I'm pretty sure the cleat wasn't screwed in enough. When it ripped out I think it only ripped out the first 2-3 thread in the shoe. When I felt myself falling I would try to catch myself. But trying to unclip I must have jerked my body in a weird position to throw me off balance. I lowered the tension on the pedals as advised and now I can at least clip in with out a problem most of the time. and the few times I tried to unclip today went a lot better then yesterday.
Another question I had was about platform/clipless pedals. I know when you compromise something you get a ****ty version of the two originals. But I have a beater bike that I want to use in bad weather. Are there any low cost hybrid pedals worth looking at? or just stay away.