First Round Disappointment
By Matt Furtado / KHTK Sports 1140
The San Jose Sharks and the Golden State Warriors – two teams with historic first round losses that will be remembered for a long time, not only by local fans, but fans around the country.
The San Jose Sharks suffered one of the biggest collapses in National Hockey League history.
The Golden State Warriors were side tracked by an event that will forever change the sport of basketball.
Neither series was positive, but both were memorable.
The Sharks had a 3-0 lead in a seven game series with the Los Angeles Kings. Game four: loss. Game five: loss. Game six: loss. Game seven: loss.
San Jose became just the fourth team in NHL history to lose a seven game series after leading by three games.
The Sharks have made the postseason for the past eleven straight seasons dating back to the 2003-04 season, but they have yet to win a Stanley Cup. Whether it's choking, or simply not performing in the playoffs, they are running up a non-impressive but yet impressive streak of losing when it matters.
The Warriors, on the other hand, didn't blow a three games to none lead; nor were they directly involved with the negativity surrounding the first round series with the Los Angeles Clippers, but they will be etched in history along side of the team that took them down in game seven on Saturday.
By now, the Donald Sterling story shouldn't be news to anyone. His racist remarks sent shockwaves throughout the NBA and the country. The series became less about two rivals squaring off, but rather two teams coming together to show that the NBA belongs to the players; not the owner's.
Outside of Sterling's comments, and new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver's impressive press conference, the series was a hard fought battle. It went back and forth, as did each game of the series. The Warriors injury and turn-over problems left the Clippers celebrating in front of a Los Angeles crowd that had more to cheer about than just moving on to the next round.
While the loss for the Warriors has ended its season, and has brought up questions about Head Coach Mark Jackson's future with the team, seeing the Clippers win after what they have gone through isn't necessarily a bad thing.
For fans of the Sharks and the Warriors, it's another season down, with another disappointing finish. Until the next NHL and NBA seasons start, sayings such as "next year will be the year," or "they will come back even better, " will be heard coming out of almost every San Jose and Golden State fan's mouth.
But in the mean time, seeing the rival Kings celebrate in the Tank will haunt the Sharks and its fans.
Warriors fans may be upset about losing, but the pure excitement and relief shown by Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers after game seven should bring a smile to anyone's face.
Both losses were disappointing, but both were historic in their own respective ways.
