Most Americans don’t care about soccer, but every American cares about defeating the English. So far, we’ve got an unimpeachable track record on the latter: the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Miracle on the Grass of 1950, and maybe their rock ‘n roll is better than ours, but our hip-hop is much better than theirs. Our national winning streak was tested on Saturday, when the USA faced England in the opening round of the World Cup. Things looked grim for our boys…until English goalkeeper Robert Green let in an easy goal. Watch the blunder here: if you freeze-frame, you can actually pinpoint the second when his heart rips in half.
The final score was 1-1, which counts as a practical win for the U.S. thanks to the bizarre arithmetic of soccer tournaments. This got me thinking: Most sports movies take a dramatic, triumph-of-the-human-spirit approach to important events. They honor tremendous feats of athletic nobility, like America defeating communism in Miracle or America defeating Iceland in D2: The Mighty Ducks. But some of the most memorable moments in sports history are the mistakes. So I ask you, PopWatchers: Which great blunders in sports history would you like to see turned into movies?
There are some obvious answers here, especially if you expand the definition of “blunder” to include Mike Tyson biting off Evander Holyfield’s ear. (Mike Tyson would probably be happy to play himself.) But I’d go with an event that was actually a whole series of apocalyptic mistakes: Jean Van de Velde’s disastrous performance on the 18th hole of the 1999 British Open. The golfer was so far in the lead that he could have literally played the last hole with a pool cue, but instead he re-enacted Happy Gilmore. I see Mathieu Amalric playing Van de Velde, with Will Ferrell as his caddy.
Your turn, PopWatchers! What miserable sports moments deserve their own tragicomic movie treatment? And no, Tiger Woods doesn’t count: keep it on the field, people!
Bill Buckner.
“Bill Buckner” was actually trending on twitter after Green let that goal go by.
Still the greatest moment in World Series history.
SECOND greatest!
Still not a win for the US. A success, certainly, but not a win.
Yeah, the media is treating it like it was a win, but if England and Slovenia win their next game (highly likely although Rob Green proved that nothing is certain in the World Cup), then the US team goes home. A draw is only good if everyone else loses.
England is definitely still the front runner, but they’re in the exact same boat with the USA in their group and by all rights, England should have won that game. England has shown they have trouble finishing, so nothing is a forgone conclusion. If England & USA win both of their other games, they both advance. Which seems more likely then Slovenia beating either one of them. It still seems a strong probability that England and the USA are 1 & 2 for their group.
Very true, although I wouldn’t put money on the US beating Slovenia. They are exactly the type of tough, scrappy eastern European team that the US struggles against. Still, should be exiting.
Oops! Make that “exciting” – can’t spell this early in the morning.
Srsly, you Americans do realize that you didn’t win anything…don’t you! A tie is not a win no matter how you hype it. Get a grip on reality already
Nothing like blanket generalizations. You BRITS know you should have won right?
WOW avenger. Everyone knows the scoreboard said a draw, but the same everyones said England was going to kick our a** in this game. So yes, it is a “practical” win, even if its not a “literal” win. We all know you understand that, but you are just trying to be contradictory to prove a point, rather than join the discussion.
If you’re not first, you’re last!
Btw, I’m not even British lol, Canadian. Dude, the cover of the New York Post said “USA wins 1-1″ lol. So, is being delusional contagious or something? Plus, I can’t wait to see the headlines when you go guys don’t get to go to the Knockout stages. Something like “USA robbed of their rightful place on the throne of the soccer kingdom blah blah blah”. Honestly, people would be excited for you guys every once in a while if you didn’t act like such arrogant, pompous windbags. Besides, soccer is a low scoring game by nature, a mistake from a goalkeeper that leads to a goal doesn’t mean your skills are on par with England’s. Its a fluke, ok be happy with it, but don’t act like jacka**es, bringing up the war of 1812 and stuff. So yeah, get a grip.
Thank you for further proving my point.
and what exactly was your point, something about “blanket generalizations” and the British knowing they should have won something? Hmmm, care to elaborate
Nah I’m good. Keep talking about Americans (which you know you are right?) like they are all the same. How ignorant can you get?
@avenger: way to tell em! I’m just waiting for our awesome Candian team to play… where are they again, and what time is the match??
How am I American exactly, I guess Mexico is America too then? So team Canada sucks at soccer, never claimed otherwise. But you don’t see huge, pompous newspaper headlines in Canada claiming that we are any different. If England were to tie the US in basketball and claim that as a win, you would be questioning their sportsmanship as well. What you can’t question poor sportsmanship when you see it or something, where is that rule stated exactly?
Umm yeah Mexico is apart of America… Perhaps you are confusing America (a continent) with the United States Of America (a country). I’m sorry is Canada not on the American continent? What kinda of geography do they teach in Canada?
ummm, no dude, hate to burst your little bubble but people from Mexico and Canada are not American. Did you think that North America is a country and that when people refer to someone as American they mean North American?! You really do live in your own little world that revolves around America don’t you. Well, thats too be expected of you I suppose lol. Please let’s not get into a discussion about who knows more about geography, particularly world geography, because I can 100% guarantee that Canadians will beat Americans hands down. Just saying lol.
dear avenger, sorry, you’re wrong. Anyone from north america is technically american, they’re just generally not referred to that way. The same way that french, british and german people are all considered european. the soccer game wasn’t a literal win, but it was a success for the team. we get that. we also understand that you’re canadian and you’re bitter because no one pays attention to you guys, but insulting america won’t make canada relevant.
Ok, Ok, I give. I am an American after all. All of you Mexicans, South Americans, basically everyone in the Western hemisphere you are too–just give in to the idea already. And no one, and I repeat, no one is more relevant or intelligent or interesting than us Americans. Everyone join me, lets go drink the kool-aid so we can all be free to express completely baseless and arrogant opinions and make up illogical and tangential arguments to back them up. Hey…I actually feel more superior now that I’m an American…yeaaaahhh…Miracle on Ice baby, yeah War of 1812, Iraq Wars (both of them), yeeahh soccer tie with England, yeaah!!! No wonder you guys always feel good about yourselves, I feel great now!
After reading your last post I find it hilarious that you were telling everyone else to get a grip.
Hey, you’re right, but I guess this is what happens when you let loonies like you drag people into ridiculous arguments. I understand now how people get ensnared into ridulous banter by trying to refute morons tangential arguments. Thanks for the lesson though
So now I’m spare change? What are you talking about? What is this “ridulous banter?”
An oldie but goodie: Jana Novotna’s Wimbledon meltdown after choking against Graf in the final.
1-1 is a tie, both teams earn a point. So explain how that practically means a win for the US cos it doesn’t!!! Get your facts right!!
It’s a “win” for the US when it was entirely expected that the US would lose to Britain. Maybe you should adjust your attitude. More YAY for the US not giving up, less rudeness for other posters, eh?
I was all Team USA but they have played better. Recall Spain vs. USA in the Confederations Cup? It was more of a failure to England than a win to USA.
They’re just warming up!
Britain doesn’t have a football team, but England does.
I agree with Ana…that goal was more Green’s mistake than Dempsey’s triumph.
When they hand out the trophy for the team that tried the most, then it’s a win. Otherwise, I agree with Ana. The US team didn’t play that well, but got lucky with Green’s blunder, and were blessed with a great keeper.
England blew it, the USA got lucky, but they are still in the same boat in the group. They have to win both of their other games to advance, which is likely looking at the other game.
The “arithmetic” is not bizarre at all. In a soccer tournament, you get 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss. The U.S. was expected to lose this match, so we earned 1 point instead of 0. Pretty simple really.
And I take umbrage with your “Most Americans don’t care about soccer” but I’ll let it go.
Yeah not bizarre at all. I know a lot of people expected America to lose but I’m still at a loss as to why. they have a decent team and English fans should know they have real talent at front, in Landon Donavan, and at the back in Tim Howard, one of the best goalkeepers in the world in his sleep.Ask most Everton fans and they’sd take Donavan back at Everton (he was on loan with us this year) in a heartbeat.
I always expected a draw (England do like to make life hard for themselves. Like that revolutionary war you mentioned. Instead of just fighting one war The British Empire decided to take on The Spanish, French and Dutch at the same time to make it more sporting.
And didn’t the Treaty og Ghent make the war of 1812 a draw?)
Anyway enough schoolboy jingoism, it wasn’t a bad match, as opening games go, and if America had two Landon Donovans, one to cross the ball and another to actually pose a genuine goal threat then they may well have won that game, Green error or not.
Here’s hoping USA and England get far in the competition. England winning of course
LOL! I’m right there with you… except USA winning of course! I’ll be rooting for England anytime they aren’t playing the US. Lampard, Rooney, Terry, Gerrard, Cole… lotsa talent, lotsa great personalities on that team.
England fans expected a win because, with the exception of the keeper, they have a much better team. And considering that Green only had to make two real saves (too bad he only actually made one) and Howard had to make a half-dozen or so, I think the balance of the game went to England.
Hey Jennifer!
I wasn’t talking about England fans. I’m an England fan and i can say that I and many other England fans I know, as well as many “Pundits” were expecting a draw; even if for no other reason than because England just don’t tend to start tounaments well!
Whilst I would agree that England have a stronger collection of individuals that in no way translates to definately having a better team. You’re also underestimating Landon Donovan, (I was guilty of the same before i saw him play on the right for Everton. His close ball control and passing ability are far better than I’d thought a year or so ago. Our (England) defence is not the best, in fact it’s the rason my head, if not my heart, tells me we can’t win the whole show. Some of America’s defenders are very good indeed and, defensively better than one or two of ours, especially on Saturday’s showing.
Oh and USA had something like 12 shots (5 on target and 7 off) and England 16 (9 on and 7 off) so it wasn’t as one sided as you feel. The difference is that England feel their players should have been good enough to finish their chances, whilst the USA players may have been expected to miss more than they’d score at this level. Hence my 2 Donovans comment.
Good luck to the Americans, unless they meet england again of course.
Uhm excuse me? America did not win the War of 1812. If you had, Canada would be a part of your country now.(oh and we burned down the White House too)
Actually, the War of 1812 was a victory for the US because it ended in a “tie” – quite similar in nature to the way Saturday’s World Cup game ended. The War of 1812 was a US “victory” because even though we were a young nation, we were able to stand up to Great Britain and NOT LOSE. The war ended with a treaty in which Britain agreed to respect American territorial boundaries and rights at sea, and in return Britain got to keep Canada. And oh yes, we took the high road and magnanimously forgave Britain for those acts of hooliganism in our capital. Considering what you wankers did to London in 1666, we figured it was just in your nature.
The US invaded Canada and the treaty is furhter proof how nice we are
Zing!
I love the way Americans change “invaded” to “stand up to”. Just like you are “standing up to” Afghanistan and Iraq now, eh? You INVADED Canada, and you LOST.
And I love the way the Brits try to paint themselves as victims of US attempts to invade Canada, when Americans (as British citizens) fought the French & Indian War to win Canada away from France and for Britain in the first place. If we tried to reclaim Canada from Britain later, it certainly could be argued that enough American blood had been shed there to make an American claim of ownership at least understandable.
Perhaps if Britain had accepted the loss of the colonies with grace, instead of bullying the US by seizing American ships and forcibly impressing American sailors into the British navy, the Americans would have concentrated more on building our new nation instead of trying to militarily counter the British presence in and around North America. Just sayin’….
You’re fighting about the war of 1812. I repeat the war of 1812. Let it go people and Calm Down.
for real.
Indeed. From playful banter to unbalanced “my dad’s bigger than your dad” foolishness in a heartbeat. I guess we can see how we end up in the horror that is war so often now eh?
Who cares, it was long ago and we’ve been allies for longer and more often than enemies. Neither country had too much to be proud of back then, what with slavery etc. ( I know the Empire abolished the slave trade in 1807 but not slavery until 1833/4)
At least poor Rob Green is no longer alone as there seems to have been at least one howler every day since!
I like it, if only for the fact that you rarely hear War of 1812 banter anywhere, especially on an EW message board. It’s better than discussing whether yet another EW article has terribly overrated Glee, Lady Gaga, Twilight, etc…
Since we’re talking about soccer, Diego Maradona’s “hand of God” from the 1986 World Cup is the obvious choice for a great movie scene.
Obscure nomination — in the early 1980′s Mississippi State played Ole Miss in football and was about to go ahead in the last seconds on a chip-shot field goal. Arte Cosby (accurate kicker) kicks a good one, going straight through the middle of the uprights, when a gust of wind comes from NOWHERE and blows the ball straight back. It falls dead a few feet in front of the goal, still right in the middle of the posts. You can find it on You Tube, bizarre sight.
I think a movie about how all the male sports teams in Seattle haven’t won any major titles for 30+ years is interesting, but would probably be too tragic for American audiences.
The most jinxed American sports city of the past 30 years. Seattle will never have a championship in any major sport for eternity.
Have to agree with Stacie that it’s the male sports teams, and actually the male professional sports teams. (Remember the Huskies under the time of Don James.) We’ve had our championships from the women – the Seattle Storm won the championship.
The city of Cleveland would like to have a word with you…
A movie showing Tony Romo’s botched field goal hold against Seattle in the playoffs is worthy of this list. I never get tired of seeing that.
I see your Seattle and raise you Cleveland – a city that prides itself so much on failure, we NAME the epic events. (And we’re currently in the midst of the biggest case of insecurity waiting for a player to decide where he’s playing next year. Yep, won’t find any self-respect in this zip code
I guarantee you Cleveland will have a Championship well before Seattle will even get close to one. Even if you lose LBJ to whatever big market NBA team he goes to (I hope he doesn’t & stays in Cleveland), your city still has an NBA, unlike Seattle who lost theirs cause the previous owner sold it to a guy who was immediately looking to move the team.
’91 Super Bowl: Scott Norwood, wide right.
Ugh. That wide right haunts me to this day. Being a Bills fan during that 4 year stretch of losing the Superbowl really took a toll.
A tie is not a win.
England won the War of 1812, in Europe and in North America…and burned down the White House in the process.
Angela, you actually think Great Britain WON the War of 1812? What EXACTLY did they win? Yes, they burned our capital, but they couldn’t occupy American soil. They tried to take Baltimore, and were stopped by the forces at Fort McHenry. (Hence the origin of our National Anthem.) They were even stopped at the Battle of New Orleans (which technically took place after the treaty ending the war was signed). In the end, Britain couldn’t defeat American forces and was facing pressures in Europe from Napoleon. When Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent, agreeing to respect American territorial boundaries and rights at sea, this represented a victory for the US because it meant the young nation was able to successfully stand up to what arguably was the greatest military power at that time.
America didn’t win the war either, they invaded Canada, but they couldn’t occupy any Canadian soil!!
What is it with you Americans and your revisionism of the War of 1812? Every Canadian boy and girl knows that was our Revolutionary War and we beat you like a US-government rented mule.
I kind of love how this thread is turning into “Who kicked whose ass in the War of 1812?” Remember, kids, almost 200 years is probably too long to hold a grudge!
Exactly. Let’s just all agree that Canada kicked the US’s ass and move on.
Never! That what keeps Europe and the Middle East going. Centuries of mistrust and hatred.
The war of 1812 was pretty much good for everyone so stop arguing over it!!
In the U.S., battles such as New Orleans and the earlier successful defense of Baltimore (which inspired the lyrics of the U.S. national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner) produced a sense of euphoria over a “second war of independence” against Britain. It ushered in an “Era of Good Feelings,” in which the partisan animosity that had once verged on treason practically vanished. Canada also emerged from the war with a heightened sense of national feeling and solidarity. Britain, which had regarded the war as a sideshow to the Napoleonic Wars raging in Europe, was less affected by the fighting; its government and people subsequently welcomed an era of peaceful relations and trade with the U.S.
Hey now, let’s not let this become too serious. There should be no grudges, no mistrust and no hatred involved in this lively discussion of the War of 1812. What we’re seeing are the different perspectives about a particular event, and that’s what makes the study of history so fascinating! I, for one, am THRILLED that we’ve got a number of people on this board actually thinking and talking about the War of 1812. So often in the US, it seems like people just know a little about the American Revolution, the Civil War and WWII, and act like nothing ever happened in between. And over the years I’ve heard so many people say that that history is “boring.” Personally, I think it’s important to learn that one side’s “defense” might be another side’s “invasion.” If more people tried to understand and respect other perspectives and cultural differences, perhaps we wouldn’t have conflicts going on as we currently do in the world.
Excellent points all around, Sam! I will say that I didn’t see our comments as an “argument,” but just “spirited discussion.” Anytime people from different places and backgrounds come together and talk about history – and especially lesser-known events like the War of 1812 – I think that’s a really good thing!
It’s fun to hear the Canadian side of things, Dan. Are you familiar with musician Stan Rogers? His “From Fresh Water” album contains a couple really great War of 1812 songs, obviously from the British/Canadian perspective.
Sure, everyone got something out of the War of 1812 – too bad Canada hasn’t been able to make a clean break with Britain like the nation to the south of it. At least we are completely independent – at that is the biggest victory of all.
Yeah, you’re sooo right, we worship the Queen. But on the plus side, at least we’ve never elected morons who try to run the world into the ground. Ahhh, how I miss the whimsical days of Bush. If only we were “independent” enough to worship at the Republican altar like you lucky sons of guns.
Well one of the World Cup’s blunders has been turned into a movie. In the 1994 World cup, a Colombian player scored an own goal against the U.S., leading to a 2-1 win for the U.S.
I think next week it’s being highlighted in ESPN’s 30-for-30 “The Two Escobars.”
Didn’t that guy get killed as a result of it? Colombians are SERIOUS about futbol!
Yup. Andres Escobar.
The man did score an own goal against the U.S., a fan killed the player because of it when he got home. Tragic story
Donnie Moore. The Closer for the California Angels in 1986. Angels up 3 Games to 1 on the Red Sox. I can’t remember the score but the Angels were ahead in the top of the 9th & he just needed one more strike or 1 more out to secure them going to the World Series. Instead gave up a Home Run to Dave Henderson to give the Red Sox the lead. Which eventually The Red Sox came back to win the series 4-3 against the Angels. Donnie Moore was never the same pitcher & never recovered from that incident. Which then unfortunately, he took his own life a few years later. Sad Sad story.
Dude, Debbie downer much?
Umm.. Hate the break the news, but the Americans *lost* the War of 1812.
THANK YOU. The U.S. invaded us here in Canada, for no good reason but to fulfill your blowhard “manifest destiny” and we KICKED YOUR A** and burned down the white house!
Yet Darren Franich says the U.S. winning is “unimpeachable”?!!! However, this is why U.S. does win the culture war: if the truth doesn’t fit, your media just makes s*** up.
Just wanted to clarify a few things about things you made up in your post: The concept of “Manifest Destiny” didn’t come about until the 1840s, so it had no connection with the US attempts to invade Canada. And the US capital (and White House) were burned by British troops, not Canadians.
So by your reasoning, Germany won World War II because they bombed London. Okay.