HAS a draw in a football match ever felt more like a defeat than tonight's incredible stalemate at Selhurst Park?
Well, yes, in the spring of 2009 when Liverpool and Arsenal shared eight goals in an extraordinary match at Anfield when the Reds needed a win to keep alive their outside hopes of lifting the Premier League crown.
But that was the night when Andrei Arshavin finally decided to play some football and became only the second opposition player to score four times at Anfield against Liverpool.
And like tonight, Liverpool ended the match with a point. But it felt worthless. And in the final reckoning, it pretty much counted for nothing as Manchester United claimed yet another title leaving us trailing in their wake once more.
We finished second that 2008-09 campaign and hadn't been knocking on the door of the title ever since - until this 2013-14 season.
And now it looks like all of the team's magnificent efforts which began with a dramatic opening day victory over Stoke City will all come to nought.
The way this drama is ending won't be lost on the club's owners.
Messrs Henry, Werner et al have been here before.
And they sure know how painful it hurts when your team loses.
So much has been written about how much joy they helped bring to Boston ending the 'Curse of the Bambino' in the autumn of 2004 when the Red Sox won their first World Series title in 86 years.
What might have been lost in this sporting fairytale that really did have an incredibly happy ending was what happened exactly 12 months before.
In the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox and Yankees were deadlocked at three games apiece in the best-of-seven showdown between Major League Baseball's deadliest rivals.
The winners would advance to the World Series and Boston had New York in a hole. They raced into a 4-0 lead but the Yankees began to battle back.
Nevertheless, heading into the penultimate inning, the Red Sox held a three-run advantage at 5-2 helped by home runs from Trot Nixon, Kevin Millar and David Ortiz. They were just six outs away from booking their place in the World Series and hoisting the American League pennant.
And then it all went wrong. Horribly wrong.
New York capitalised on some errant Boston pitching and some debatable managerial decisions to tie the game at 5-5 before an ecstatic home crowd at Yankee Stadium.
The game remained tied at 5-5 until the home half of the second extra inning, the 11th, and Aaron Boone entered baseball folklore for both good and bad depending on which side you were rooting for.
Because in the twinkling of an eye and the swish of his bat, Boone deposited a pitch from Boston's veteran hurler Tim Wakefield into the left field seats for a game-ending and American League Championship-winning home run.
Boone's blow inflicted incredible pain on Boston. To be near, and yet so far, was awful beyond comprehension for everyone in Red Sox Nation.
But, crucially, the blow was not a fatal one.
As devastating a defeat as there could possibly be in the post-season without reaching the World Series, the Red Sox did not go into a collective shell.
The ownership took affirmative action, personnel here and there were changed and by the spring of 2004 the team were all ready to go again.
And the rest is glorious history for all Red Sox fans.
Maybe history is repeating itself before our very eyes in two very different sports but with a common thread - the ownership.
And I am convinced that Messrs Henry and Werner, like they did in 2003, will take affirmative action this summer.
As wondrous as our attacking play has been this season, the Achilles heel of our defence was always there. And we paid for it terribly tonight.
So I fully expect defensive reinforcements to arrive at Anfield this summer - that has to be item number one of manager Brendan Rodgers's shopping list.
Thankfully, he should have more money at his disposal this time around given the club's automatic qualification for the Champions League, itself a most marvellous achievement that seems to have been lost, quite understandably so, in the team's push for the title.
And then, like the Red Sox in 2004, we'll go again. And maybe, just maybe, we'll be celebrating at the end of next season like they did that incredible year.
Sport, eh? It hurts like hell when your team loses but it's a love affair that lasts a lifetime.
And you wouldn't have it any other way.
