I was sitting at the bar with my buddy last night watching the Cubs and explaining how much it blows to give up a home run. Especially when the umpire is being a tight ass about giving you another ball until the batter reaches home plate. It’s kind of a huge pain in the ass and just adds to the embarrassment because you want to get on the mound as soon as possible for the next hitter. You don’t want to have to wait to witness the celebration at home with the opposing team. You want to get a fresh ball so you can start rubbing it and getting your mind right for the next hitter.
Which got me thinking about other terrible feelings in sports and I can relate to all of them, which is why it’s my list.
Fumble is the worst because it’s the only mistake that’s directly associated with job security within a professional sport. Ball security is job security. You can fumble your way off a roster in one game. And you can completely ruin your reputation within a fanbase for one costly mistake at the worst possible time. It’s the most preventable too and it’s just an overall cardinal sin whereas everything else on the list is considered part of the game. A fumble is the one thing that’s universally considered to be sacrilegious and that’s why it’s #1 on my list.
People also said throwing a pick-6 but I think that’s too specific. Generally just throwing an interception is plenty bad but not as frustrating as a homerun because the receiver often makes mistakes on an interception. Or there could be a missed blitz or some other outside contributing factor that you can immediately blame.
Giving up a home run on the other hand is a singular fault. You can blame nobody unless the umpire missed a call with 2 strikes. Then I suppose you could bitch into your glove. But with respect to an isolated event, giving up the home run is the most individually isolated failure.
Meanwhile, making an error usually compounds itself into much bigger problems. It’s the stepping stone to a blown lead and an isolated statistic kept specifically to calculate how much you suck. There’s nothing else like ERROR in any sport and that’s why it’s such a horrible feeling. And moreover, modern scorekeeping has essentially reduced everything to a HIT. So to register an ERROR these days means to really fuck up which I think is actually kinda special. It’s much more obvious. There’s no debating an ERROR in today’s game.
And then of course striking out looking is just an embarrassing event because you don’t even try to hit the pitch. It’s sad to make an out without making an effort and that’s what it means to strike out looking. Especially in a big situation with 2 outs and the bases loaded. That’s lowkey the worst regular occurring feeling in sports and I think well deserving of being in my top 5.
All of this to say though that nothing compares to the fumble. Nothing on this list is as bad as giving up the rock inside enemy territory or on the doorstep of the goalline. Being specific, a 4th quarter fumble through the end zone is the worst thing that can happen to a sports fan notwithstanding a double doinked 43 yarder to make the Conference Championship.
That said here’s the best responses from twitter
Upon further review I think getting knocked out is the new clear cut #1 because getting knocked out actually fucking blows. Like at least in football people feel bad for you. But in boxing or MMA people are actively cheering for your head to leave it’s shoulders. It’s so barbaric and being on the receiving end of it would be so much worse than disappointing your head coach because you fumbled.
So I just want that to be on record.
Getting knocked out fucking blows.
What else did I miss?