What is the difference between

[Slayer 0]

i was watching ESPN's "Who's #1?" today and afterwards I wondered... in thise kinds of games, when is it considered a good comeback by the winning team vs. a horrible choke by the losing team

 

Examples:

 

Bills-Oilers 1992 playoff game is viewed as a phenomenal comeback by the Bills rather than a choke by the Oilers

 

But Game 6 1986 is viewed as a choke by the Sox rather than a good comeback by the Mets

 

2000 NBA WCF - seen more as Blazers choke and not Lakers comeback

 

1986 AFC Championship - seen more as Elway and Broncos comeback vs. Browns choking

 

What do you think?

[Guest Anglesault]

IMO, Come backs are when you defy all the odds and manage to win it in the end.

 

A choke would be where a team loses a close game they should have won.

 

ie. If a game is 8-0 with team A winning, and then Team B wins 9-8, team B made a great come back, but Team A didn't choke, they just totally fell apart.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

IMO, Come backs are when you defy all the odds and manage to win it in the end.

 

A choke would be where a team loses a close game they should have won.

 

ie. If a game is 8-0 with team A winning, and then Team B wins 9-8, team B made a great come back, but Team A didn't choke, they just totally fell apart.

Yeah I agree, hard to call it a choke when you lose a 10 run lead or something like that. That's just a great comeback by the team that uh.. came back. Yeah.

[Guest Staravenger]

A good comeback would be the Diamondbacks winning the World Series in Game 7 in 2001. They were down a few runs I think and the Yanks put in Mariano Rivera, who hadn't blown a playoff save since the 1997 ALDS against the Clevland Indians.

 

the Lakers seemed to always make the big shots with like 3 seconds left in a game in the playoffs, which might count.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I think the term choke depends on who SHOULD have won the game, for example the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 NFC Championship Game, or the Minnesota Vikings @ Arizona in the 2003 season finale, or the Minnesota Vikings....in any other game?

 

Whereas a good comeback would be a game that's been played tight and faced down all odds. For example, like if the Titans or Panthers would have won their respective games (they both barely fell short, remember) those would have been good comebacks. You wouldn't have been able to laugh at the Rams or Patriots because they didn't fall apart completely, the better team would have just won in the end.

 

Like the Packers losing to Denver in Super Bowl XXXII, that was a good comeback by Elway..

 

Fucking Broncos.

[Slayer 0]

I think the term choke depends on who SHOULD have won the game, for example the Minnesota Vikings in the 1998 NFC Championship Game, or the Minnesota Vikings @ Arizona in the 2003 season finale, or the Minnesota Vikings....in any other game?

That's it, I'm kickin' your ass back to Mexico, boy...

[Guest Vitamin X]

Wrong country, Viqueen boy.

[therealworldschampion 0]

Portland against the Lakers in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals is a great example of a chokejob

[The Czech Republic 0]

I thought that was an example of the refs giving the Lakers all the calls, like every great Lakers comeback in the recent dynasty.

[Brett Favre 0]

Portland against the Lakers in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals is a great example of a chokejob

No, no. That's an example of a screwjob.

[Guest GreatOne]

I'm not sure about the who SHOULD win part, I had idiot UW fans (ok that's redundant as all hell) flooding my email after the Wazzu/ND game last year on how the Cougs choked, since ND was the Top 15 team heading into the year and Wazzu was ranked like 43rd.

 

Hell there was post here in March bemoaning the fact that they 'Couged it' against Stanford (nm that it should fall under: Screwjob, Big) despite the fact that Stanford was #1 and all and Wazzu barely made the Pac 10 tourney (they lost to Oregon State--who MISSED it altogether--twice).

 

Although to be fair I can see the logic of using it to describe Oregon State last week, then again that's more of an indictment on LSU.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I also think a team's history might play a factor in whether or not they "choke." If they fall short constantly, then I'd refer to them as choking...

[NoCalMike 0]

The Kings being the best FT shooting team in the league, being ousted in the 2001 WCF against the Lakers in game 7 pretty much soley for missing FTs is a choke job.

[Slayer 0]

I'm guessing you mean '02, right?

 

'01 was when the Lakers swept through the Western Conference Playoffs

[Brett Favre 0]

The Kings being the best FT shooting team in the league, being ousted in the 2001 WCF against the Lakers in game 7 pretty much soley for missing FTs is a choke job.

They choked in Game 7. But got screwed in Game 6, and got jipped in Game 4 with the Walker 3 that shouldn't have counted at the half which led to Horry's 3.

[slabinskia 0]

My eagles choked in the last 2 nfc championship games.The first one was not a choke.They were beaten by a better team.The last 2 years were chokes.

[Damaramu 0]

I don't see how last year was a choke for the Eagles. Having your QB's ribs broken doesn't exactly seem like a choke to me. Oh I guess McNabb broke them on purpose.......

[Guest Brian]

I'm not sure about the who SHOULD win part, I had idiot UW fans (ok that's redundant as all hell) flooding my email after the Wazzu/ND game last year on how the Cougs choked, since ND was the Top 15 team heading into the year and Wazzu was ranked like 43rd.

 

Hell there was post here in March bemoaning the fact that they 'Couged it' against Stanford (nm that it should fall under: Screwjob, Big) despite the fact that Stanford was #1 and all and Wazzu barely made the Pac 10 tourney (they lost to Oregon State--who MISSED it altogether--twice).

 

Although to be fair I can see the logic of using it to describe Oregon State last week, then again that's more of an indictment on LSU.

You guys had Stanford beat and lost. Not to mention the Apple Cup last year.

[teke184 0]

Although to be fair I can see the logic of using it to describe Oregon State last week, then again that's more of an indictment on LSU.

It's too early to decide if LSU had a great comeback or if OSU choked... I'm an LSU fan and, from what OSU showed me, they are better than anyone expected them to be.

 

As such, in 6 months it may be considered a great LSU comeback against a great but underrated OSU rather than LSU choking for 3 quarters before OSU choked in the 4th and in OT.

[Guest GreatOne]

I'm not sure about the who SHOULD win part, I had idiot UW fans (ok that's redundant as all hell) flooding my email after the Wazzu/ND game last year on how the Cougs choked, since ND was the Top 15 team heading into the year and Wazzu was ranked like 43rd.

 

Hell there was post here in March bemoaning the fact that they 'Couged it' against Stanford (nm that it should fall under: Screwjob, Big) despite the fact that Stanford was #1 and all and Wazzu barely made the Pac 10 tourney (they lost to Oregon State--who MISSED it altogether--twice).

 

Although to be fair I can see the logic of using it to describe Oregon State last week, then again that's more of an indictment on LSU.

You guys had Stanford beat and lost. Not to mention the Apple Cup last year.

Yes but is a bottom feeding Pac 10 team really expected to hold on to a six-point lead over the #1 team in the nation? Especially with the refs calling two phantom fouls and giving Stanford the ball back--while missing a timeout call by Marcus Moore right in front of the same motherfucker who whistled a 5 sec violation?

 

You're right about the Apple Cup, especially this year when UW looks to trot out their worst team in about 30 years.

[Guest Brian]

UW has good running and defense that looks capable, plus Fredericks, but I'll be damned if our QB situation looks horrible. Isiah has been my boy since Garfield but things look bad.

 

We've got a great basketball team right now, and I'm especially proud of all the Garfield alum.

[NoCalMike 0]

I don't see how last year was a choke for the Eagles. Having your QB's ribs broken doesn't exactly seem like a choke to me. Oh I guess McNabb broke them on purpose.......

I wouldn't really consider any of the three losses a choke, pretty much because they never appeared to be the better team during the games. Tampa Bay basically wiped the floor with them, and the Carolina game was pretty even until McNabb forgot that he wasn't a very efficient passer. That would be like saying the Cowboys choked last year against Carolina in the playoffs because they beat them in the regular season, even though it was more about Quincy Carter becoming Quincy Carter again over the course of the last five games of the season which carried into the playoffs.

[nl5xsk1 0]

The difference between a great comeback and a horrible choke is one thing ...

 

... which team you were rooting for. The team you're rooting for wins? It's a great comeback. The team you're rooting for loses? It's a horrible choke.

 

EDIT: I evidently just learned how to spell 'were' ... nothing else to see here, move along.

[2GOLD 0]

In football, if the team in the lead falls into PREVENT defense and instead of running down the clock they try and throw every down with some of the stupidest patterns you have ever seen THEN it's a choke.

 

Packers vs Eagles, that was a choke by the Packers defense. Sorry but when you allow someone to complete a 4th and whatever over 10 yards on one of the worst passes I have seen THEN you choked.

[Slayer 0]

What about Giants vs. 49ers, 2002 playoffs?

[Brett Favre 0]

I'd say that was a great comeback, until the end of course where they couldn't snap the ball properly. That was a choke. Then again, their long snappers weren't good that whole year. So, yes, I say it's a comeback.

[2GOLD 0]

If you don't win, then it wasn't a great comeback. That is a noble effort. Since there is nowhere that proves the kicker would have nailed the kick anyway, it just ends as a noble effort.

[Brett Favre 0]

But the 49ers did win, so it's a great comeback. Although I probably misunderstood what you meant.

[2GOLD 0]

But the 49ers did win, so it's a great comeback. Although I probably misunderstood what you meant.

 

Actually no, I was the one who is wrong. I forgot it was the Niners who came back to win the game. That would be a great comeback with a miscue.

 

I can't believe I forgot it was the Giants who blew the lead and not the Niners.

[Red Baron 0]

What about series. Like being up three games to one or three games to nothing, and then the opposing teams win the series?