Top 15 "Oh No!" Sports Moments of 2018
For all the glory that sports can bring, sometimes they make you get up from your chair and just take a second. Sometimes they throw something at you so asinine, so incredulous, that you just have to bury your face in your hands and cry a little.
Sports have the ability to make you cheer and inspire you, but they’ve also got the ability to make you laugh at other people’s pain and just give a little “oh, no!” to that effect. This is the opposite of the best moments from the sports year. These are the worst of the worst: the top 15 “Oh NO!” sports moments of 2018. Dishonorable Mentions:
February 20th- Fergie's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the NBA All-Star Game
I’m less inclined to knock Fergie for this one because singing the National Anthem is very difficult. It requires incredible range, it’s stupidly over-melodic, and the pressure is on (especially if you’re a recording artist) to be different from everyone else who’s ever sung it before.
Now, I’ll be honest. This is… a poor effort. But it’s not all bad. Give her credit for trying to jazz it up a bit. Carl Lewis still did it worse… although his doesn’t have a meme made out of it. December 23rd- Steelers convert fake punt against Saints, except they don't
The Steelers, as of writing this, are in trouble. They sit outside the AFC playoff picture after being in control of their own destiny. In their week 16 game against the Saints, they decided a fake punt would be in order near midfield… even though they were winning by four with 4:15 to go. They didn’t get it.
Roosevelt Nix, who ran the ball, thought he had it however. 7/10 on the celebration there, bud. Problem is, you’re a yard and a half short. The Saints would win the game, 31-28.
April 7th- Padres let infield fly drop, Astros score winning run from second
Hitting a baseball is hard. Having to communicate with other people is pretty hard, too. The Astros, to this point in the game, were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. But they had Derek Fisher on second with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning with Alex Bregman at the plate. Then that ^ happened. Astros win, 1-0.
Baseball is hard. The Top 15:
15. December 2nd- Georgia's fake punt fools no one, Bulldogs lose to Alabama
GEORGIA HAD THIS GAME WON. AGAIN. Just like in the National Championship, Georgia was beating Alabama in the 4th quarter, and they completely fell apart. Tied at 28, and the ball on the Georgia side of midfield on 4th and 11 with just over three minutes left, Georgia called its freshman quarterback, Justin Fields, onto the field to participate in punt coverage, hoping to catch Alabama off guard. It did not work. Alabama would win the game, 35-28, clinching the SEC Championship and going on to be the #1 seed in the College Football Playoff. THIS GAME WAS IN ATLANTA. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE FAKE PUNTING ON 4TH AND 11???
14. August 10th, July 10th, & June 7th- Baseball's worst defenses
This is the first of a few double-whammys on this list. The first exhibit is the “walk-off strikeout” exhibit.
First, we’ll take a look at the minor league Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, who walked off with a rare bases-loaded, three-run, walk-off strikeout against the Burlington Bees.
Secondly, we’ll look at the Houston Astros’ walk-off against the Oakland A’s, which features some… interesting base running techniques, and just some poor, poor defense. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TAG HIM.
Finally, this is a game between the Reds and Rockies, where both teams forget how to baseball on the SAME DAMN PLAY.
Sometimes sports make my heart hurt. 13. June 27th- Germany eliminated from World Cup by South Korea
This is Germany. They’re supposed to be really good at soccer. They just got eliminated by South Korea, who’s not supposed to be really good at soccer. And this isn’t some fluke knockout round loss, this was a dominant 2-0 loss is the group stage. The world was right to laugh at Germany. They’re supposed to be better than this. We were rooting for you. We were all rooting for you. Except not really, sucks to suck, see you at the Olympics.
12. September 22nd- Wake Forest kicker forgets to enter game, misses field goal
I think this is like a reverse Charlie Brown, where the guy actually forgets to kick the ball. I’m not really sure how you forget that your team is on the opponent’s side of the field, or how you forget that it’s fourth down. But Wake Forest freshman kicker Nick Sciba did. But even if you forget, no sweat right? You just have to take a little less time preparing and make the kick like normal. He didn’t It hit the left upright. Poor guy. Notre Dame would win the game. At least the field goal wasn't the difference, that would have sucked big time.
11. February 19th- Elizabeth Swaney at the Olympics is all of us
I’m sure we all watch athletes like Shawn White or Chloe Kim go into the Olympics and wow us both and make us want to try out skiing or snowboarding, thinking that one day, we might be able to do such things. In reality, Hungarian-American skier Elizabeth Swaney is all of us. I’m sure she’s just as petrified of that big halfpipe as we would be going up to approach our first trick. Of course, Swaney is a bona fide Olympic athlete, having gone to compete for her mother’s country of Venezuela, and then Hungary as a freestyle skier, slowly making her way up the rankings by just… skiing. Obviously she’s not a skilled Olympic athlete, but she’s got the brains to scam her way into the Olympics. She captured the dream. Not all heroes wear medals.
10. April 29th- Titus O'Neil and the Greatest Royal Tumble
Wrestling is the best. And sometimes, it goes beyond the best and makes its way onto this list. And the best wrestling moment of the year came back in April at WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble event, a promotional event broadcast from Saudi Arabia. Titus O’Neil, head of the stable Titus Worldwide, entered the arena to take part in a 50-man, over the top rope battle royal, as entrant number 39. As he was charging down the ramp, the seriousness of the match was broken as O’Neil caught the edge of the ringside mat and bit it- hard- nearly sliding underneath the ring itself. Obviously, the announcers lost it and replayed it probably 15 million times on air during the event. This is the greatest thing to ever happen.
9. October 7th- Khabib attacks Conor McGregor's camp after UFC 229 win
From comical to serious, from the squared circle to the octagon, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor was one of the highlights of the UFC calendar year. Or… lowlights, if you want to look at it that way. After weeks of hype, which included various personal attacks by each combatant- with McGregor even making comments about Khabib’s family, the fight got underway at UFC 229 in Las Vegas. The undefeated Khabib defeated McGregor by submission in the fourth round. But then things got hairy. After the match concluded, Khabib jumped the cage, and began violently whaling at any member of McGregor’s camp that got in his way- an unprovoked, idiotic act. Khabib cited the assailment as retaliation for McGregor making the bout “personal.” UFC president Dana White suspended both men in the aftermath of the event.
8. September 19th- Vontae Davis retires at halftime
Let’s face it- the Buffalo Bills are bad. They’re really terrible. They’ve got some glimmer of hope in Josh Allen, but let’s face it. When your starter during week one was Nathan Peterman, you’ve got some problems. Down 28-6 at halftime to the Los Angeles Chargers, cornerback Vontae Davis had had enough. And so the dude literally up and quit at halftime, reportedly telling his coaches that he was “done.” This is so totally disrespectful but so funny at the same time. It’s a microcosm of the Bills organization. David said he “meant no disrespect” to his teammates and coaches, and said in an interview that he came to the sudden realization that “he shouldn’t be out [there].” But I’ve never heard of this, at any level. Sounds like a sore loser to me! Only in Buffalo. #BillsMafia
7. April 6th- Sergio Garcia's Masters meltdown
laying golf is hard. Watching people play golf is painful. Watching professionals suck at the sport they get paid to be good at is soul sucking. Sergio Garcia even won the Masters Tournament a few years ago. And here he was in the first round of this year’s tournament, hitting five balls in the water on the 15th hole. He carded a 13 on the hole and would miss the cut. This one really does make you go “oh no…” Watch at your own discretion.
6. March 1st- Louisville gives up 5 in the final one second, loses to Virginia
And that’s not some kind of crazy 5-point play. This is a slow, painful, college basketball foul-shooting death we have here. Virginia, down four, with the ball, shoots a desperation three. FOUL. Two free throws later, there is a lane violation, which means it is Louisville’s ball, up by 2 with .9 seconds left. The dude TRAVELS. Virginia ball. On the inbound, Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter banked home the game-winning three, sealing the 67-66 win for the Cavaliers. There are so many things that you just have to not do- SIMPLE things, and you did ALL of them. You deserve to lose by a point, Louisville. Rick Pitino ruined the Celtics.
5. November 22nd- Kewan Platt's vicious cheap shot
Yeah there’s no reason for this. Dude plays for Fitchburg State, acting like he’s taking it so seriously he’s gonna go to the NBA or UFC or something. The kid from Nichols State, Nate Tenaglia, probably shoved Platt and the ref missed it or something, so this is what Kewan Platt decides to do, throw a vicious elbow a full second after the kid has let loose a three. And the way Tenaglia’s head snaps back, you would think that one inch in the wrong direction, and we’re looking at something far more serious. It’s pretty lucky that Tenaglia’s not seriously injured. Platt was suspended and “barred indefinitely” from campus after the cheap shot.
4. May 5th- 76ers drop confetti early thinking they've won; Celtics win in OT
In a way, I can understand the confusion here. It’s close enough to being a three, emotions are running high, and you’re in front of 20,000 people at the Wells Fargo Center who vehemently hate the Celtics, I get that. But keep your hand off the button until you know the score.
With 1.7 seconds left in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Sixers SG Marco Belinelli rattled home a long jumper to tie the game at 89 and send it to overtime. The Sixers’ confetti guy, however, thought the game was over (as did many of the Sixers), and released some confetti from the rafters. The referees ruled it a two, and the two teams would play overtime. The Celtics would win. Awkward. 3. November 11th- Cody Parkey and the four uprights
It hasn’t been a good year for kickers in the NFL. Dane Carlson and Zane Gonzalez (who?) both lost their jobs after bad performances in week two. Mason Crosby missed four field goals and an extra point in a Packers 31-23 loss to the Lions.
And then there was Cody Parkey, who missed four field goals himself- all off the upright. What you are about to watch are four different kicks. Oh, Danny boy; the pipes, the pipes are calling.
2. December 2017 to December 2018- Nathan Peterman and the Buffalo Bills
And then there was Nathan Petermeme.
Sorry, allow me to use his full name. Nathan “Twelve Interceptions” Peterman This guy is bad. Like, historically bad. The guy must have had a really good tryout, because he somehow made it to the NFL level, and poor management probably allowed him to start (then again it’s the Bills, so it was definitely poor management). In the Bills’ week nine 41-9 loss to the Chicago Bears, Peterman’s statline was as follows: 38-49, with 188 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. Those three interceptions brought his total to 12 against 130 attempts, making his career interception rate 9.23%. To put that in perspective: Aaron Rodgers had 1,000 career pass attempts before he threw his 10th interception. It took Nathan Peterman fewer than 100 to reach that mark. But on the bright side, the Oakland Raiders are undefeated since signing him. So that’s a sign of good things to come. 1. May 31st to June 8th- The 2018 NBA Finals
This one requires some serious explanation because it is an entire series…. Realistically though, we’re going to focus on just the beginning and the end.
So it’s the Warriors and Cavaliers for the FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW. It’s LeBron against Steph and KD. The Warriors have won two of the last three. We had our rubber match. The series against the Celtics would have at least been exciting. This was garbage.
Game one ended in bizarre fashion thanks to one J.R. Smith. With the Warriors leading 107-106, Cavs guard George Hill went to the free throw line, and knocked down the first, leaving it tied, 107-107. He would miss the second shot. Smith, thinking the Cavaliers had the lead, grabbed the rebound and dribbled it out to half court. LeBron James, dumbfounded, pointed to the basket as if to tell Smith that there was still time. There wasn’t, and the game would go to overtime, where the Warriors would win 124-114.
Games two and three (and four) were not close. The Warriors won game two 122-103, and took game three in Cleveland 110-102. In game four, the Warriors took the lead at the start (coming out of the gate up 13-3) and never looked back, winning 108-85, their largest win of the series. With 4:03 remaining in the game, LeBron was taken out, his last action as a member of the Cavaliers. Kevin Durant was named MVP, and the Warriors (unsurprisingly) got better that offseason by signing DeMarcus Cousins. This series was a stinker, and it’s our number one “oh no!” sports moment in 2018. What moment in sports this year made you cringe? Leave a comment down below. And be sure to check out According to Andrew’s Best of 2018 spread by clicking HERE.
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