Choke (sports)

In sports, a "choke" is the failure of an athlete or an athletic team to win a game or tournament when the player or team had been strongly favored to win or had squandered a large lead in the late stages of the event. Someone who chokes may be known as a "choker" or, more derisively, as a "choke artist." Choking in sport can be considered a form of analysis paralysis. The opposite of choking is to be clutch. A clutch player or team rises to the occasion under pressure rather than collapsing.

Examples of choking in sports

Rugby Union

Perhaps the most famous team to choke at the Rugby World Cup are the New Zealand. The All Blacks are always favourites to win the Rugby World Cup. They have a history of choking from 1991 where David Campese's individual brilliance ended the All Blacks reign in the semi-final, in 1995 they lost narrowly in extra time to South Africa who were riding a tidal wave of support depicted in the movie Invictus, in 1999 France (who would later become their bogey team in the World Cup) ended their run at the semi-final held at Twickenham with the most amazing of come backs in which every thing the French touched turned to gold in a magic 2nd half, 2003 saw them eliminated by Trans-Tasman rivals Australian Wallabies thanks to a Stirling Mortlock try (however the Wallabies went on to botch the final against England), and in 2007 their bogey team France crushed the hearts of many All Black fans when injuries saw N.Z's first 2 options at No. 10 hobble off injured. Rugby fans are all ready anticipating their next failure when the 2011 Rugby World Cup will be held on All Black's home soil in New Zealand, which is where they won their first and only world cup. The all-blacks never seem capable of winning when the spotlight is brightest.

Cricket

The South African national Cricket team has been a frequent choker at the ICC Cricket World Cup. Despite being consistently one of the best-performing nations at one-day international cricket since its return from isolation, the Proteas have never progressed beyond the semi-final stage at the World Cup, nor even won a game during the knock-out stage of the tournament.Adding to the reputation is the bizarre manner in which three of their World Cup eliminations arose:

• In 1992, a two-over rain delay at the end of their semi-final saw their target of 22 runs from 13 balls reduced to the unattainable 21 runs from 1 ball, after the application of the controversial "maximum scoring overs" rain rule.
• In the 1999 Super Six Stage, Herschelle Gibbs dropped eventual centurion Steve Waugh in the first innings, then a shambolic run-out in the semi-final ended South Africa's second innings against Australia with the scores tied; Australia progressed on the basis of its superior run rate through the tournament.
• In the Proteas' final game of 2003's group stage (which was effectively a knock-out match, as they had to win to progress to the super six), South Africa tied the rain-affected game against Sri Lanka which they could have won, after they misinterpreted their Duckworth-Lewis rain rule tables shortly before the match was called off.

South Africa's less bizarre World Cup chokes included upset losses against the West Indies in 1996 and New Zealand in 2011, after both times finishing at the top of their group in the Group Stage (unbeaten in the case of 1996), then succumbing to the fourth-placed team from the other pool in the quarter final.

Football

Use of the term "choke" in this context is most frequently encountered in the United States, and appears to be of relatively recent origin, not becoming reasonably widespread until well into the 1960s. Since then, NFL teams popularly labeled chokers have included the Dan Fouts-led San Diego Chargers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Jim Kelly-led Buffalo Bills in the 1990s for their four straight Super Bowl losses and, the Denver Broncos and their epic collapse at the end of the 2008 season when they led the AFC West by three games with three games left and ultimately lost all three games, giving the San Diego Chargers the division title.

In a Wild Card playoff matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers On January 3, 1993, the Oilers blew a 32-point lead to lose in overtime, the largest in a playoff game in NFL history. This game is known to this day as The Comeback.

November 26th, 2010, the Boise State Broncos collegiate football team was in position to win a close match up against conference rival Nevada. Kyle Brotzman missed two field goals to allow Boise State to lose in overtime against Nevada. Brotzman missed the first one with 9 seconds left on the clock and the score tied. The 26-yarder would have sealed the deal for Bosie State if he had scored. It went wide right. Then, in overtime, Brotzman was given another chance for a 29-yarder. This time, the ball went wide left.

On December 19th 2010, The New York Football Giants gave away both a 24-3 halftime and a 31-10 4th quarter lead to the Philadelphia Eagles and starting quarterback Michael Vick. The Giants blew that final 21 point lead in the last 8:07 of the game and finally lost on a DeSean Jackson punt return for a TD with no time remaining in the game.

Soccer

The English national team is well-known for choking during penalty shootouts in major tournaments. England has the worst record of major footballing nations in penalty shootouts; they have won only 17% of the shootouts they have been involved in, as compared to Germany's 83% and Czechoslovakia's 100%.

In the 1990 World Cup, Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle missed penalties in the semi-final against Germany. In Euro 1996, the hosts England faced the same fate, losing to Germany in the semi-finals, with Gareth Southgate missing. In Euro 2004, David Beckham and Darius Vassell missed, sending England out in the quarter-finals against Portugal.

At the end of the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Italy faced Brazil in the final, which ended 0–0 after extra time; Roberto Baggio took Italy's last penalty in the resulting shoot-out, but his kick went over the cross-bar and the Brazilians won the title.

The premier European competition, the UEFA Champions League, has a number of well-known chokes:

In the 2005 final, AC Milan lost on penalties having led 3-0 at half-time. The match was dubbed the "Miracle of Istanbul", with Liverpool scoring three goals in six minutes to draw level. Andriy Shevchenko saw his decisive penalty kick saved by Jerzy Dudek to settle the match.

In the 2008 final, John Terry missed a decisive spot-kick for Chelsea, slipping on the wet grass when a scored penalty would have won the cup. Manchester United went on to win the shootout, and a European Double for the season.

Baseball

The University of Mississippi baseball team has gone 0-6 in NCAA Super Regional games at home after winning the first game in three different best-of-three series. [1] In reference to the University of Mississippi (aka "Ole Miss") baseball team's 39-year absence from the College World Series, OMAHA has also been coined an acronym for "Ole Miss At Home Again". [2] [3]

1964 Phillie Phold, from a 6+1⁄2-game lead on the Cincinnati Reds with 12 games remaining in the season, Philadelphia collapsed in a 10-game losing streak (the first seven played at home). The crucial series came when the now second-place Phillies traveled to St. Louis to play the Cardinals after their losing home stand. They dropped the first game of the series to Bob Gibson by a 5–1 score, their eighth loss in a row, dropping them to third place. The Cardinals would sweep the three-game set and assume first place for good. The "Phold," as it is known, is one of the most notable collapses in sports history.

In 1978, the Yankees were 14+1⁄2 games behind the Red Sox in July, and on September 10, after completing a 4-game sweep of the Red Sox (known as "The Boston Massacre"), the Yankees tied for the divisional lead. The Yankees ultimately overtook the Red Sox with the help of Bucky Dent's 7th inning three-run home run in a sudden death post regular season game played at Fenway Park on October 2, 1978.

In 2007, the New York Mets held a 7 game lead in the National League East division with 17 games to play over the Philadelphia Phillies on September 12. The Mets proceeded to go 5-12 in their last 17 games which enabled the Phillies to win the division on the last day of the regular season.

In the 2004 ALCS, the Yankees led the Red Sox 3-0 and were ahead in the final inning of the fourth game, but ultimately lost the series in seven games. This was the first such comeback in the history of Major League Baseball.

In 2011, both the Red Sox (9 games) and Atlanta Braves (8+1⁄2 games) had significant leads in their respective Wild Card races during the first week of September. Both teams proceeded to lose their leads over the final 3+1⁄2 weeks of the season, culminating in both of their eliminations in the final game of the season. The Braves capped their slide by losing in the 13th inning to the Philadelphia Phillies (allowing the St. Louis Cardinals to win the National League wild card), and the Red Sox followed suit about 30 minutes later by blowing a 3-2, 9th inning lead against the last place Baltimore Orioles (allowing the Tampa Bay Rays to win the American League wild card).

Basketball

In NCAA Division I men's basketball, the Kansas Jayhawks are known for choking in the NCAA Tournament. In 2005 they lost to Bucknell University in the first round, in 2006 they lost to Bradley University in the first round, and in 2010 they lost to University of Northern Iowa in the second round. The phrase "Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk" used by Kansas fans becomes "Rock, Choke, Jayflopper" when referring to Kansas choking.

In the 2010 NBA Playoffs, Game 6 the Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics, LeBron James was criticized for choking, as he was under-performing during the game, and not coming up clutch late in the series. This led to LeBron's departure to South Beach to play for the Miami Heat where he continues to choke (the Heat lost to the Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals).

Hockey

In the NHL, choking is a common term during the playoffs, the term has been commonly used to teams who have fallen victim of a "three-game deficit comeback", in which a team who has a 3-0 series lead,and then loses the next 4 to lose the entire series. It has occurred 3 times, most recently in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when the Philadelphia Flyers successfully completed the comeback against the Boston Bruins. In 1975 the New York Islanders overcame a 3-0 deficit against the Pittsburgh Penguins. And in 1942, when the Detroit Red Wings, lost a 3-0 lead vs the Toronto Maple Leafs to win the Stanley Cup.

Golf

Jean Van de Velde only needed a double-bogey 6 to win the 1999 British Open. Instead he scored a triple-bogey 7 on the 18th hole and entered a play-off which he lost. [4]

Rory McIlroy led the 2011 Masters Tournament from the start of the tournament until midway through the final round, but ended up setting the all-time record for the worst fourth round by a professional golfer in Masters' history, falling out of the top ten at the tournament. One journalist has stated that the 2011 tournament at Augusta will be remembered more for the collapse of McIlroy on the final nine holes of the final round than it will be for who won the tournament. [5]

Tennis

In the 2004 French Open, Guillermo Coria played Gastón Gaudio in the final. Coria lead 2 sets to 0, easily beating him, and lost the next two sets. Coria was within a point of winning twice in the fifth set, and he collapsed to eventually lose, 0-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 8-6.

In the 1993 Wimbledon final, Steffi Graf played Jana Novotná. After Novotná lost the first set, she won 10 of the last 12 games, leading 4-1, serving at 40-30. She hit the worst 2 serves of her career, and went on to eventually lose 7-6, 1-6, 6-4.

Recently, Richard Gasquet has been a fine example of such cases where he has squandered a strong lead and heading for victory, only to lose unexpectedly.

Daniela Hantuchová's mental fragility has been a factor in many of her losses, particularly in 2003 when her parents were in the process of a divorce. At the French Open she lost in the second round in a marathon match to Ashley Harkleroad 7–6(2) 4–6 9–7 making 101 unforced errors, but more famously she lost in the same year in the second round of Wimbledon to Shinobu Asagoe 0–6 6–4 12–10, with Hantuchová breaking down crying during the latter stages of the match after missing three match points and making numerous unforced errors.

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League (NRL - Australia) has seen many chokes in its history but since the competition re-united in 1998 after the ARL and Super League War, the Parramatta Eels have been serial offenders.

The Eels led the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 18-2 with ten minutes remaining in the 1998 Grand Final qualifing match, but lost this game. In 1999's Grand Final qualifier, the Eels were leading the Melbourne Storm 16-6 at half-time, and lost. In 2001 the Eels lost the Grand Final to the Andrew Johns led Newcastle Knights. In 2005, the Eels were the minor premiers and lost a Grand Final qualifier to the North Queensland Cowboys 29-0.

Australian Football League

The Colliwobbles: Between 1959 and 1989, the Collingwood Football Club, which was the league's most successful club to that point (13 premierships, while the next-best had only 10), lost all eight Grand Finals it appeared in, many of which they were favoured to win. Rival fans jocularly claim that the losses are caused by a fictional disease called "the Colliwobbles", a term still used today. Most notable among the losses were the 1966, when the St Kilda Football Club won the only premiership in its long and unsuccessful history, 1970, when Collingwood blew a 44-point half-time lead against Carlton to lose by ten points.

Port Adelaide's consecutive finals failures (2001-2003): Port Adelaide was the best-performing team over this period, finished third on the ladder in 2001, then as minor premiers in 2002 and 2003; however, they failed to convert any of these finishes into a Grand Final appearance. The team was widely branded as chokers, and coach Mark Williams was criticised for lacking a "gameplan to win finals". This ended in 2004, when the club again finished first won its first AFL premiership. Williams, in his post-match speech, stated "Allan Scott, you were wrong!" (Scott being one of Williams' highest-profile detractors).

Super Rugby

The most famous rugby team to choke in the history of Super Rugby are the Western Province Stormers. For the past five years they have been favorites to win the competition but lack in skill and composure to win .

IndyCar Racing

Rookie J. R. Hildebrand was leading the 2011 Indianapolis 500 by several seconds on the last lap and was poised to take victory. As he entered the last corner of the race, he came upon Charlie Kimball's slower car, drifted off of the main racing line and crashed into the wall. His car continued down the track on three wheels, but Dan Wheldon passed him to win the 95th running of the Indy 500. Hildebrand finished 2nd.

References

5. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/13031762.stm

See Also

• Collapse (sports)