Top Four First-Round Playoff Exits of 2007

by Todd Maternowski

The DFW sports world took a couple of cheap shots to the groin in 2007, in which all four major sports teams set up high expectations, then found incredibly unlikely ways to crush their loyal fans' hopes once again. These are my picks for Top Four First-Round Playoff Meltdowns.

Dallas Stars lose to the Vancouver Canucks: As far as first-round exits go, this one was actually not all that bad. It was the only Stanley Cup 2007 playoff series to go to seven games, and the Stars were actually leading after one period on the road before their unlikely meltdown commenced. That second period of Game 7 was a terrible one to watch, as the Stars battled a surging Canucks team, the single best goalie in professional hockey and the referees, who made a frustrating series of phantom calls the Zubov-less Stars were unable to overcome.

There were plenty of positives, however, especially when Marty Turco is concerned. The longtime playoff failures of the enigmatic goaltender were crushed, as Turco dominated the Canucks despite getting no offensive support, and posted an NHL-record three shutouts in the losing effort. Even better, Turco's GAA led all playoff goaltenders throughout the duration of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and his smiling face was plastered on NHL.com all summer. Had Sergei Zubov not been out with a sports hernia for that crucial final game, it's unlikely the Stars would even be on this list.

Texas Rangers lose to anybody, anywhere, please! Call this a case of wishful thinking: while the other three big-name professional sports have had winning seasons in this millennium, it would be a major accomplishment for the Rangers to even get the chance to get swept in the playoffs by a vastly superior opponent. All but the most die-hard of Rangers fans know that even before the season starts, the chances the Rangers will make the playoffs are slim to none.

However, there is hope for the future in 2008. The Rangers are shedding dead, self-absorbed weight like Mark Texeira and Sammy Sosa, and going full-on with the youth movement, snatching up some of the league's top prospects, putting them in Texas uniforms and letting them play. This plan has worked twice for the Florida Marlins: could a first-round playoff sweep be in the cards for these young, hungry Rangers? Only time will tell.

Dallas Cowboys lose to the Seattle Seahawks: After a year in which the world was introduced to the high-flying, gunslinging, game-winning style of franchise savior Tony Romo, it seemed a first-round game against the injury-depleted Seahawks would be nothing more than a speedbump en route to greater things. The Seahawks were ailing in all departments, and three-fourths of their starting defensive secondary was cobbled together in the week before the game from insurance agents and other out-of-football castoffs. With long-bomb weapons like Terrell Owens, Jason Witten and Terry Glenn, the only question heading into this game was at which point in the second quarter the game would officially be over.

But overrated Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells had other plans, refusing to throw even one single pass attempt over 15 yards, sticking to telegraphed runs up the middle to precisely the only point on the field the Seattle defense could stop them. Parcells also refused to stop coddling backup QB Drew Bledsoe's ego --every other team in the NFL has the back-up quarterback handling kick-holder duties-- and when Romo's bruised hands proved unable to handle the final snap of what should have been an automatic game-winning field goal, the Cowboys were bumped out of the playoffs once again. Fortunately, Wade Phillips and Jason Garrett have taken the Parcells blueprint, ignored it completely, and have secured a first-round bye week, making them immune to the 2008 version of this list.

Dallas Mavericks lose to the Golden State Warriors: All of the previous first-round playoff meltdowns pale in comparison to this, the Big Daddy of Televised Embarrassment. The Mavericks had absolutely everything going for them, cruising through a meaningless regular season hardly breaking a sweat, winning an insanely-high number of games and facing a team that, had they not beaten the Mavs' third-stringers on the second-to-last game of the season, would not have qualified for the playoffs. The high-scoring Mavs matched up against every team in the NBA, and the only question was how many games it would take to defeat the Suns, Spurs and Pistons in the upcoming weeks.

Unfortunately for the Mavericks, former Dallas coach Don Nelson had other plans, using physical intimidation and leaning on his high-energy forwards to launch shots from anywhere, everywhere, at any time. The strategy worked, as the Mavericks' large stable of volume shooters couldn't make wide-open shots, Baron Davis hit three-pointers from practically beneath his own basket, and Dirk devolved into his rookie year form --the result? A six-game series in which the highly-favored Mavericks not only lost, but looked like a 12-70 team unworthy of sharing the court with the far more talented Warriors. Like the other playoff opponents on this list, the Warriors went on to fizzle in the next round, leaving the Mavericks with even more egg on their face. The loss was so crushing, that it robbed Nowitzki's well-deserved MVP award of any meaning, and cast doubt on the Mavericks ever being able to win anything, ever.