The Lakers' stunning collapse Thursday night against the Boston Celtics remained the talk of the town Friday. And the language employed by Lakers fans, in Internet postings and on the airwaves, often included the word "choke," or synonyms for it.
The Lakers had led in Game 4 of the NBA Finals by 24 points, only to lose 97-91 -- at home -- allowing Boston to grab a three-games-to-one lead in the series.
But if it's any consolation, the Lakers' meltdown was hardly the first time a local team had so memorably collapsed. Southland teams have a history of crashing and burning.
You could write sonnets on Lakers miseries just against the Celtics, dating to the franchise's days in Minneapolis.
Although the Lakers have won nine NBA championships since 1972, and trail the Celtics only 16-14 in the number of titles won, they suffered eight NBA finals losses to Boston before finally cracking the Beantown code in 1985.
The New York Knicks caused their share of Lakers pain too, in 1970, with Willis Reed hobbling to the rescue, and then again in 1973.
But it goes beyond the Lakers. The Rams, who played in town for nearly 50 years, could almost match the Lakers with sad stories. Cold-storage losses to the Minnesota Vikings -- dashing Super Bowl hopes -- are still frozen in memory.
The Dodgers have mixed 50 years of Southland success with accents of heartbreak. The Angels, before winning it all in 2002, almost seemed a franchise bathing in melancholy.
No one has been immune except for, perhaps, the Clippers, who have yet to reach a level where the tough losses really hurt.
Here's a look, in no particular order of calamity, at some infamous moments involving Southland teams.
Who'll stop the rain?
After three bitterly cold playoff defeats at Minnesota in 1969, 1974 and 1976, the Rams finally got the Vikings at the Coliseum for a playoff game on Dec. 26, 1977. Fran Tarkenton, Minnesota's star quarterback, was out with a broken leg. Mother Nature had other ideas, though, opening the skies with a torrential downpour. Defensive end Jack Youngblood remembered it as the "100-year rain." Rams quarterback Pat Haden had trouble gripping the wet football. Minnesota won, 14-7, and it would be another year without a Super Bowl for the long-suffering Rams fans.
Knocking Dodgers out
