Hillary Clinton. The Atlanta Falcons. La La Land.

All know too well just how crushing losing can be. But which defeat was the worst?

Clinton seemed a shoo-in to be the leader of the free world, the Falcons were cruising along in the quest for their first Super Bowl title and La La Land had actually been announced as the Best Picture at the Oscars. Each can make a compelling case, so let's examine the evidence.

Hillary Clinton

The case for it being the worst loss: This was the culmination of a bitter election that affected all Americans. Prior to Election Day, the majority of polls had Clinton cruising to victory over Donald Trump en route to becoming the first female president of the United States. Well, we all know how well that went for Clinton.

The case against it being the worst loss: Technically, Clinton was never winning. Polls are not fact, so it's not like she choked.

The Falcons

The case for it being the worst loss: Atlanta zoomed out to a 21-3 halftime lead over the New England Patriots and increased it to 28-3 before Tom Brady led the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. It's the choke job of all choke jobs on the grandest stage in sports.

The case against it being the worst loss: Sad though it may be, it was only just a game. Sure, Atlanta's fans were hurt, but beyond that, life went on pretty quickly.

"La La Land"

The case for it being the worst loss: Unlike Clinton and Atlanta, the film actually won. It had been named Best Picture at the Oscars for the whole world to hear before we learned there was an envelope mixup and Moonlight actually won. La La Land had defeat very publicly snatched from the jaws of victory.

The case against it being the worst loss: To be fair, we don't know if La La Land was the runner-up. It just seems that way because it had been announced as the winner. It was the victim of a screw-up that was not of its own doing whatsoever. That's easy to forget.

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