying and just trying to get me to focus. He wasn't. Utah went on to knock of the Heels and set up the championship game against Kentucky. An improbable run, this team had to be a team of destiny. After beating Arizona & UNC, there was no way Kentucky would stop the Utes. Utah headed to halftime up 10, and it looked good. It was going to happen. Then the collapse. After the loss to Kentucky I was depressed. I didn't even go to school the next day. It was devastating. To get so close...then blow it the way they did. Anyways, on with the list.

3) 1998 NBA Finals

Jazz/Bulls Part 2. This time it was different. The Jazz had won both regular season matchups against the Bulls and headed into the Finals with homecourt advatage. Many experts picked the Jazz to win, thus the expectations were much higher than the previous year. This was only several months after the Utes lost to Kentucky, my heart couldn't handle another second place. The Jazz took Game 1 in overtime, a promising victory. Off to a good start right? That until the Bulls won the next 3 games. Game 5 was in Chicago and the Jazz were as good as dead. Malone put together a monster 39 point game, but Jordan had the ball, down by 2, seconds left. He rose up for the winning shot....clank. New life. With Games 6 and 7 back in Salt Lake, this was very doable for the Jazz. The Jazz up by 1, Karl Malone had the ball stripped by Jordan with 17 seconds left. He dribbled the clock down, made his move (gave a little shove), and then:

I was at my grandma's house when this happened. In the back room. Luckily no one else was there to see me cry.

2) 2008-2009 Utah Football

I had always felt cursed, that the Sports Gods had some bone to pick with me. "We'll let his team get close, then make them lose" is what I always pictured them whispering to each other in some dark alley in Sport's Heaven. So many times up until this point I had gotten so close to tasting the sweet fruits of victory, and so many times I had been denied right at the gate of the tree. But this took it to a new level. This is just wrong. Only in college football could I go an entire season without feeling the sting of defeat, yet still have it rip my heart out at the end. I guess merely losing championship games got old. I bet the council went something to this effect: "How about this...let's let Utah go undefeated, beat 4 top 25 teams, and have them finish 2nd, to a team that only beat 3 top 25 teams, and lost a game." Brilliant. That would really tick Steve Evans off.

Mission accomplished.

1) 2002 NBA Western Conference Finals

Okay, okay, so it's not the NBA Finals, but anyone who knows anything about basketball knows this was the real championship. The NBA Finals that year was just the after-party, the parade, the skills competition. The Lakers and Kings were fiercest of rivals during the early part of the decade. That matched with the fierce Travis/Steve rivalry made this series one for the ages. Shaq's "Queens," the cowbells, the fist to Fox's face, what a great time to be a sports fan. The King's took the first 2 out of 3 games heading into game 4 in Los Angeles. The games were highly intense and tempers often flared.

As game 4 was winding down, the Kings were clinging to a two point lead. Dinner was ready and calls for the TV to be turned off were becoming intimidating. Fact is, I didn't care. I was watching the rest of this game even if it meant I was grounded for the rest of the summer. Under my breath I remember muttering, "If Kobe hits a game-winning 3 I swear I will fly to LA and kill him." This was game 4, a win for the Kings meant a 3-1 series lead, a most definite insurmountable lead. This was for the championship. Right before the inbound pass, I changed my mind. "If anyone was to make it, it would be Robert Horry" I told my dad. The shot....miss....the tip in....miss....Divac's swat....Robert Horry's 3....ball game....the remote in my hand....the wall....my dad...."#*&@*&*!"

Game 5 was much better, the tables turned and this time it was my main man Mike Bibby who knocked down the game winning shot. The Kings were up 3-2 heading into game 6 and the title was in reach. That is until Tim Donaghy and his gang awarded the Lakers 27, yes 27, free throws in the 4th quarter to hand the Lakers the game on a silver platter. Sure it was in the NBA's best interest to have the series go 7 games, but not mine. Game 7 was a classic. 19 lead changes. 16 ties. This game was as close as they come, that is until Mike Bibby's face got a little too close to Kobe Bryant's elbow, fouling it in the final seconds of overtime to wrap up the win for the Lakers. It was brutal. By far the most heartbreaking of them all.

But then again, there's always next year...