Top Sporting Nights of Your Life

[DMT]

MJ mentioned last night as one of his top 3, what are your's?

1. 01/01/95 - Orange Bowl - Nebraska Cornhuskers defeat their despised nemesis Miami Hurricanes in a thrilling 4th quarter comeback 24-17. I was back during my winter break from college in my hometown Omaha and despite the cold weather and snow-covered streets, thousands of us gathered in the streets to celebrate. This came after losing seven straight bowl games as well as five straight Orange Bowls including two for National Championships (and one to Miami in 1983 31-30 after Osborne went for two rather than settling for a tie and a sure title).

2. 02/17/10 - Super Bowl XLIV - Saints defeat the favored Colts 31-17 in a game filled with thrilling plays and with a contextual backdrop of the city of New Orleans still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

3. 01/02/96 - Fiesta Bowl - Huskers win back-to-back National Championships by destroying the Florida Gators 62-24 in the most lopsided title game of all-time. This was the greatest college football team of all time, with their closest game being 14 points and defeating four Top 10 teams by a combined score of 196-73. If you want to see what a douche Kirk Herbstreit is, check out this video of him whining about Nebraska fans manipulating the fan vote in their 'Greatest College Football Team of All-Time Special'.

[Moonlight J]

1. Last night
2. Game 7 of the 91 World Series as I was a very passionate Twins fan before the Rays came along
3. Opening night of the 2009 March Madness in Vegas watching 8 games at once in the pit

[frae]

#1 June 12, 2009 Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals - After watching the Pens lose to Detroit in 6 the year before I really wanted the Pens to win this one. Having watched 12 intense games against the Wings I really hated them and this was such a great game. I was at a bar downtown filled to capacity to watch the game. We got there extra early and had seats and this game did not disappoint. Mad Max Talbot is now a hated Flyer, but I still love him for what he did on this night. 2 Talbot goals would make Max a hero and Fleury would hold off a late charge and the Pens would raise the cup. There is nothing better than a game 7 and since I won't have any to watch with the Pirates thank god we have a good hockey team.

Talbo wins it...


Fleury saves it...



#2 February 5, 2006 Super Bowl XL - Growing up in Pittsburgh as someone born after the great 70's teams (ok I was born in 79) I had heard how great it was, but had not experienced it for myself. This was a night for everyone in my generation to celebrate a title that was ours (well it still belongs to the Steelers, but you get the point). It was not a pretty game but this Willie Parker run was a great moment and would prove to be the winning score...



#3 March 12, 2005 MAC Championship Game - Attending a school that is not known for athletics made this a lot of fun. Ohio University was down 19 in the 2nd half against Buffalo and came all the way back to win in OT on a tip in at the buzzer by Leon Williams. I watched the game with the guys from the PONY league at a bar. OU...Oh Yeah!

[revo]

Super Bowl XXV - Giants 20, Bills 19 -- the G-Men had a good team that year, but Buffalo was supposed to wipe the floor with them. I was in college and we had a huge party at our off-campus house. This was also during the Gulf War, so there was a lot of $hit going on. When Norwood was wide right, the whole house erupted. It was unbelievable.

Super Bowl XLII -- Giants 17, Patriots 14 -- the Giants weren't even supposed to be there, and like SB XXV, was supposed to get waxed -- this time by undefeated New England. I had a party at my house (Hammer and his son joined us) and when Eli escaped and threw the miracle pass to David Tyree, all hell broke loose. Those last few minutes were pure torture, but it was just so surreal. Plus, it was just a year after my dad passed, and he was a huge Giants fan, it was very emotional for me.

June 1994 -- it wasn't an exact day, but every day those first two weeks, the Rangers and Knicks were playing in the conference finals and then their respective championships. There were a lot of hungover days....

November 9, 1991 -- my final game playing rugby for Stony Brook University, versus Iona. Very emotional day for the senior class.

[Mithrandir]

1. Bowling a 300 game.

2. Scoring the winning dek hockey goal against my teams arch rival with .1 second on the clock in front of a huge crowd.

3. Winning my golf league championship last year.

[DMT]

It's all about you Mith

[Mithrandir]

It's all about you Mith

i was confused ....

[virgonomic]

1. Jays win 1992 World Series (I went to Game 3)

2. Jays win 1993 World Series

3. 2005 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Leafs best Senators (2001 was a close second as I was at games 1 (Ottawa) and 4 (Toronto) for the sweep).

[umjewman]

1) January 1, 1998: Rose Bowl - Washington State vs. Michigan. I had just been accepted to Michigan about three weeks before and was going to be starting college there in the fall. Was at the Rose Bowl live as Michigan capped off an undefeated season for a shared national title (boooooo- like a playoff game of Michigan vs. Nebraska wouldn't have been interesting??). As a senior in high school just getting ready to start college, I was just in awe.

2) June 1995, not sure the date. While undergoing my chemo, Devils win the Stanley Cup. Like to think they did it for me, but probably not

3) 2000 Orange Bowl: Michigan beats Alabama in OT after the Alabama kicker misses an extra point. Was at that one too.

And for something different, from a sheer entertainment perspective, Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS was just an incredible game to be at. With Ollie Perez starting, I attended that game thinking there was no chance of even staying close. Ollie turned in a good start, Endy Chavez made his ridiculous catch, then came up with the bases loaded the next inning, IIRC, only to pop out. Then despite being down in the 10th, loaded up the bases for Beltran - figured Mets were headed to the WS, and plop- Wainwright curve, game over. Felt like an enormous kick in the balls and certainly not one of the "top" sporting nights, but that was one of the more entertaining ones.

Those are probably the first off the top of my head. There are a ton of other ones that could contend. The last three years of Michigan-Notre Dame games, Mike Piazza's homer in the first game after 9/11, 1999 Robin Ventura grand slam single against the Braves in the NLCS (where I skipped a review session for an exam to watch, only to get a D on the test) are a few others that come to mind.

[Trautdiggity]

February 3, 2008 - I share this one with Revo. Super Bowl XLII. I turned down lots of invites to SB parties, told my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) that she needed to go somewhere else and watched with my roommate and my brother only.

October 16, 2003 - ALCS game 7, the Grady Little/Pedro Martinez/Aaron Boone game. I was in Yankee Stadium with one friend (a Yankees fan) and one (a Sox fan) and watched as slowly the Sox fans (my friend included) gained confidence and became brash and louder and louder... until... well you know the rest of the story. best live sporting event for me ever.

April 7, 2003 - 2003 was a good year for me, Syracuse wins the NCAA national championship, Hakeem Warick seals the game with a massive and famous block on a Michael Lee 3. Carmelo Anthony leads them to the promised land in his only year in college.

[onejayhawk]

25 November 1971 - The Game
25 December 1971 - The Eternal Game
NCAA Basketball Championship game 1988, 2008

Two of the toughest losses you will ever endure, and two of the greatest comebacks.

J

[GTAXI]

1. Superbowl XXXVI - Patriots over the Rams.
I have been a diehard fan of the Pats since 78. Suffering through so many awful years with greats like Tommy Hodson, Hugh Millen, Matt Cavanaugh, and Marc Wilson at QB it was so sweet.
Especially since it was so unexpected. I didn't think they had any chance vs the "Greatest show on Turf"

2. 94 Stanley Cup - Can't say I'm a crazy Ranger fan, but I do root for them. That was the most intense game 7 I have ever watched, and I still get chills watching it when its replayed.

3. 77 World Series - Reggie 3 homer game vs the Dodgers. I picked this game because this was first introduction to watching a big Sporting event. I remember a ton of people in my house. Family members, friends, even strangers going nuts after every Reggie homer. It was a great time!

Other notables.

79 Sonics over Bullets (Don't ask me how I became a Sonic fan, but I loved Jack Sikma)
96 Yanks over Braves
2003 Pats over Carolina
2010 Giants over Texas - Giants are my other favorite team in baseball.

[dslaw]

1/1988 - Redskins with 5 TDs in the 2nd quarter to erase a 10-0 deficit.

10/1990 - Reds win game 1 of the World Series. I am bowling with my father in law so I am running down 10 lanes to watch it on the small screen the alley has, then running back to bowl. Actually bowled well and the Reds won.

Late 1971/early 1972 - Senators move to Texas. My first sports heartbreak.

[B-Fly]

1. Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. I was at the Stadium and in the first inning, when asked by my father to predict the star of the game, mused that this is the kind of game where somebody you'd never think of is going to come into the game late and get the big hit - I'll go with Aaron Boone.

2. Games 4 and 5 of the 2001 World Series. Yeah, the D-backs won the series, but the Yanks' dramatic 9th inning HRs of Byung-Hyun Kim, followed by extra-inning walk-off victories, on two consecutive nights - that was just unbelievable!

3. Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS. This is another one that jumps to the top for me because I was at the Stadium to experience it. Remembered mostly as the Jeffrey Maier game by those who saw it on TV, for those of us in the stands who didn't watch it deconstructed like the Zapruder film, it was more memorable for the clutch tying HR by Jeter and the 11th inning walk-off shot by Bernie Williams.