WORST moments as a fan

[Jeff]

today is the one year anniversary of finding out that Rondo would miss the year with a torn ACL

where does that gut punch rank in our history?

from my 38 years of experience, here's how I think I'd rank them

1a/1b - Reggie Lewis / Len Bias
2 - Magic hook shot in 1987
3 - 2007 draft lottery (it was THAT bad for me)
4 - 2010 losing game 7 (with a head nod to game 6 as well)
5 - Rondo injury
6 - KG injury 2009 (because I thought at the time there was a chance he'd be back for the playoffs)
7 - missing out on Duncan lottery? (Not sure I understood how bad that was at the time)

I put the 2007 lottery so high because we had SO MUCH riding on that and I put almost all my hope in it (despite trying not to) - thankfully it turned out alright in the long run

cautionary tale for this Spring methinks

[rondohondo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN4FgHajfTg

another one

[Quetzalcoatl]

The only playoff loss that really got to me was 2010.  I really thought we were the better team and were getting bad calls, plus losing Perk at that specific time really hurt.

It's also crazy to think about the cocaine use back then - we literally lost two of our best players to it.  Granted, I was born in 83, but I still hope that use of that drug is lower among Cs fans than other teams.

[slamtheking]

today is the one year anniversary of finding out that Rondo would miss the year with a torn ACL

where does that gut punch rank in our history?

from my 38 years of experience, here's how I think I'd rank them

1a/1b - Reggie Lewis / Len Bias
2 - Magic hook shot in 1987
3 - 2007 draft lottery (it was THAT bad for me)
4 - 2010 losing game 7 (with a head nod to game 6 as well)
5 - Rondo injury
6 - KG injury 2009 (because I thought at the time there was a chance he'd be back for the playoffs)
7 - missing out on Duncan lottery? (Not sure I understood how bad that was at the time)

I put the 2007 lottery so high because we had SO MUCH riding on that and I put almost all my hope in it (despite trying not to) - thankfully it turned out alright in the long run

cautionary tale for this Spring methinks

Jeff,
you're a cruel, cruel man for dredging up those memories for me   

[D.o.s.]

As a Celtics fan or as a basketball fan?

[Donoghus]

In no particular order....

- Game 7 2010
- Game 6 2002 ECF
- 2007 Draft Lottery
- Baby hook (first Celtics game memory)
- KG 2009 injury
- Reggie Lewis death
- Game 7 2012 ECF


That's just off the top of my head.  I'm sure I'm forgetting others at the moment.

[rondohondo]

PP being stabbed 11 times?

[nickagneta]

1. Bias/Lewis death - Bias hurt the team more...lewis hurt me more.

2. Magic baby hook game- as heartbreaking a loss of a big game as there was in Celtic history

3. Duncan Lottery miss - dreams of Duncan and Billups turned into Billups and Ron Mercer. Ouch.

4. Oden/Durant Lottery miss - more miserable luck though not as shocking or as hurtful as the Duncan draft

5. 2010 Finals - other than the shocking 4-0 sweep of the Celtics by the Bucks in 1983, probably the playoff series loss that hurt the most.

6. Bird retirement - Pierce was loved in Boston. Bird was a God. His retirement is the only time I shed tears for this team.

7. There's been so many important injuries that hurt this team over the years its hard to pick one but the one that made me give up on a season the earliest was the 2009 KG injury. Once that happened I knew that season was done and with age and a lack of athleticism from KG, so too was the Big Three era of championships.

[Q_FBE]

I hate looking back - it bites me in the you know what every single time.

OK here we are in reverse order:

10 - Learning Bill Russell was going to retire (as a child prodigy I thought he should play forever - but Dad reminded me that everyone retires from their job at some point)
9 - World Free going off in Game 3 of the 1977 EC quarter finals and dealing me my 1st live playoff loss after 11 straight playoff home wins (9 in 1976 of course)
8 - Dave Cowens sabbatical in 1977 driven by the failure to resign Silas who defected to Seattle.
7 - The Rick Pitino Era
6 - Losing to the Lakers in the 1987 finals
5 - Losing to the Lakers in the 1985 finals
4 - Larry Birds retirement and Gaston picking ML Carr to run the team instead of Larry Bird.
3 - Len Bias / Reggie Lewis deaths
2 - Losing Games 6 and 7 of the 2012 ECF to Miami
1 - Losing Games 6 and 7 of the 2010 Finals to the Lakers

[manl_lui]

I was still a kid in the 90s, so everything before that I have no clue of, the Pitino era was when I really started watching basketball closely

1. Pierce being stabbed
2. Losing the 2007 draft and getting 5th (though what happened next was amazing)
3. Losing KG in 2009
4. Losing Powe in the Chicago series and then losing to Orlando in 2009
5. Losing to LA in the final qt. of 2010
6. Losing to Miami in game 6 and 7
7. Rondo out for the season last season
8. Saying bye to KG and PP

[GreenWarrior]

reggie lewis
pierce stabbing
I don't get to watch pierce any more
no Duncan
kg's injury
a good portion of the gaston era
watching mark blount
rondo's injury
Antoine not realizing his potential and watching his game  deteriorate over time
ray allen going to the heat
the loss against the magic when we were a pf or c away from beating them
not getting Durant. but that did turn out better.

[D.o.s.]

For what it's worth, I think on-the court has to be Q4, 2010 Game 7. ~9 minutes of unrelenting misery.

[Enzzo]

-Early 2000's
-Anything related to Ron Artest
-Ricky Davis (Loved the guy) getting a rebound off of his own missed dunk
-Having false hope everytime we got a new pick up
-Fab Melo
-Seeing how underrated Paul Pierce was prior to (and arguably still is) 2007-08
-Fab Melo

[pearljammer10]

Listening on the radio as a 15(ish) year old to Paul Pierce miss his free throw at the end of the Nets playoff game.

Game 7 against the Lakers in 2010.

The free throw advantage the Lakers had in Game 7 of 2010. (37 to 17)

Trading Pierce and KG

Being at the game and watching Marquis Daniels go out on a stretcher.

Antoine Walker.

[tfwhiteiii]

The Duncan lottery miss is MUCH higher than the 2007 lotto.  Three things

1.) everyone knew Duncan was an all time lock.  He was more of a sure thing than almost anyone who came out of the draft.  I mean, there were still voices (Billy Packer's) who said Oden wouldn't be the franchise changer that people thought he'd be.  He was likely wrong had Oden stayed healthy, however, Duncan's bust potential was 0%.

2.) The '97 team HAD to win that lottery.  The whole season was deliberately sabotaged to get Duncan.  That roster was completely barren of anything outside of a rookie Antoine Walker.  Even the '07 team had a young Jefferson, excess draft picks, and oh yeah, a Hall of Fame player in his prime (Pierce.)  '97 had absolutely zilch.

3.) We all thought we were getting Duncan.  I remember going into the '07 lottery hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.  With the '97 lottery, we all felt Duncan.  We had like a 40% chance of winning the lottery, (as opposed to what in '07 - like 19%), and there was still that "the Celtics always get all the breaks" allure that many still felt was alive at the time.  When we fell to the 3 and 6 - it was stunning.

So for me, a fan since '91

1.) Lewis death
2.) Duncan lottery
3.) Game 7 2010 NBA Finals
4.) Garnett's 09 injury
5.) Pierce missing those free throws against the Nets in the '02 ECF (that was the game after the comeback game.  Went from absolute euphoria Saturday night to "they are effin screwed" two days later.  Remember watching this game at a BBQ on Memorial Day afternoon.)
6.) Leaving the arena after LeBron was going off in Game 6 of the 2012 ECF.  I knew they were DONE going into Game 7.
7.) Tie between losing to the Hornets in 93 on the Mourning shot, and losing to the Pistons in '91 when McHale got a basket interfered.  Was a young kid at the time too, so honestly, those losses just killed me.  Maybe even more so than losing to the Lakers in the Finals in 2010 because we're older and this stuff just doesn't matter like it did when you were just a young kid.