I have been in a sports frame of mind this week. With the Devils beating the Rangers to get
into the Stanley Cup Finals, the Nets exciting move to Brooklyn and the Mets
not sucking, it’s been good. It got me thinking
back to the most memorable sport moments in my lifetime. I know that is a subjective and somewhat personal thing. I also know I am
limiting it to moments I can remember in my lifetime (sorry “shot heard round
the world”) but I am pretty much talking about post 1980. Anyway, here we go...
The Top 10 Most Memorable Sports Moments Of All (well, my) Time!
#10: 1992 Men’s Olympic Basketball: The United
States Dream Team vs. the World
Yes, there were a lot more “important” Olympic athletes
and moments in my lifetime. There have
been horrific Olympic tragedies such as the Atlanta bombing and Munich massacre
as well as uplifting performances by athletes such as Carl Lewis, Rulon Gardner,
Michael Phelps & Mark Spitz. But one
of the most memorable “events” for me was the introduction of professional
basketball players to the US team in the 1992 Olympics (something I am actually
not a big fan of). Traditionally the team would be filled out with amateurs,
but a rule change in 1989 allowed professionals to play. In 1992 a team of NBA stars headlined by
Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird led the United States to a total
domination of the competition. It was so
amazing that the opposing players would ask for pre-game autographs and photos of
the US players. USA Coach Chuck Daley did not call
a single time out the entire Olympics.
#9 1993 NCAA
Basketball Finals: Michigan vs. North Carolina
This was a battle of two tournament #1 seeds; North
Carolina coached by the legendary Dean Smith and Michigan, also known as the
Fab-5 because they started 5 freshmen.
What made the game memorable was, unfortunately for star player Chris Webber, the
fact that Webber called a time out in the closing seconds, when Michigan did not
have any left, resulting in a technical foul.
Interestingly enough, probably less memorable was the fact that Michigan
was stripped of all of their wins that season (including the tournament) due to
Webber’s under the table payments while in college.
#8 Athletes versus
My “Innocence”
Over my lifetime, I have gone from a wide-eyed kid
looking up at these larger than life stars to a somewhat jaded adult who hopes that my kids have better sense than try to emulate the stars of their day. This loss of innocence, as I call it, is probably the biggest let down of all. Just think...
·
At one time, O.J. Simpson was once the outstanding
running back who became the first player ever to run for more than 2,000 yards
in a season and not the man accused of murdering his wife.
· At one time, Tonya Harding was a championship
level figure skater, not the woman who covered up an attack on rival Nancy
Kerrigan.
· At one time, Lenny Dykstra was the scrappy Mets outfielder and
not the guy sentenced to 3 years in a state prison for Grand Theft Auto.
·
At one time, when you heard the names, Barry
Bonds, Ben Johnson, Roger Clemens and Marion Jones you did not first think of
performance enhancing drugs.
·
At one time, Pete Rose was the guy who had more
hits than anyone ever in the game of baseball and not the guy who was permanently banned from the sport for
betting on it.
· The list goes on and on. Ben Roethlisberger, Kobe Bryant, Brett Favre,
Tiger Woods, Michael Vick, Jenifer Capriati, do I really need to go on…because
I can…
·
…Lawrence Taylor, Plaxico Burress, Jayson
Williams, Steve Howe, Mike Tyson, Dwight Gooden….you get my point.
When Charles Barkley said that athletes should not be
role models (while at the same time collecting millions in endorsements for being someone kids look up to), he couldn’t have been
more right.
#7: 1987 AFC
Championship Game: The Denver Broncos versus the Cleveland Browns
On the surface, you may not recognize this game. However, if you are a football fan, you
probably would recognize this AFC championship game for what it is most famous
for, and that is “the Drive”.
As a lifelong Raider fan, I hated everything to do with
the Broncos, Elway included. Watching
this game, all I could do is shake my head as Elway marched the Bronco’s 98
yards to tie the game with 37 seconds left in regulation. They ultimately went on to win the game in
overtime with a field goal.
Other considerations for my one word memories include The
Catch, the Fumble (same teams – go figure) and Cher (wait, that last one doesn’t
make sense).
#6 1995: Stanley
Cup Finals: Game 4: The NJ Devils Sweep the Detroit Red Wings
OK, I know I am being a little selfish with the inclusion
of this game/series. This is probably
just a personal game to me because I was actually in the building for this game
and that objectively this is not an “all time memorable event”. But, like the kid who took his ball and went
home, it’s my list, so…
I have been a Devil’s fan ever since they moved to NJ and
as I said, I was at this game (great center ice seats) and I got to see the
team skate out with the cup. The Detroit
Red Wings were the heavily favored team going into the series, but the Devils,
led by Martin Broduer and Scott Steven’s shocked the world…ok maybe shocked the
Hockey world?...fine surprised the
hockey world with its 4 game sweep. This
was not only the Devils first Stanley cup win, but also the Garden state’s
first major sports championship.
On a side note, I was offered $1,000 for my 2 tickets as
I walked into the arena and turned it down.
Glad I did – it is a memory that has stayed with me and I am sure I
would have blown that money on something ridiculous anyway.
#5 1989: Chicago Bulls beat Cleveland Cavaliers in
game 5 of Eastern Conference Finals
You may ask, why this game? The Bulls didn’t win the title this year and
at this point his "Air-ness" had 0 world championships.
For those who remember the pre-3 peat (and pre-Phil Jackson) Bulls, this
was a game (and series) that the heavily favored Cavs lost to the Bulls. Yep, you read that right…”Heavily Favored
Cavs”. In fact the Cavs swept the Bulls
6-0 in the regular season. However, the
reason this game sticks in my head is that it was the one that turned Michael
Jordan into “the Man” in my opinion. 6
seconds left in the game, Bulls up by 1.
The Cavs inbound the ball and 3 seconds later go up by 1 – with only 3
seconds left on the clock. Jordan,
double teamed, gets the ball, and in a shot that will forever be etched in my
head, shoots over Ehlo, scores and send the bulls into a wild celebration!
#4 1994 NHL Eastern
Conference finals game 7: Rangers beat Devils in double OT
OK, this pains me to put this one here on the list. I mean I literally have pains right now as I
type this…but I…must…go…on
For this series, the Devils were up 3 games to 2 going
into Game 6. Rangers captain Mark
Messier made a guarantee that the Rangers would win game 6. Devils were up 2-0 when Messier put on a
show, scored a hat trick and the Rangers won the game. Going into Game 7, the Devils still felt in
control, taking a lead into the 3rd period with 10 seconds left to
go. However the Rangers not only scored
in those last 10 seconds, but went to double overtime where they eventually
scored, giving the Rangers the win, earning the praise of the greatest series in hockey and forever making me hate the 3 words
“Matteau, Matteau, Matteau”.
Footnote: While
the Devils recent victory of the Rangers helps (amazing that Brodeur was in
goal for both), for those of us who lived through 1994, it will always be
painful memory.
#3 1985: Boxing:
“Marvelous” Marvin Haggler vs. Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns
My first exposure to boxing was Rocky Balboa fighting
Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies. Rocky introduced me to the back and forth nature of boxing and the exciting
non-stop action as each “boxer” punches each other in the face and keeps coming back for more.
Then I watched a real boxing match.
It was like finding out there was no Santa Claus. What a let-down. Boxing was pretty much 2 guys skipping around the ring and then holding onto each other like it was a slow dance at a high school
prom.
All that changed in 1985 when I watched the Hagler v Hearns
match. 3 rounds of just complete
awesomeness. Both were dominant fighters
and didn’t disappoint. While only being
a total of 8 minutes of fighting, I would go as far as saying that it was the
greatest match in the history of Boxing!
#2 1986 World
Series Game 6: The NY Mets beat the Boston Red Sox
I will caveat this entry by saying that not only am
I a Mets fan, but I was actually at this game.
That said, I still think it has to go down as one of the most memorable
World Series games of all time. Boston,
trying to break the curse of the Bambino was 1 out away from winning the World
Series. Champaign is on ice, no one on
base and up comes "The Kid" Gary Carter and a single to keep what faint hopes alive (and put me back in my seat
instead of heading for Shea stadiums exit).
Without giving the rest of the play by play, it ends up that the winning
run (Ray Knight) gets to third base and Mookie Wilson is up to bat. After fouling off what appears to be 200
straight pitches, he hits a grounder to first.
The ball “GETS BY BUCKNER” and the Mets win an improbable game and sends
the series to game 7 (which the Mets had to come from behind once again to
ultimately bring home the crown). This
put the Amazing back in the Mets!
#1 1980: USA
hockey defeats Russia
If you weren’t around for this game, then it may be hard
for you to truly understand the importance of it and really how unbelievable
the victory was. From a hockey
standpoint, it was a true David versus Goliath matchup. The US team was full of amateurs and college
players going up against a Soviet team that had basically won every single world
championship and Olympic tournament since 1954. In fact, the soviet players, who were not permitted to play in the NHL, played the NHL all-stars and won 6-0. Forget any type of dynasty you think you
know, the Soviet team just did not lose.
In fact, these two teams played right before the Olympics and the
Soviets destroyed the US team by a score of 10-3. Long story short, the USA team defeated the
Soviets 4-3 and Al Michaels said the memorable words as the clock wound down to
0 “DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?” Players
ran onto the ice in celebration, coach Herb Brooks broke down and cried and the
team spontaneously started singing God Bless America in the locker room.
Funny thing was, while this is the game that gets all the
press, it wasn’t the gold medal game.
USA had to come from a 2-1 deficit to beat Finland for the gold medal. When down 2-1 in the second period, coach Brooks supposedly told the team in the locker room; "If you lose this game you will take it to your graves". Then he turned to leave, spun around and said "Your @%$! graves" and the walked out. The team went out and won the game.
When the US received their Gold medals, there was only
supposed to be 1 player on the podium (the captain), yet Mike Eruzione waved
for all his teammates to join him. It
was a fitting end.
It was dubbed Miracle on Ice and it really was.
