In sports, there are champions. They're quite happy, what with the celebrations and the historic achievements and all. Then there are teams that are defeated so others can win championships. Depending on the expectations, they're either content to have had the opportunity, or miserable for having blown one.
But then there's a third category, which makes the melancholy of a runner-up look like the glint of a kitten's smile by comparison: those teams that know, wholeheartedly, they could have won a championship but had the opportunity ripped away from them.