The Greatest Chokers

I took some time off from writing after the passing of my father. I am now back and All Things Jabu is poised for some great changes in the year ahead. Thank you to all those who read!

In my time away I watched South Africa stumble out of the World Cup, watched Arsenal throw away a four goal lead and watched Rory McIllroy completely fall apart at Augusta. With this in mind I have decided to bring you the Jabu list of the greatest chokes in sporting history. To be included in this list the team or person must have choked. Choking quite simply is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I have tried to not include moments when the opposition have been outstanding and rather when the team / player has lost due to their own inability rather than outstanding performances by the opposition. So here it goes in reverse order:

10. Rory McIllroy - 2011 US Masters

Rory lead the field by 4 shots at the end of the third round and had played some scintillating golf in the process. He started the day badly and got to the turn with a share of the lead. Then came the 10th hole. Rory shanked a drive into the houses on the side of the Augusta golf course, he then hit a decent recovery shot and it seemed that his luck might turn as he could scramble a bogey and get away without much fuss. It was here that Rory hooked his shot and eventually settled for a triple bogey and a loss of lead and confidence. His game fell apart and McIllroy would go on to set the worst fourth round masters score at Augusta not even finishing in the top 10. His time will come, but next time maybe he should wear a looser collar...

9. Bayern Munich - 1999 Uefa Champions League Final

No discredit to Manchester United in their historic treble season, however they really should never have achieved it. Bayern Munich led in the Camp Nou through a 6th minute free kick from man of the match Mario Basler. Missing both Paul Scholes and Roy Keane through suspension Man United were struggling to make possession count. And for all their possession, it was not United, but rather Bayern that looked more likely to score the second. Late into the second half Bayern missed a great chance when they struck the crossbar and would be duly made to pay for that miss. In the 91st minute Thorsten Flink failed to clear a corner in the routine way and a poor Giggs shot was prodded home by Teddy Sherringham. 1-1, extra time! But cometh the hour cometh the choke. 1:35 after the goal, Bayern preparing for extra time forgot to finish the game and the baby faced assasin made them pay.

8. Jana Novotna - 1993 Wimbledon final

Jana Novotna will forever be remembered for the 1993 Wimbledon final against Steffi Graf. Having lost the first set 7-6 she fought back playing some of the greatest tennis of her career and stormed the second set 6-1. She then went on a rampage leading the deciding set 4-1 and serving was up 40-30, at that point however, the wheels came off. She served a very unlikely double fault and started missing shots that she had been hitting pin point correctly just 5 minutes before. She last that game and the next four to lose the final. Steffi Graf hadn't won the final as much as Jana Novotna had lost it!

7. Arsenal - 2011 4-4 vs Newcastle

The joys of supporting Arsenal. The Gunners became the first team in premiership history to surrender a 4 goal lead through their own inabilities and a little help from Phil Dowd. Arsenal started the game playing some of the most sublime football ever seen in the premiership. 4-0 up at 26 minutes and even with a leaky defence that should be that. It wasn't. About 10 minutes into the second half Abou Diaby saw red in his eyes and then in the card produced by Phil Dowd (The last correct decision he made in his career) and Arsenal would need to hold on to a four goal lead with ten men. Still not a scary idea. Koscielny was adjudged to bring down Leon Best, but bad decisions happen all the time, Arsenal fell asleep after the penalty and conceded again to Best. They were inviting pressure and the Newcastle fan Dowd accepted Arsenals offer to have the game played in their box by awarding a penalty despite a metre gap between the fouled player and anyone else. Newcastle believed, Arsenal didn't and it was only a matter of time before Newcastle equalised with a blinding good goal from Cheke Tiote. Arsenal almost lost it at the end and the habit of failing to win from a winning position is becoming a problem for the men from North London!

6. Jean van de Velde - 1999 Open Championship

1999 was a remarkable year for chokers, obviously too many were worried about the Y2k bug. But Jean de Velde set the standards in choking. In the final round of the Open championship he held a 3 shot lead as he teed off on the 18th knowing that even a double bogey would give him the title. Alas, chokers know the exact time to pull of the feat. He triple bogeyed the final hole and went on to lose the playoff.

5. Newcastle United - 1996 English premier league

Newcastle had taken the premiership by storm, playing some great football and building up a 10 point lead. Newcastle started to buckle under the pressure of leading the premiership and landed up surrendering the league to Manchester United with barely a whimper. Of course that campaign will always be remembered for the hysterical tirade by Kevin Keegan in laying down the challenge to Manchester United in a way not even Wenger could do!

4. New York Yankees - 2004 World Series

Playing their arch rivals, the Yankees won the first 3 games of the series comfortably and had just one more innings in the 4th game to secure the World series and leave the Red Sox waiting longer to finally break the drought. Yet the Yankees choked dramatically, losing the game and then the following three to hand the Boston Red Sox the title and to leave them wondering how?

3. Greg Norman - 1996 Masters

Unbelievable. This was one probably the biggest choker in golf history. In the 1996 masters Norman held a 6 shot lead going into the last round. He had smashed a 63 in round 1 and looked invincible for the week, until Sunday. He shot a ridiculous 78 and ended up losing by 4 shots to Nick Faldo. At the end of the round, Faldo walked up to Norman and simply said I'm sorry and they shed a tear together!

2. New Zealand Rugby - 1991, 95, 99, 2003, 07

New Zealand were awarded the tag of greatest chokers in sport history in August 2010, but I believe they have been surpassed. Of course should they manage to find a defeat at home in the World Cup in October then sure they will regain this title, but for now lets focus on why they are second. 1991 they lost to David Campese and forgot to tackle him, 1995 they underestimated South Africa, 1999 they threw away a 24-10 lead with 24 minutes on teh clock to lose 40-31, in 2003 they were again defeated by a team they regularly beat (Aus) and in 2007 they blamed Wayne Barnes for the inability to score points when it mattered. We may mock New Zealand for being the best team between World cups and then failing, but of course we all know who is no 1 . .

1. South Africa Cricket 1996, 99, 2003, 07, 11

South Africa (excluding T20 chokes) have regained the title as the greatest chokers in World sport. 96 and 2011 saw South Africa win their pool and lose to the 4th team in the other pool. 1999 still hurts more than anything as South Africa remarkably handed Australia the title with a semi final balls up. 2003 we forgot how to do maths and in 2007 South Africa forgot to defend the straight ball. Remarkably South Africa have played 5 knock out games at the World Cup and lost all 5. And here we were thinking we got it out of our system against India

Until next time

JABU