Cornell worst game of the decade

[Trotsky]

I remember that game because it jarred a big group of our fans who were so complacent in winning the 2005 ECAC Championship.  We (as fans) went in there with the same attitude in '06 and got a nice reminder that winning the league isn't so easy.

The only positive thing about seeing only 1 championship in the first 14 seasons as a Cornell fan is the immunity from en-title-ment.

[BMac]

For some reason we like to ignore losing to Minnesota in 2005.

I STILL think the '04-'05 team was better than the '05-'06 team that lost to Wisconsin, and our better chance to win the title.

Maybe it's because that was my freshman year and because the team was undefeated at home- I just didn't know they could lose.

[Josh '99]

What about the first BU/Cornell game at MSG?  I remember wanting to try to get out of the arena without being noticed after that game too.

That can't be the worst game, because we could buy beer.  Well...those of us 21+.

Could and did.  ::drunk::

[Josh '99]

For some reason we like to ignore losing to Minnesota in 2005.

I STILL think the '04-'05 team was better than the '05-'06 team that lost to Wisconsin, and our better chance to win the title.

Maybe it's because that was my freshman year and because the team was undefeated at home- I just didn't know they could lose.

I don't think we're ignoring it; I just don't think people tend to think of it as a "bad loss", given the circumstances, which is why it hasn't been brought up in this thread.

[Scersk '97]

In football, the crushing 2000 loss to Penn (in Ithaca) with an Ivy championship on the line is only barely beaten by the 1995 crushing loss to Penn (in Philly) with an Ivy championship on the line.

[Chris '03]

In football, the crushing 2000 loss to Penn (in Ithaca) with an Ivy championship on the line is only barely beaten by the 1995 crushing loss to Penn (in Philly) with an Ivy championship on the line.

At least in that game a) the result was never really in doubt and b) Cornell was DAMN lucky to walk into that game 5-1. That was a .500 team that benefited from bizarre luck in the closing seconds vs. Princeton, vs. Yale, @ Harvard, and @ Columbia.

[Al DeFlorio]

In football, the crushing 2000 loss to Penn (in Ithaca) with an Ivy championship on the line is only barely beaten by the 1995 crushing loss to Penn (in Philly) with an Ivy championship on the line.

At least in that game a) the result was never really in doubt and b) Cornell was DAMN lucky to walk into that game 5-1. That was a .500 team that benefited from bizarre luck in the closing seconds vs. Princeton, vs. Yale, @ Harvard, and @ Columbia.

To me, at least, your condition (a) above is a necessary criterion for "Cornell's worst loss of the decade."  If you show yourselves competitive while losing to another really strong team (e.g., Minnesota and Wisconsin in those QF losses, Syracuse and Duke in the lax final fours) it's not a "worst loss."  Disappointing, maybe even heartbreaking depending on the circumstances, but not a "worst loss."  Being blown out when favored in an important game is the primary criterion--to me, at least--for a "worst loss."

[Chris '03]

In football, the crushing 2000 loss to Penn (in Ithaca) with an Ivy championship on the line is only barely beaten by the 1995 crushing loss to Penn (in Philly) with an Ivy championship on the line.

At least in that game a) the result was never really in doubt and b) Cornell was DAMN lucky to walk into that game 5-1. That was a .500 team that benefited from bizarre luck in the closing seconds vs. Princeton, vs. Yale, @ Harvard, and @ Columbia.

To me, at least, your condition (a) above is a necessary criterion for "Cornell's worst loss of the decade."  If you show yourselves competitive while losing to another really strong team (e.g., Minnesota and Wisconsin in those QF losses, Syracuse and Duke in the lax final fours) it's not a "worst loss."  Disappointing, maybe even heartbreaking depending on the circumstances, but not a "worst loss."  Being blown out when favored in an important game is the primary criterion--to me, at least--for a "worst loss."

I guess it's the difference between worst as in most underachieving and worst in the sense of punch to the gut. I may be misremembering, but I don't recall Cornell being favored by much or at all in '00.

[HeafDog]

...the game that made you feel worst, walking out in your Cornell sweatshirt?

Lax vs. Syracuse '09, ugh.
Hockey vs. Minnesota '05, decidedly not very enjoyable. (WTF, O'Byrne?!?)

But the game that made me feel the worst was getting completely annihilated at the hands of Stanford, first round of the Big Dance, 2007. I was already not a big fan of Stanford before that game, but after that game, I believe I found myself a new enemy.

[Hillel Hoffmann]

For all the joy Cornell lacrosse has brought to the '00s, they keep puking up some of the worst Cornell sports experiences ever. Seriously, you can come up with lax losses in the '00s that could win just about any worst-ever loss category: unexpected home NCAA playoff blowout losses (Ohio State 2008); underachieving teases (Massachusetts 2006), heartbreaking collapses on the cusp of a championship (Syracuse 2009), the noble comeback thwarted (Duke 2007), annoying home butt-kickings from archrivals (Princeton 2003), spoiled senior days that were supposed to be emotional tributes (Brown 2002), or just plain miserable games (Georgetown 2004). I've seen hockey and football losses that were worse than these, but they were all in other decades.

I still think the latter was the worst Cornell performance I've witnessed in any sport. And the loss to Syracuse was probably the worst Cornell collapse I've witnessed -- comparable to Providence hockey's 1979 collapse against us, but more tragic because it was the championship. Yet somehow you walked away from that whole experience kinda proud in a warped way.

So I vote for the 2008 Ohio State loss. It had all the ingredients to be the worst of any decade. A monster blowout. To an underdog team. At home. In the NCAA playoffs. Shit, it even had a painful signature play -- the coast-to-coast goal by their goalie -- that people still talk about and keeps getting replayed. That's hard to top.

[scoop85]

For all the joy Cornell lacrosse has brought to the '00s, they keep puking up some of the worst Cornell sports experiences ever. Seriously, you can come up with lax losses in the '00s that could win just about any worst-ever loss category: unexpected home NCAA playoff blowout losses (Ohio State 2008); underachieving teases (Massachusetts 2006), heartbreaking collapses on the cusp of a championship (Syracuse 2009), the noble comeback thwarted (Duke 2007), annoying home butt-kickings from archrivals (Princeton 2003), spoiled senior days that were supposed to be emotional tributes (Brown 2002), or just plain miserable games (Georgetown 2004). I've seen hockey and football losses that were worse than these, but they were all in other decades.

I still think the latter was the worst Cornell performance I've witnessed in any sport. And the loss to Syracuse was probably the worst Cornell collapse I've witnessed -- comparable to Providence hockey's 1979 collapse against us, but more tragic because it was the championship. Yet somehow you walked away from that whole experience kinda proud in a warped way.

So I vote for the 2008 Ohio State loss. It had all the ingredients to be the worst of any decade. A monster blowout. To an underdog team. At home. In the NCAA playoffs. Shit, it even had a painful signature play -- the coast-to-coast goal by their goalie -- that people still talk about and keeps getting replayed. That's hard to top.

Here's my take: I was pissed after the OSU loss, but devastated after SU.

[jtwcornell91]

In football, the crushing 2000 loss to Penn (in Ithaca) with an Ivy championship on the line is only barely beaten by the 1995 crushing loss to Penn (in Philly) with an Ivy championship on the line.

At least in that game a) the result was never really in doubt and b) Cornell was DAMN lucky to walk into that game 5-1. That was a .500 team that benefited from bizarre luck in the closing seconds vs. Princeton, vs. Yale, @ Harvard, and @ Columbia.

To me, at least, your condition (a) above is a necessary criterion for "Cornell's worst loss of the decade."  If you show yourselves competitive while losing to another really strong team (e.g., Minnesota and Wisconsin in those QF losses, Syracuse and Duke in the lax final fours) it's not a "worst loss."  Disappointing, maybe even heartbreaking depending on the circumstances, but not a "worst loss."  Being blown out when favored in an important game is the primary criterion--to me, at least--for a "worst loss."

I guess it's the difference between worst as in most underachieving and worst in the sense of punch to the gut. I may be misremembering, but I don't recall Cornell being favored by much or at all in '00.

So I thought your point (a) referred to the situation before the game.  I think we knew that Penn was a much better team than we are, and I'm sure we were the underdogs in that game.

As for 1995, we (and Penn) actually could have still split the Ivy title four ways if Dartmouth had hung on to beat Princeton.  I remember, as we were getting crushed by the Quakers, hearing the announcement that Princeton had come back to tie and cheering because it meant that while we would not get a share of the title, neither would Penn.

My worst experience watching us get defeated by Penn was in 2007, because the game was a blowout, it was freezing cold, and I had dragged someone there (a fellow Ivy alum) who didn't think much of Ivy football and spent much of the game complaining how awful it was.

[jtwcornell91]

So I vote for the 2008 Ohio State loss. It had all the ingredients to be the worst of any decade. A monster blowout. To an underdog team. At home. In the NCAA playoffs. Shit, it even had a painful signature play -- the coast-to-coast goal by their goalie -- that people still talk about and keeps getting replayed. That's hard to top.

Was that also the year that we hosted a regional at Schoellkopf and all the infrastructure broke down?

[DeltaOne81]

So I vote for the 2008 Ohio State loss. It had all the ingredients to be the worst of any decade. A monster blowout. To an underdog team. At home. In the NCAA playoffs. Shit, it even had a painful signature play -- the coast-to-coast goal by their goalie -- that people still talk about and keeps getting replayed. That's hard to top.

Was that also the year that we hosted a regional at Schoellkopf and all the infrastructure broke down?

No, that was much earlier... pretty sure it was 2004.

[Josh '99]

My worst experience watching us get defeated by Penn was in 2007, because the game was a blowout, it was freezing cold, and I had dragged someone there (a fellow Ivy alum) who didn't think much of Ivy football and spent much of the game complaining how awful it was.

Why would you DO that to someone?  :-O