Wallowing in Wisconsin sports pity

So it wasn't exactly my favorite Monday morning ever. After enduring a positively demoralizing 51-45 Packers loss in the first round of the playoffs Sunday, I receive the news that the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team – fresh off a great weekend win over No. 4 Purdue – will be without top inside player Jon Leuer for most of the season after he broke his wrist.

It wasn’t until later in the day that the Milwaukee Bucks declared Michael Redd out for the season yet again.

Brutal.

What, no offseason Yovani Gallardo elbow injury or a broken bone for Marquette’s Lazar Hayward?

As a huge Brewers fan, I'm used to disappointment, and these new developments can be added to my long list of saddening sports moments.There have been some great ones in this market, too -- the 2008 MLB Playoffs, the 2000 Final Four and the 1996 Super Bowl among them -- but this week, I prefer to wallow in a bit of self-pity and remember those achingly painful moments in time.

1. The 2007 NFC Championship game. When the Dallas Cowboys fell to the New York Giants in the other half of the NFC semifinals, I completely believed the Packers were going to the Super Bowl. Brett Favre had enjoyed a renaissance season, the Packers had played near-perfect football and now hosted a home game in the merciless cold at Lambeau Field for the right to reach the Super Bowl. But the team struggled most of the game, and Favre’s infamous interception in overtime led to a Lawrence Tynes field goal that sent New York into a remarkable Super Bowl appearance. Instead of a Super Bowl, the Packers were left mired in a seasons-long quarterback controversy.

2. The Wisconsin Badgers 2006-07 tournament. They won 30 games for the first time in school history, held the top ranking in the AP poll for one week and flirted with a one-seed in the NCAA tournament. It was a team that had been building for years as a possible standout, and everything was swimming along until late season setbacks against Michigan State and Ohio State. They looked mediocre in the Big Ten tournament, then nearly became a laughingstock upset in the first round of the Big Dance to a 15-seed. It all ended with a second-round loss to UNLV, pushing an early-season title contender to an early exit.

3. Super Bowl XXXII. Truth be told, I only rank it up here because it’s a big game, but I was more than pleased to have won the previous season's Super Bowl and wasn't feeling particularly greedy. But it was a pretty big upset when John Elway finally got his first ring at the expense of the Packers, beating Green Bay in San Diego, 31-24.

4. Fourth and 26. All you have to do is type this expression into Google, and you’ll find that it has its own Wikipedia page – that’s how famous this play became. On Jan. 11, 2004, the Packers seemed to have the Philadelphia Eagles beaten in the NFC semifinals, backing up Donovan McNabb and friends into the dicey “4th and 26” situation with 1:12 to play, no timeouts and a 17-14 deficit. But McNabb converted to Freddie Mitchell on a terrible broken coverage, allowing David Akers to tie the game with a field goal. In overtime, Brian Dawkins intercepted Brett Favre and another Akers field goal clinched victory for the NFC Championship-bound Eagles.

5. The Milwaukee Brewers 2002 season. It wasn't the most disappointing because the Brewers lacked all expectations, but finishing 56-106 was the biggest blow on a franchise that had quickly become among baseball's worst. This season represents the low point in an absolute flurry of losing, complete with bad managers (Davey Lopes and Jerry Royster, who once had a mid-game argument on the mound with pitcher Mike DeJean) and a flubbed All-Star game that famously ended in a tie. Milwaukee lost 94 games one year earlier and both of the succeeding two years, leaving me in a constant state of misery.

6. The 2009 Wild Card loss. The most disappointing aspect of this week's game was the poor defensive showing after an outstanding season that featured the best run defense in team history and a league Defensive Player of the Year. Realistically, the Packers should have lost the game (a missed Arizona chip shot in the final seconds?) prior to overtime, and the fact that the team forced only one punt is largely to blame for the offense never having the chance to take a lead. A fluky way to lose in overtime hurts plenty, as well.

7. The 2001 Eastern Conference Finals Game 7. “Milwaukee Bucks, you are the talk of the city right now.” I remember talk show host Bill Michaels saying so, after the Bucks had climbed so close to the NBA finals. But conspiracy theories by Ray Allen, combined with a lackluster game seven performance against Philadelphia, left the Bucks out of the championship picture. With their 108-91 loss in that final game, my interest in NBA basketball went with it. Because after that, the Bucks have been super, super bad.

8. The Milwaukee Bucks 1998 Draft. The Milwaukee Bucks needed a big man, and made a shrewd draft-day deal with Dallas to acquire the rights to Robert “Tractor” Traylor, in exchange for Pat Garrity and ... you know what’s coming ... Dirk Nowitzki. Needless to say, that may have been the worst trade in team history. I know, I know, circumstances dictated that the Bucks probably would not have gotten Nowitzki no matter what happened, but it still looks like a black eye on the franchise.

9. The Milwaukee Brewers 2006 season. They had just finished at .500 the previous year for the first time in 14 seasons, and everyone expected a winning record at least, with a possible playoff push in the future. But injuries to two of the top four pitchers and several position players made it an uphill battle, and while the 75-87 finish was disappointing, it paled to the realization that the winner of the division (and eventual World Series champion Cardinals) went just 83-78. Before the season, many fans would have been disappointed if the Brewers won just 83 games. Fortunately, two years later, Milwaukee made this season a memory.

10. The Milwaukee Brewers 1998 Draft. I was smart enough in high school to start following the minor league system, and it was hard not to be excited about the 1998 draft, which would be one of the last for general manager Sal Bando. The Brewers took hugely promising right-hander J.M. Gold, then stole what many saw as a first-round talent in the second round by getting Nick Neugebauer. Both pitchers were hyped incessantly during their rise through the organization, but arm troubles plagued them and neither ever made a big-league impact. Not a single worthwhile nugget came from the draft except for a flameout once-prospect named Bill Hall who was eventually put on the team in September 2002 just to get a cursory look. He added his own issues to the table much later.

I'm going to go eat some ice cream.

Pictured: Aaron Rodgers reacts to the events of Sunday's game against Arizona. (AP)