There's been a lot of talk about what it's like to be a Cincinnati sports fan recently. Are we cursed? Are we merely unlucky? Are we going to be forever haunted by the decisions we made when we were kids to root for the teams we support? And will the heartbreak ever stop?

And along with all of that come the comparisons. The tone we've taken on reminds me of a room full of old people one-upping each other over who's malady is more debilitating or which particular pain is worse. Some losses and some moments might have been more devastating to one group of fans, while others are still reeling about a different loss by a different team.

It's hard to pinpoint the exact time when we started to adopt our current "woe is us" attitude. I'm guessing it was right around the time the Reds and Bengals were both making the playoffs and losing in them at the same time, but the period we often look back to as the beginning of our sports misfortune is January 1991.

Until that point, the previous couple of years had been rather prosperous. The Reds had recovered from the ugliness of the Pete Rose mess in 1989 and authored one of baseball's great feel-good stories in sweeping the A's in the 1990 World Series. The Bengals had bounced back from a disappointing post-Super Bowl season to win the AFC Central. UC's basketball program was in the capable hands of a coach on the rise, and Xavier was en route to a sixth straight NCAA Tournament after upsetting Georgetown and reaching the Sweet 16 the year before.

It was a good time to be a fan here.

And then, on a January Sunday in 1991, Kevin Walker tackled Bo Jackson...

The play came during a Bengals AFC Divisional playoff loss to the Raiders in Los Angeles, and resulting injury to Jackson would ultimately, and prematurely, end Jackson's NFL career. The Bengals would not appear in the playoffs for 15 years, and they remain in search of their first postseason victory in more than a quarter of a century.

The Reds have also endured a long dry spell since that World Series victory. They advanced to the 1995 NLCS, but the beginning of the 2016 season will also mark the beginning of a third decade in search of postseason advancement.

On the college level, we've enjoyed successes. The rise of both the UC and Xavier basketball programs over the past 25 years has provided at least some salvation, as has the raised profile of the Bearcat football program. Both however, have given us devastating moments amid their respective successes.

As the heartbreak mounts, some wonder if there's something out there that's ensuring that our teams lose in the most improbable, gut-wrenching ways possible.

And some have gone as far as to attribute our continued sports misery to a Bo Jackson curse.

I don't really believe in things like curses, although I do understand why people resort to them. Repeated failure leads to desperation, and desperation leads to irrationality. It is irrational to attribute non-stop losing to a curse or a jinx, but as the losses and the frustration pile up, it's understandable why one would start to think that something out there is out to get us.

Regardless, whether we're cursed, or simply unlucky in who we've chosen to root for, it's deniable that the past 25 years have been filled with agonizing losses, vomit-inducing moments, stupefying misfortune, and an increasingly frustrating sense of despair and futility. We've had our high points as sports fans here, but they've been outweighed and overshadowed by some amazingly depressing low ones.

So on the heels of a trio of tantalizingly close calls by the Bengals, Bearcats and Musketeers, our web department has given me the unfortunate duty of having to do something I'd rather not....

Rank the 25 most heartbreaking sports moments of the past 25 years.

This is not an easy task, as it requires me to sift through two and a half decades worth of things that most of us would rather forget. It it also a list that almost no one will agree on, given how subjective heartbreak is, and how every fan prioritizes their teams differently.

It is also a task that I've given a great amount of thought to, and so I've decided to limit the list to mostly on-field or on-court matters, with a handful of notable exceptions. I've left out things like coaches or managers getting fired, because those things don't feel like they fall under the umbrella of "heartbreak," and I've left out deaths of important Cincinnati sports figures, because sports heartbreak is different than real life heartbreak. Or at least it's supposed to be.

So here we go, enjoy my list as best as you can....

THE 25 MOST HEARTBREAKING CINCINNATI SPORTS MOMENTS OF THE LAST 25 YEARS

OBLIGATORY HONORABLE MENTION: THE KIT KING STRIKES OUT ONE FINAL TIME

Major League Baseball denies Pete Rose's reinstatement bid. December 14, 2015.

I'm not so sure that this particular moment can really be accurately described as "heartbreaking." Words like "inevitable" and "sad" seem more appropriate, but I have heard from enough people over the years whose entire interest in sports seemed to wrap around Pete ultimately getting another chance and being eligible for the Hall of Fame, and so in a tip of the cap to them, I'm putting Rob Manfred's denial of the Hit King on this blog entry, although not on my list, saving those people the energy it would have taken to scroll through the rest of it trying to find a mention of Pete's name.

The Pete Rose saga of 1989 was heartbreaking. The end of it in 2015 provided closure.

Now for the list....

25) THAD BUT TRUE.

Matta's Ohio State Buckeyes stage late comeback and deny Xavier a Sweet 16 appearance. March 17, 2007.

Coaching against his predecessor, Sean Miller guided his overmatched Muskies to the verge of an upset in an NCAA Tournament Second Round Game in front of a very divided crowd at Rupp Arena. XU had a nine-point lead, and the ball, with three minutes to go. The Buckeyes would storm back and pull within two with nine seconds remaining, before Greg Oden blatantly shoved Justin Cage after he'd rebounded an OSU miss. Oden could've should've been called for a flagrant foul, but instead the Musketeers were only awarded Cage's two free throws.

Of course, he made only one of two, and Miller then elected to not foul with his team up three. Ron Lewis made the Muskies pay with a long three to force OT, where Ohio State would go on to outscore Xavier by seven on their way to a national title game appearance.

24) A SPLIT SECOND IN SPOKANE

A season of close losses ends in fitting fashion for the Bearcats. March 18, 2016.

On its own, UC's 2016 NCAA Tournament loss wasn't that traumatic. They were a nine seed that no one regarded as capable of making a deep tourney run. But an entire season defined by narrow defeats, improbable shots being made against them, and an inability to close out opponents ended in an appropriate manner: with St. Joseph's hitting the go-ahead shot in the closing seconds, and Octavius Ellis' would-be game-tying dunk coming a hair after the game clock hit zero. A 22-11 season finished with the Bearcats having lost six games by two points, and fans wondering when UC will get its turn to pull out the kind of games that always seem to elude them.



(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

23) TOMAHAWK CHOPPED

The Reds are swept by the Braves in the 1995 NLCS. October, 1995

I admit to having an odd affinity for the '95 Reds, a team that bridged my senior year of high school and my freshman year in college. I attended all but maybe 15 games that season, and the Reds were really, really good, running away with the NL Central crown, and sweeping the Dodgers in their first ever National League Division Series.

On paper, their championship series duel with the Braves seemed close, with each team possessing potent lineups, very good starting pitching, and good bullpen depth. On the field however, the series was a whitewash. Jeff Brantley couldn't protect a one-run lead in the ninth inning of game one, and the Reds hit into five double plays, including the game-ender with runners on first and third in the 11th.

Game two also went extra innings, and Javy Lopez helped give Atlanta a two-zip series lead with a three-run homer in front of a less-than-capacity Riverfront Stadium crowd in the tenth.

The final two games are only remembered for how Reggie Sanders piled up 438 strikeouts in the series, and for Marge Schott looking like she was asleep as Mark Wohlers recorded the final outs of the series in Atlanta.

The Reds wouldn't play in the postseason for another 15 years.

22) EIGHT IS ENOUGH, UNFORTUNATELY

The Bearcats' chances of a repeat visit to the Final Four are dashed against North Carolina. March 28, 1993.

After UC's surprising run to the 1992 Final Four, the '92-'93 team followed up that success with an impressive encore.

Nick Van Exel became a bona fide star, and Cincinnati overcame the losses of Herb Jones and Anthony Buford, and the inane early-season suspension of Corie Blount to go 22-4 in the regular season.

After picking up two more wins and a second straight league tournament championship against DePaul and Memphis, the Cats earned a number two seed in the NCAA Tournament's East Regional.

Cincinnati blew out its first two opponents, then beat Virginia in the Sweet 16 behind Van Exel and Blount's 19 point apiece.

Waiting for them in the Elite Eight in East Rutherford was top-seeded North Carolina, considered by some to be the odds-on favorite to cut down the nets.

UC, particularly Van Exel, didn't come out scared. In fact, Nick outscored the Tar Heels by himself in the game's first 15 minutes, 21-20, as Cincinnati built a 13-point lead.

That advantage dwindled to just one by halftime, and in the second half, UNC completely shut down the Bearcat guard, holding Van Exel to just one bucket in the game's final 25 minutes.

Despite blowing a five-point second half lead, UC came back to tied the game at 66 on a Tarrice Gibson bucket with just over a half a minute to go, and the game would go to OT after the Tar Heels failed on a regulation-ending alley-oop inbound play.

In overtime, the Bearcats ran out of gas and people. Erik Martin and Curtis Bostic each fouled out. Blount sat for long stretches in foul trouble and the game's frenetic pace seemed to wear down the Bearcats, who in overtime scored just one bucket and missed their final eight shots.

It was the final game and a valiant last effort for a number of players who'd returned the Bearcats to prominence, and an agonizingly close chance for them to play in another Final Four.



21) THAT TIME WHEN THE FIRST GAME WASN'T ACTUALLY PLAYED ON OPENING DAY

The Reds open the season on a Sunday night. April 3, 1994.

Wanna ban the city's favorite son? Fine. Compelled to suspend the crazy old lady owner who says racist things and lets her dog take dumps on the field? Sure. Need to mess with the divisions, disrupt rivalries and create the NL Central? Okay.

Just don't dick with Opening Day.

By 1994, Major League Baseball had done a lot to piss off Reds fans, some of it very justifiable, but the one thing that remained untouchable was Opening Day.

Or so we thought.

Completely disregarding both our traditions and the meaning of Opening Day to Cincinnatians, MLB and ESPN scheduled the Reds and Cardinals to open the 1994 season on Sunday night, and just not any Sunday night - Easter Sunday night.

Public reaction was both predictable and understandable - the game drew less than 33,000 fans - and given the awful weather for the 8:05pm first pitch, the crowd dwindled as the game dragged on. The first pitch temperature was 39 degrees and snow flurries fell during batting practice.

There was no pregame pomp and circumstance, no lineup introductions, and Marge Schott implored fans to treat the game like an exhibition. The Findlay Market parade went off the following morning, and the game itself was a dud, with Ray Lankford starting the season with a home run off of Jose Rijo and the Cardinals winning 6-4.

20) SALT LAKE HEARTBREAK

Kansas State outlasts Xavier in a double overtime classic. March 25, 2010.

Even as it was happening, you knew that Xavier's 2010 Sweet 16 game with Kansas State was a classic. In one of the best college basketball games I've watched, XU forced OT when Terrell Holloway was fouled while heaving a 30-footer with six seconds to go and calmly made three tying free throws.

Then, facing a three-point deficit with less than ten seconds to go in overtime, Jordan Crawford kept the Musketeers alive with a 35-footer that highlighted his 32-point night.

Crawford and Holloway did all they could to will the Muskies to a win, and an Elite Eight berth, in the second OT, but Jacob Pullen's three with a half minute to go put the Wildcats up for good, and XU's NCAA Tournament fate was sealed in the waning moments of a close game for the third time in four years.

19) LEVANCE F-ING FIELDS

Pitt dashes Sean Miller's hopes of beating his alma mater in the Sweet 16. March 27, 2009.

In what would ultimately be Sean Miller's final game at Xavier, the Musketeers outplayed top-seeded Pitt for a half, taking an eight-point lead into the locker room after the first 20 minutes. Sam Young and DeJaun Blair would eras that deficit however, muscling the Panthers to a tie before the first timeout of the second half.

Xavier went cold in the second half, missing ten straight shots after halftime and connecting on just seven field goals in the final 20 minutes. Still, Xavier hung tough enough to take a two-point lead with less than two minutes go before Pitt guard Levance Fields drilled a three over Dante Jackson with just under a minute left, then made a steal and a layup to put the Panthers up by three, ultimately denying XU a second straight trip to the Elite Eight.

18) THAT TIME WHEN DARNELL BURTON DIDN'T TRAVEL BUT WAS CALLED FOR IT ANYWAY.

Ranked number one at the beginning of the season, the Bearcats fail to get past the first weekend in March. March 15, 1997.

The 1996-'97 UC Bearcats were the number one team in the AP Top 25 when the season began. Most of the important pieces from a very good team the year before were returning, and Bob Huggins had brought in players like Ruben Patterson and Charles Williams who were supposed to help the Cats to the school's first national title in 35 years.

The number one ranking lasted two weeks, as UC was upset at home by Xavier when Williams dribbled the ball off his foot and Lenny Brown made the most famous shot in Crosstown Shootout history. The season never really got going the way most of us had hoped, with the Bearcats losing an odd number of games by double-digits, and suffering their first early conference tournament exit since 1991.

Still though, they were good enough to earn a number three seed in the NCAA Tournament, and even with Damon Flint having to assume point guard duties with Williams suspended, the Bearcats still had the makings of a dangerous team in March.

But in their second round game against Iowa State, the Cats played defense with indifference - allowing the Cyclones to shoot 55% - and All-American Danny Fortson was held to just eight shots.

Despite all of that, two clutch Melvin Levett free throws gave the Bearcats a one-point lead with just over a minute to go. Iowa State would throw up a missed shot with about a half minute left, and Darnell Burton snagged the rebound for Cincinnati before falling to the floor while being fouled by ISU's Kenny Pratt.

Except that Burton was inexplicably called for traveling.

Iowa State inbounded the ball against a confused UC defense, scored to take the lead, and then withstood Flint's ill-advised shot at the buzzer to advance to the Sweet 16, and send the Bearcats to a controversial early exit that had seemed inconceivable four months earlier.

17) "KWAY-TOH! KWAY-TOH! KWAY-TOH!"

Cueto rattled as Reds get crushed by Pirates in the NL Wild Card Game. October 1, 2013.

2013 will always be remembered as an odd season for the Reds. They're weren't a bad team by any stretch - their 90 wins is tied for the club's sixth-highest total since 1976, and they had a number of players who had superlative seasons.

Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Votto both reached base at a ridiculous pace, and Jay Bruce and Brandon Phillips each had 100-RBI seasons, with the pair combining for 48 home runs.

The pitching staff survived Johnny Cueto's constant battles with injuries and from the midway point of the season, the team seemed destined for the playoffs.

Problem is, they seemed destined for the Wild Card game.

For whatever reason, the 2013 Reds never really coalesced, and as they lost their final five games of the regular season, they looked like a team running on fumes.

With Mat Latos dealing with elbow soreness, Dusty Baker turned to Johnny Cueto to face the Pirates in the Wild Card game in Pittsburgh. The Pirates had ended the regular season by sweeping the Reds, ensuring that their winner-take-all showdown would be played at PNC Park, and making Cincinnati fans cling to the notion that the Bucs couldn't win four straight.

But they did, knocking around a less-than-100% Cueto, who seemed rattled by the loud, non-stop, rhythmic chanting of his last name by the Pittsburgh crowd. Marlon Byrd and Russell Martin each took Cueto deep, and Martin would go yard again later in the game against Logan Ondrusek. Meanwhile, Francisco Liriano toyed the Cincinnati hitters, as the Reds failed to advance in the playoffs for a third time in four years.

Three days later, Dusty Baker was scapegoated fired, and the Reds front office began to systematically repair the roster for another run in 2014.

Just kidding, they sat around, brought back the same team, and relied on hope and luck for a turnaround that most of us were smart enough to know would never happen.

16) THE BEARCATS SUFFER AN UPSET AT RUPP.

UC loses to Mississippi State in the Elite Eight at Rupp Arena. March 24, 1996

As good as the 1992, 1993, and 2000 teams were, there's a case to be made that '95-'96 Bearcats were Bob Huggins' best team. They won their first 12 games, took 18 of their first 19, and their four regular season losses came by a combined 13 points. They survived a tough Conference USA Tournament, and played some of their best basketball of the season in their second and third round games of the NCAA Tournament.

After beating Stephon Marbury and Georgia Tech in the Sweet 16, the Cats seemed prime for a return to the Final Four. Mississippi State had upset UConn, and Cincinnati would be playing close to home at Rupp Arena.

It wasn't meant to be. Danny Fortson, Darnell Burton, and Damon Flint combined to shoot an awful 13 for 47, and the Bearcats had no answer defensively for Mississippi State's Dontae Jones. Cincinnati lost by ten points in a game they never really seemed to be in, and 20 years later that game remains their most recent appearance that deep in the tournament.

15) CALLED OUT ON STRIKES.

A players strike causes the cancellation of the World Series, and denies a good Reds team a chance at a title. 1994.

The 1994 Reds spent nearly every day of the season in first place.

The problem is, the season ended prematurely.

The potential of a players strike loomed over the first four months of the '94 baseball season, and as July turned to August, some sort of work stoppage seemed unavoidable. Local fans were reminded of the 1981 strike that robbed the Reds - the team with baseball's best record that season - a chance to play in the playoffs. But still, most assumed that no gate receipts for the owners, angry TV network execs, and players missing their paychecks would all lead to common sense prevailing and the season resuming at some point.

On the field, the Reds were putting together a very good season. Kevin Mitchell out up otherworldly numbers - hitting 30 home runs in less than 100 games, and Davey Johnson used platoons at multiple positions to maximize his team's talent., and team led the NL in runs scored. A starting staff that had Jose Rijo and Tom Browning was aided by a good, deep, bullpen, and the Reds were never more than a game out of first place. Despite losing three of four, the Reds stood at the top of the NL Central by a half-game on the night of August 11th, 1994.

The following morning, the players struck, and as summer came to an end, it seemed less and less likely that they'd return to the field.

Finally, on the most embarrassing day in Major League Baseball history - September 14th, 1994 - Bud Selig announced the cancellation of the rest of the season, and a World Series that the Reds might have played in.

14) THE BANK IS OPEN, AND THE BEARCATS ARE BOUNCED IN BOISE

Jarrod West's bank-shot three in the final second sends West Virginia past UC in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. March 14, 1998.

The '97-'98 Bearcats are one of my favorite UC teams. Gone were Fortson, Burton, and Flint, among others. Ruben Patterson was suspended for the season's first 14 games, and other suspensions and defections meant that Bob Huggins had to enlist two football players to log minutes early in the season.

But after some early setbacks, including a 20-point loss to Xavier, the Bearcats started to come together quite nicely. Bobby Brannen became an all-league performer, D'Juan Baker emerged as a solid outside shooting threat, and Melvin Levett began to morph from superior athlete to productive basketball player. Kenyon Martin was starting to dominate the paint on defense, and when Patterson returned mid-season, Cincinnati seemed to have the parts needed to make a long run in March.

Their Achilles Heel however, was point guard play. Michael Horton was, um, not good, and no one who ran the UC offense ever looked completely comfortable.

It caught up with in their Second Round NCAA Tournament matchup with West Virginia. The Bearcats gave it away 22 times, with Horton responsible for 22 UC turnovers. Still, the Cats looked like they'd escape when Baker - who had made the game-winning three in round one against Northern Arizona - nailed a tripe with 7.1 seconds left.

But West Virginia's Jarrod West calmly dribbled the ball up the floor, used a jarring screen to get open, and banked in a three with 0.8 seconds left, sending former UC coach Gale Catlett and his stupid Snoopy tie into a premature celebration that the officials ignored, and the Bearcats to what would be the second of four consecutive second round exits.

13) THE NIGHT THE IMPROBABLE CAME IMPROBABLY CLOSE TO HAPPENING

The UC Bearcats may have been a second away from playing for a national championship. December 5, 2009.

In their regular season finale, Brian Kelly's Bearcats came from behind to beat Pittsburgh at Heinz Field, wrapping up a 12-0 regular season, winning the Big East title, and wrapping up a second straight BCS bid. It remains the best sporting event I've ever attended.

Later that night, Texas and Nebraska hooked up in the Big 12 Championship Game. A win for the Longhorns would put them in the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama, whereas a win for the Cornhuskers would've left the Bearcats as one of two undefeated Automatic Qualifying teams, and could have put UC in the title tilt.

Trailing 12-10 with seven seconds remaining, Texas was in field goal range, but ran a play from scrimmage. Colt McCoy rolled right and threw the ball out of bounds as the clock seemed to expire. Nebraska players began celebrating, but officials reviewed the play and determined that there was some sort of error with the game clock and out a second back on. I really don't remember the explanation because I was hyperventilating.

Anyway, Texas' stupid kicker ran out onto the field, made a game-winning kick, the Bearcats were awarded a berth in the Sugar Bowl, Brian Kelly would leave for Notre Dame days later, and the Bearcats would go on to get nearly as obliterated as I did on New Year's Eve before the game in New Orleans.



(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

12) 96 ISN'T ENOUGH IN '99.

The 1999 Reds collapse down the stretch, and lose a one-game playoff to the Mets. October 4, 1999.

After three of the most boring, non-descript seasons in team history, the Reds surprised everyone in 1999.

After hovering around .500 for most of the season's first two months, the Reds put together winning streaks of eight and ten games between May 29th and July 1st. They would stay in the race for most of the summer, riding an offense that had ten players with double-digit home run totals, the leadership and production of Greg Vaughn, and a reliable, durable bullpen that eased the burden on a shaky starting staff.

Still, the Reds spent most of the season looking up at the Astros, trailing by three and a half games with less than two weeks left. A six game-winning streak would help close the game. Pokey Reese's 12th inning walkoff against the Cardinals on the season's second-to-last Sunday would cut the deficit to a half game, and a comeback from a 6-1 hole against St. Louis the next day would pull the Reds even.

The Reds would take the division lead in game number 158 in Houston as Pete Harnisch beat the Astros. With four games remaining, Cincinnati held a one-game lead in the division and had a two and a half game advantage over the New York Mets for the wild card.

But the Reds would melt down, losing the second of two in Houston, then blowing a 3-1 eighth inning lead before getting walked off in the opener of the season's final series in Milwaukee. The Brewers would win a blowout in the penultimate game of the season, and after the Astros and Mets finished off their regular seasons with wins, Cincinnati's only hope was to win game 162 then take a winner-take-all game to determine the NL's wild card.

After a nearly six-hour rain delay, the Reds would force a one-game playoff with New York, beating the Brewers 7-1.

In the first ever one-game playoff in franchise history, the Reds were overmatched by Al Leiter, against whom they managed two hits. Edgardo Alfonso put the Mets ahead in the first inning with a two-run home run, and as the visitors added to their lead in the middle innings, fans in attendance hurled garbage cans toward the field and took turns running onto the field.

Despite the promise of the 96-win season, and the following winter's trade for Ken Griffey Jr., the sting of falling just short in 1999 would linger for more than a decade.

11) TOP DRAFT PICK, ROCK BOTTOM MOMENT

Ki-Jana Carter blows out his knee. August 17, 1995.

By early 1995, the Bengals were well-established as one of the NFL's biggest laughingstocks. They had a reputation for being cheap, outdated, and largely, out-of-touch. Their combined 14-50 record from 1991-'94 not only had cemented their status as one of the worst franchises in the league, but they were basically a national afterthought.

Until the '95 NFL Draft. Mike Brown shocked pretty much everyone by trading up to the spot spot in the draft, where he selected Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter. (Also on that day, I got a speeding ticket for driving 81 MPH in a 45MPH zone during I-275 construction, but that story will be told when I do a blog listing the 25 dumbest things I've done over the last 25 years) The move seemed to rejuvenate both the team and its fans, and there was considerable optimism that with a bona fide weapon in the backfield, the Bengals could turn things around.

But on the third carry of Carter's first presesaon game against the Lions at the Silverdome, Carter destroyed his ACL, ending his season, and setting the tone for a career that would, unfortunately, be defined by injuries.

Ki-Jana was far from the only Bengals first round draft pick that didn't pan out, but he may be the most heartbreaking of all of them, and he was certainly the unluckiest.

10) A NUMBER ONE SEED, BUT A PAINFULLY FAMILIAR ENDING.

The top-seeded Bearcats lose to UCLA in double OT. March 17, 2002.

The 2001-'02 Bearcats authored one of the finest seasons in UC's basketball history. At 30-3 through the regular season and C-USA Tournament, Cincinnati had earned both a top-five ranking and number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Cats were led by All-American Steve Logan, who guided UC through a season of over-achievement.

UCLA, on the other hand, underachieved. One of the most talented teams in college basketball, the Bruins farted around for most of the season, earning a modest number eight seed in the tournament. After both teams won their first round games, the two programs - who had not met in 38 years - clashed in Pittsburgh with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.

For 30 minutes, the Bearcats dominated. They lead by 11 with just over nine minutes to go after an Immanuel McElroy steal and dunk. But Matt Barnes would hit two three-pointers in three seconds, and goofy-looking Dan Gadzuric would finish a quick eight-zip run for the Bruins with a dunk after a Cincinnati turnover.

From that point, a tense, long battle played out in Pittsburgh. Leonard Stokes helped the Bearcats overcome a poor shooting performance by Logan, scoring 39 points. But after surviving a UCLA miss at the end of regulation, UC blew multiple chances to take a lead late in the first OT (Stokes was thrown out of bounds while trying to grab an offensive rebound in a key sequence), and the misfires by their best player caught up with them in the second overtime as the Bruins escaped with a 105-101 win that eliminated Cincinnati in the second round for the fifth time in six years.

9) REDS FINALLY APPEAR IN PLAYOFFS. BATS REMAIN ABSENT.

In their first playoff game in 15 years, the Reds are no-hit by Roy Halladay. October 6, 2010.

The 2010 Reds were a surprise, running away with the NL Central, winning 91 games, and establishing themselves as one of the more likable, fun, success stories in our sports history.

With Joey Votto putting together a breakout MVP season and Dusty Baker handling a versatile roster perfectly, the Reds made the playoffs for the first time since 1995, clinching the division on Jay Bruce's iconic home run against the Astros.

Their NLDS matchup with the two-time defending league champion Phillies however, did not seem favorable. Philadelphia had the game's best pitching staff, while the Reds could've basically picked a game one starter out of a hat.

Dusty eventually settled on Edinson Volquez, who'd been limited in 2010 due to injury. Frankly, it didn't matter who pitched for Cincinnati because Roy Halladay threw one of the greatest games ever. Pitching with an early lead, Halladay repeatedly rolled through the Reds batting order, walking just one, and needing just 104 pitches to throw just the second postseason no-hitter in MLB history.

The Reds would go on to get swept - blowing a four-zip lead in game two by forgetting how to catch and throw the ball, and getting shutout by Cole Hamels in game three at GABP - but there was very little shame in losing the series.

There was though, something that still seems so Cincinnati about waiting 15 years for a playoff game and watching the good guys not get a hit.

8) THE BAD SNAP THAT RUINED CHRISTMAS, AND THE MISSED KICK THAT RUINED NEW YEAR'S

The '06 Bengals choke away a playoff spot. December 2006.

After an offseason of uncertainty surrounding Carson Palmer's playoff knee injury, the Bengals regrouped from the disappointment of the previous January by winning their first three games, finishing off a 3-0 start with a cathartic win in Pittsburgh.

Then, they started feeling a little too impressed with themselves, and it showed in a humbling week four loss to the Patriots. After a bye, they would go on to lose four of their next five, falling to 4-5 on the season after giving up 49 points in a home loss to the Chargers.

But the Bengals rallied, winning four straight while holding opponents to a combined 33 points. After a home win over the Raiders put their record at 8-5, the Bengals simply needed one victory to all but guarantee a second straight trip to the playoffs.

They were blown out on a Monday night in Indy, then headed to Denver for a Christmas Eve tilt with the Broncos. Trailing by a touchdown with less than four minutes to go, the Bengals went 90 yards in 12 plays - with TJ Houshmandzadeh repeatedly punishing the Denver secondary - and pulled within a point with :46 remaining. With my then-sister-in-law sarcastically predicting a missed extra point, Brad St. Louis' snap sailed wide of holder Kyle Larson, handing the Broncos the win.

A week later, the Bengals needed a win over the Steelers and some help from the 49ers against the Broncos to wrap up a playoff bid. And for while they were taking care of business, going ahead 17-14 on a Carson-to-Tony Stewart touchdown with just under three minutes to go.

Pittsburgh would tie the game at 17 with just over three minutes to go, but a long kickoff return by Glenn Holt and a deep pass down the middle to Chris Henry set Shayne Graham up for a game-winning 39-yard field goal.

Graham had been golden from 39 yards and in that season, parlaying is kicking excellence into an annoying level of celebrity that seemed overboard for a kicker.

This time however, his kick missed. The game went to overtime, and on the third play of OT Ben Roethlisberger threw toward left sideline to Santonio Holmes, who raced in with the game-ending, Bill Cowher-career-ending, and Bengals-season-ending touchdown.

Oh, and the 49ers beat the Broncos later that afternoon.

7) BADGERED AND BEATEN.

Xavier's dream season comes to an end against Wisconsin. March 20, 2016

Despite three decades worth of NCAA Tournament berths, deep March runs, great players and a continually growing national profile, the missing step for Xavier's basketball program had been a Final Four appearance.

But midway through the 2015-'16 season, fans and media started to wonder if this particular team had a chance to achieve a March breakthrough. The Musketeers were deep, high-powered, and spent most of the season climbing the polls. A late-season home win over top-ranked Villanova solidified the belief that Chris Mack was coaching a Final Four-caliber team, and despite two late losses to a good Seton Hall team, the Musketeers entered the NCAA Tournament with the program's highest ever seed - two - and while they stared at a tough region, XU went into the tournament as a good bet to at least make the Elite Eight.

But after an solid round one showing against Weber State, the Musketeers were off in round two against Wisconsin. Xavier fell behind early, and even though they eventually grabbed the lead, the Muskies' top scorers went cold. Trevon Bluiett, Edmond Sumner, and Myles Davis combined to go 8 for 29 and the team as a whole was never really able to force their tempo.

Still, the XU lead reached nine with just over six minutes to go. Wisconsin would battle back, eventually tying the game at 63 on a Bronson Koenig three with :13 remaining. A questionable charge call on Sumner gave the Badgers a chance for the win with two seconds left, and after a timeout, Keonig would hit a corner three right in front of Remy Abell, sending Wisconsin to another Sweet Sixteen, and ending Xavier's special season prematurely.

6) IF IT WAS EVER GOING TO HAPPEN, THIS WAS WHEN IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. EXCEPT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN.

The Bengals fall apart in the second half against the Chargers, and lose again in the playoffs. January 5, 2014.

The 2013 Bengals were a few years in the making. Two years worth of re-tooling the roster through the draft and a handful of minor moves in free agency had yielded two respectable playoff teams along the way, but '13 seemed like a breakthrough year for the Bengals.

They went 11-5 while going undefeated at home. They won games in every conceivable way, surviving four consecutive turnovers against the Packers, stopping Tom Brady's touchdown streak in a monsoon, downing the Steelers in prime time, winning back-to-back road games on game-winning kicks, and hanging 40 or more on four different opponents.

They easily won the AFC North title, and hosted an AFC Wild Card Game against the same San Diego team that they'd beaten just weeks earlier.

With an unblemished home record, a quality offense, and a favorable, warm-weather opponent playing in the cold in January, most felt that if the Bengals were ever going to finally win a playoff game, this was it.

It wasn't.

Andy Dalton crapped all over himself again in the postseason, turning it over three times. Giovani Bernard had a critical fumble just before halftime. The normally-reliable Mike Zimmer defense allowed nearly 200 yards rushing.

The Bengals lost 27-10.

An otherwise successful season went down as a failure, and a run of postseason futility continued.

5) GERRY McNAMARA ENDS AN ERA AT UC

The Bearcats lose to Syracuse in Round One of the Big East Tournament, crushing their NCAA Tournament hopes. March 8, 2006.

The 2005-'06 UC basketball team rose from the ashes left by the dumpster fire that was Bob Huggins departure to put together a season that remains one of the program's most fun and endearing seasons.

Playing with a somewhat odd collection of players and dealing with all sorts of dings to the roster, Andy Kennedy's Bearcats overcame two early home losses to start 13-2. Armein Kirkland's ACL tear at UConn in early January sent Cincinnati on a downward spiral that included five losses in six games, but the Cats found their way to a 19-11 record and a respectable 8-8 league mark in the school's first season in the Big East.

They went to New York for the conference tournament with most fans feeling good about their NCAA Tournament chances, but a win over a Syracuse team that had underwhelmed for most of the season seemed like it'd clinch a berth for the Bearcats.

Playing in Madison Square Garden against an Orange team that they'd gained a signature road win against just weeks earlier, the Bearcats trailed by as many as 14 early in the second half.

Led by James White's finest performance in a UC uniform, Cincinnati stormed back, taking multiple late leads, including a one-point edge on White's jumper with ten seconds remaining. Devan Downey then stole Syracuse's inbound pass with :06 remaining and was fouled by trashy-looking Eric Devendorf. The freshman - ordinarily reliable from the foul line - made his first free throw, but missed his second, putting the Orange in position to tie or take the lead.

They would take the lead. Gerry McNamara - whom the Bearcats had held in check for most of the afternoon - drove the length of the court and stuck a three with half a second left, sending thousands of Orange fans into the same frenzy they experience on the one day a year the sun actually shines in Syracuse, and putting the Bearcats squarely on the bubble.

The wait between the end of their conference tournament loss on Wednesday afternoon and the NCAA Tournament Selection Show late Sunday was interminable, and ultimately, not worth it.

For the first time in 15 years, UC would not be making the NCAA Tournament. Given the that sense that hovered over the entire season that the program would soon be starting from scratch, most fans knew that the 2006 NCAA Tournament would be Cincinnati's last appearance for a long time.

Thanks to Gerry McNamara, the Bearcats didn't get a chance to make that appearance.

He remains my most-hated college basketball player ever.

4) "OH NO, LOOK AT CARSON."

The first Bengals playoff game in 15 years is marred by Carson Palmer's knee injury. January 8, 2006.

Finally, after a decade and a half of waiting, we were rewarded.

The Bengals were not only good after 14 consecutive non-winning seasons, they were cool. The 2005 team remains beloved - and is easily my favorite Bengals unit ever - and not just because they went 11-5 and won the AFC North. They owned this city. A town desperate for not just a winner but something to have some collective swagger over wrapped its arms around a team that was incredibly entertaining, and very, very good.

In the fall of 2005, everything about the NFL that we'd watched from afar was happening here, and the cool part about it was that what the Bengals were doing felt like the beginning of something big.

Carson Palmer was in his third season, and since he'd stood on the sideline his rookie season (a mistake), he was in just his second season of NFL action. But his play that season made fans salivate at the thought of how good he'd ultimately be, and how many championships he'd deliver.

In '05, Carson led the league in touchdown passes and completion percentage, and he commanded a diverse, unpredictable offense that hung 37 or more points on opponents five times.

The Bengals started 11-3, winning a signature early-December game against the Steelers in Pittsburgh, and clinching the franchise's first division title since 1990 in Detroit. They lost their final two regular season games, but earned the right to host the Steelers in Paul Brown Stadium's first NFL playoff game.

If we're being honest, I think most of us admit that few really believed that the Bengals were championship material, but a playoff game - and a playoff win - seemed like a logical first step toward a one day being a serious title contender.

The atmosphere at kickoff was unlike any in PBS history, and when the Carson and company took the field after the defense had forced a Pittsburgh punt, the 15-year wait for this moment seemed worth it.

On their second play, Palmer fired a missile downfield to Chris Henry, who'd separated from Deshea Townsend, and connected for a 66-yard gain to the Steelers 22.

The crowd went nuts. Where I sat, fans were high-fiving each other and yelling loud noises at each other when someone behind us quieted us all with a shriek:

"Oh no, look at Carson."

The Bengals QB was on the ground, withering in pain. He'd been hit low by Kimo Von Oelhoffen and his injury was eventually diagnosed as both a torn ACL and MCL.

His season was over.

Soon, the same could be said for the Bengals.

They'd lead deep into the third quarter due to some gutsy play by Jon Kitna and productive running by Rudi Johnson, but once Pittsburgh went ahead late in the third quarter, the Steelers defense teed off on Kitna, clinching the victory on Troy Polamalu's interception late in the fourth quarter.

Do the Bengals win that game if Carson plays? Maybe. Maybe not. But who wouldn't have loved to take their chances with a healthy number nine at QB?

For ten years, Palmer's injury provided the Bengals their signature postseason moment, and the loss started to change the way the Bengals were perceived. Whatever happened at halftime in the locker room started to be talked about in the aftermath of the loss, and a team that weeks early had been lauded for being so much fun was not being labeled immature and selfish.

The Bengals have gotten a back to the postseason many times since, including with Carson in 2009, but for many, the first of many playoff failures of the past decade remains the most painful.



(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

3) BROKEN LEG, BROKEN DREAMS, BROKEN HEARTS.

Kenyon Martin breaks his leg, and Bearcat fans forever ask "what if." March 9, 2000.

After falling losing on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament the previous three seasons, Bob Huggins assembled a team that started the 1999-'00 season ranked number two in the AP Top 25.

And man, did they live up to the hype.

They were stifling defensively, almost impossible to score against inside, and in Pete Mickeal they had a guy who they could assign to any opponent's best player. In Kenny Satterfield, they finally had a point guard who could create and that defenses had to account for. In Dermarr Johnson, they had a tall freshman guard that some thought would bypass college altogether and head to the NBA. With Steve Logan, they had a crafty ball-handler who could stretch defenses with his shooting.

They had depth, they had size, they had length.

Oh, and they had the best player in college basketball.

Kenyon Martin gradually transformed himself from a player who looked like he didn't know what a basketball was his freshman year to a raw offensive player who could dominate games defensively his sophomore and junior years, to a refined, dominant player by his senior season.

He controlled games on both ends, blocking shots and intimidating at the rim defensively, while finishing fast breaks and scoring in the halfcourt offensively. He won every player of the year award imaginable, and his team spent most of the season atop the polls.

They finished the regular season 28-2, losing only to Xavier in the final Crosstown Shootout played in the Gardens and to a good Temple team at The Shoe. They racked up wins against North Carolina, Gonzaga, Iowa State, and Oklahoma. They ran through Conference USA undefeated, the season punctuated by Martin's iconic 33-point effort in a comeback win at DePaul.

UC had a program that had been well-established. The Bearcats had been to the Final Four in 1992, and made Elite Eight appearances in '93 and '96. They'd been the number one team in the country in the fall of 1996. But as the headed into the postseason, Huggins' team was - for the first time - seriously being talked about as not just a national title contender, but the favorite to win it all.

In the early minutes of a first round C-USA Tournament game against St. Louis in Memphis, Martin stepped toward the paint from the top of the key to set a screen. As he tangled with Billiken guard Justin Love, Martin's leg was taken out from underneath and he collapsed to the floor.

The diagnosis was immediate: broken leg.

In arguably the most-forgotten 37 minutes of basketball a UC team has ever played, the Bearcats lost with a broken-hearted Martin watching the action with his crutches behind the UC bench.

Some of us tried to convince ourselves that the remaining Bearcats could still make a run, but few of us meant it. Playing Nashville against Tulsa in the second round of the NCAAs, the Cats looked catatonic as their three guards went a combined six for 29 from the field. The Golden Hurricane took advantage of Kenyon's absence by dominating the Bearcats in the paint, and a season that was supposed to be one for the ages ended early.

It remains arguably the biggest what-if in Cincinnati sports history: What if Kenyon Martin hadn't gotten hurt?

Would UC have won the national title what was ultimately claimed by Michigan State? What would a championship have done to the long-term trajectory of the program?

And will we ever team a Bearcat team or a Bearcat player that good again?

2) A GIANT COLLAPSE

The Reds blow a 2-0 lead against San Francisco in the 2012 NLDS. October 9-11, 2012.

After a disappointing 2011 when their strategy seemed to be to roll the same team out that won 91 games the previous season and do nothing to make it better, the Reds front office went all-in.

Walt Jocketty made a series of moves, acquiring known commodities, and bolstering the starting rotation, bullpen and outfield.

With Ryan Madson being a notable exception, the moves panned out.

Mat Latos helped solidify a good starting rotation that never missed a start, Sean Marshall contributed late-inning relief to one of the game's best bullpens, and Ryan Ludwick clubbed 26 homers while getting hot just as the Reds lost their best player for seven weeks.

How good were the 2012 Cincinnati Reds?

Joey Votto missed nearly a third of the season, and they still won 97 games.

Jay Bruce slugged a career-high 34 homers. Todd Frazier emerged as a Rookie of the Year candidate. Brandon Phillips did Brandon Phillips things at second base.

The Reds threw a guy out on the mound there every single day that gave them a chance to win. Johnny Cueto became a bona fide ace, and headed up a quintet that included Latos and Homer Bailey - who threw the franchise's first no-hitter in 24 years - along with Bronson Arroyo and Mike Leake.

Behind them, Aroldis Chapman became one of the game's dominant closers.

The Reds won games in every conceivable fashion, with the signature moment being authored when Joey Votto hit the last of his three home runs - a grand slam- to walk off the Nationals on a rainy Mother's Day at GABP.

Cincinnati made a mockery of the division, leading the NL Central by eight and a half games heading into September, and clinching the division with a week and a half left in the regular season.

Falling a game shy of having the National League's best record, the Reds started the playoffs in San Francisco, where against the Giants in the NLDS, they overcame Johnny Cueto's first inning departure to win game one 5-2 on the strength of homers by Phillips and Bruce.

Game two saw Bronson Arroyo toy with the Giants, giving up just one hit in seven innings as his teammates piled up 13 hits on the way to a 9-0 beatdown and a 2-0 series lead.

The Reds needed just one win to advance in the postseason for the first time in 17 years.

They'd have three chances to get it.

And they'd play the rest of the series at Great American Ballpark.

A festive, Opening Day-type atmosphere greeted the Reds as game three began, and even after Phillips was needlessly thrown out at third base after stealing second with nobody out, the Reds scored early, handing Homer Bailey a 1-zip in the first inning.

Bailey was fantastic, giving up a run and a hit in seven innings, striking out ten.

The Reds bats though, were equally silent. Cincinnati advanced a runner to second base just twice after the first, and in the tenth it caught up to them.

Gold Glove third baseman Scott Rolen made a critical error that allowed the Giants to score the go-ahead run, and after a quiet bottom of the frame, San Francisco stayed alive with a 2-1 win.

In game four, Mike Leake was pressed into service because of Cuetoo's injury, and was beaten badly, giving up dingers in each of the first two innings before departing in the fifth. The ghost of Tim Lincecum charged out of the Giants bullpen to stave off a Cincinnati comeback, and the Giants forced a decisive game five with an 8-3 win.

The morning of the fifth game was met with as much anxiety as any game played here in the past quarter-century. Either the Reds would be chokers or we'd finally have a series win to celebrate, and a National League Championship to prepare for.

Sadly, it was the Giants prepping for the NLCS. They clubbed Mat Latos for six runs in the fifth, with Buster Posey's grand slam being the most devastating blow.

The Reds rallied, scoring three times in the middle innings, and once more in the ninth and putting the tying runs on base with one out for Jay Bruce.

Jay battled, fouling off six two-strike pitches from Sergio Romo before ending an agonizing at-bat with a deep fly out to left field.

Then, in what would be his final big league at-bat, Rolen struck out swinging to finish off the collapse.

The loss was devastating. People milled around outside the ballpark for house, looking like zombies. Some tried to soothe the pain by making reassurances about how a 97-win team would be kept largely intact for 2012, but most of us knew the truth.

The Reds had let one get away, suffering a series loss that would reverberate for a long time.

And it has.

1) ALMOST BURFICT.

The Bengals lose again in the playoffs, this time melting down against the Steelers. January 9, 2016.

The 2015 Bengals did it. They defied those that said that after four consecutive playoff failures, the odds were against them getting back to the postseason for a fifth straight year.

Not only did they make five playoff appearances in five years, the Bengals put together the best season of the Marvin Lewis era. Armed with one of the best and healthiest rosters in the league, Cincinnati surged to an 8-0 start, shocking the Seahawks with an amazing late-game comeback, and winning at Heinz Field along the way.

Andy Dalton played the best football of his career, taking advantage of a loaded group of weapons, headed by AJ Green and star-in-the-making Tyler Eifert. The offensive line, at times, was among the best in the NFL, and while the running game wasn't as good as it had been the year before, it was just productive enough to keep defenses honest.

Defensively, the Bengals were talented and deep. After an off year post-knee surgery in 2014, Geno Atkins re-established himself as one of the premiere defensive linemen in the sport while Michael Johnson's return aided the re-emergence of a pass rush. Adam Jones anchored the secondary by having his best season as a Bengal, and Vontaze Burfict's return boosted an already-scary defense and transformed it into one of the league's best.

Sitting at 10-2, the Bengals hosted in Steelers in week 14 with a chance to effectively salt away the AFC North. An Andy Dalton injury and a preoccupation with settling Twitter beefs kept them from sweeping the season series against Pittsburgh, and AJ McCarron was forced to take over at quarterback for the remainder of the regular season.

McCarron was capable enough in a week 15 win at San Francisco, and helped the Bengals build a 17-0 lead in a pivotal Monday game at Denver. The Bengals though, could not hold on, and blew their chances at a first round bye by losing in overtime.

Still, they entered the playoffs as division champion with a 12-4 record, and a chance to exorcise multiple demons in the AFC Wild Card Game with a rubber match against Pittsburgh.

With Dalton not yet recovered, Cincinnati had to stay with McCarron at QB, and for three quarters he and the offense looked inept, and late in the third quarter, the Steelers held a commanding 15-0 lead.

But after a vicious (and illegal) Ryan Shazier hit on Giovani Bernard, the Bengals rallied. A Burfict sack of Ben Roethlisberger knocked the Pittsburgh quarterback out of the game, and helped set Cincinnati up with good field position. Seconds later, Jeremy Hill charged into the end zone to cut the Steeler lead to eight.

Two possessions later, McCarron improbably put the Bengals ahead, hitting AJ Green for a 25-yard touchdown pass that triggered bedlam at PBS.

On the ensuing Steelers possession, Burfict seemingly clinched the game with an interception, putting Cincinnati in position to win its first playoff game in 25 years.

But a Hill fumble gave the Steelers life. Roethlisberger returned to the field, and despite not being able to throw deep, the Bengals allowed him to throw short and move his team to midfield.

After converting on a potential game-ending fourth and three, the Steelers moved into field goal range when Vontaze Burfict was flagged for unnecessary roughness after delivering a concussion-inducing blow on Antonio Brown. As Brown staggered off the field, Adam Jones was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct as Pittsburgh assistant assclown Joey Porter needlessly lingered on the field.

As the PBS crowd lost its mind, the Bengals lost the game when Chris Boswell banged home 35-yard kick.

The meltdown, and the controversies that erupted as the game slipped away, will be discussed, debated, and scrutinized for years. The fallout was a three-game suspension for Burfict, and a lingering sense that no matter what, Cincinnati sports are cursed, and specifically, the Bengals and their playoff tomato can of a coach will never win in January.

It was the worst loss in franchise history, and it provided Cincinnati sports fans the most heartbreaking moments of the last 25 years.