With visions of the Lakers epic collapse in game 4 of the NBA Finals still keeping Jocelyn up at night, I thought it timely to take a look at some of the biggest sports chokes of the last 30 years. The way I see it, choking is more than losing a 3-1 lead in a best of seven series. It is often the manner in which you lose, really snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, when a team or player loses because of a lack of some combination of resolve, intestinal fortitude, poise, confidence, and things of that nature. Choking is typically a testament to the importance of the mental aspects of sports. As well, most chokes correspond to a comeback by an opponent. Was the 2004 ALCS more noteworthy as a Red Sox comeback or a Yankees capitulation? We’ll take a look at ten legendary sports chokes, both team and individual, and at the bottom, we’ll answer the question: choke or comeback?

(Dis)Honorable Mentions
2006 Dallas Mavericks
Teams that win the first two games of the NBA Finals win like 80% of the time, and after two games, the Heat looked dead in the water. But, apparently, they were just playing possum, because they roar back and win the next four straight, and leave the Mavs saying “see, what had happened. . .”

1994 Seattle Supersonics
The first seeded Supersonics, led by “The Glove” Gary Payton, and Shawn Kemp, pre-Krispy Kreme, lose to the lowly, eighth seeded Denver Nuggets in 5 games after leading the series two games to none, losing game 5 at home.

10. 1993 Houston Oilers
The Oilers lead the Buffalo Bills 35-3 at halftime. Game over. That is, unless you consider a second half in which the Bills, behind backup Frank Reich, outscore the Oilers 38-3, part of the game. The official scorers did, oddly, and the Oilers lost 41-38

9. 1986 California Angels
The Angels lead the ALCS 3 games to 1, and are one strike away from the first World Series appearance in franchise history. But then, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, journeyman outfielder Dave Henderson hits a home run to tie the game. The BoSox win in extras, then, they win the next two handily in Boston to win the series.

8. 1986 Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox were one out away from breaking their 68-year World Series curse, leading the series 3 games to 2, up two in the bottom of the 10th. But, instead, we heard Vin Scully say “behind the bag. . . it gets through Buckner. . .” The shell-shocked Sox then lost game 7 to break New England’s heart one more time.

7. 2008 Los Angeles Lakers
As has been chronicled to within an inch of it’s life that last few days, the Lakers lead game 4 of the NBA Finals by as many as 24 in the first half, and 20 early in the second half, at home, no less, before the wheels fall off the wagon and the Celtics claw all the way back for a shocking 97-91 win.

6. 1978 Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox hold a 14-game lead over the hated Yankees on July 19th. They then go to pieces like a group of teenage girls in 1964 that just met the Beatles, ending the regular season tied with the Yankees, forcing a one game playoff at Fenway, where Bucky “Bleeping” Dent becomes part of New England lexicon in perpetuity.

5. 1995 California Angels
On August 20th, the Angels lead the AL West by 9 ½ games over Texas, 13 ½ over Seattle, and have a 12-game lead over New York for the wild card. They promptly go 12-26 the rest of the way and end up watching the Yankees and Mariners go at it. At least it was an exciting series to watch, right, Halos? OK, maybe not.

4. 2007 New York Mets
The talented, big payroll Mets, everyone’s chic choice as the best team in the National League, lead their division by 7 games with 16 to play, but amid clubhouse dissension, they do their best Bad News Bears impression, lose the division to the Phillies and miss the playoffs.

3. Greg Norman 1996 Masters
The Shark had the 1996 Masters in the bag, starting the final round up by six strokes, he practically could have had his caddy wheeling a celebratory keg around the course, because he certainly couldn’t have done any worse if he had, as he shot a dreadful 78, handing the green jacket to Nick Faldo by a heady 5 strokes.

2. 2004 New York Yankees
The Yankees were on the verge of cementing the Red Sox eternal legacy as that of their bitch, leading the 2004 ALCS 3 games to none. But, the Sox had the greatest last laugh in the history of baseball, becoming the only team to ever come from a 3-0 hole to win a seven-game series, ending a run of Yankee excellence, and starting their own.

1. Jean Van de Velde 1999 British Open
As Jean Van de Velde walked up the 18th fairway, engravers were hard at work putting his name on the trophy, and it might have been appropriate from him to pull a Red Auerbach, and light up a stogie. Leading by 3 strokes, he practically only needed to live through the hole to win. His triple bogey-7 on 18 only SEEMED like dying, but it was a slow and excruciating death, as he ended up losing in a playoff following his disastrous finish.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions
Mavericks – Comeback. Winning the first two at home is not tantamount to having control of the series, regardless of the statistics.

1994 Supersonics - Choke. If you’re the number one seed, and you lose in ANY fashion, to the number eight seed, you ARE the weakest link. Goodbye!

10. Oilers - Comeback. Certainly the Oilers sort of stopped playing, but it wasn’t as mental as a real choke, and the Bills offense deserves credit for making some huge plays down the stretch.

9. 1986 Angels – Choke. The Angels were shell-shocked by Henderson’s home run, and as team, they didn’t have the mental toughness to put it behind them, because they played tight for the rest of the series

8. 1986 Red Sox – Comeback. As close as they were, the Red Sox were never completely in the driver’s seat, and credit the Mets with some excellent at bats late in game 6.

7. 2008 Lakers – Choke. Sorry, Jocelyn, but this was a choke of massive proportions. The young Lakers collectively looked as nervous as a little bunny, and they played like it down the stretch on both ends of the floor.

6. 1978 Red Sox – Choke. In fact, a choke of the highest order, one drawn out over 2 months, the Sox got pimp slapped by the Yankees in a 4-game series in July, and played like losing was inevitable for the rest of the season.

5. 1995 Angels – Choke. When you can fit two nine-game losing streaks in the last month and a half of the season, you are folding like a cheap card table. Please make a note of it.

4. 2007 Mets – Choke. I repeat, the longer the period of choking, the more advanced the degree of the choking is. Consider the Mets a PhD. They needed a hug or a Heimlich, or both.

3. Greg Norman – Choke. The most powerful kind of choke, the individual sport choke, one where you have no teammates to blame or share the burden.

2. 2004 Yankees – Comeback. As horrific as it must be to lose in a way that’s never been done, it’s not like the Yankees started playing like a deer in headlights. The Red Sox just had the mojo, and played a little better over the last 4 games.

1. Jean Van de Velde – Choke. This was a “no shoelaces or sharp objects or prescription pills anywhere near him for months” type of choke. A real, “write home to mother” level choke. Chicken bone. Went down the wrong pipe. Chick can’t handle her smoke. Serious. Bad.