random thoughts and thoroughbred selections

Thursday, February 12, 2004

Do you believe in miracles? Yes!

Interesting discussion on sports radio this morning concerning the most memorable sports moments people carry with them. I thought I�d list a few of the ones I think about when I think of great sports moments (at least personally).

>>I was in the stands the day that Barry Sanders broke 2000 yards gained in a single season. Four things about that day really stand out. First, I�ve never had better tickets to a sporting event (45 yard line, 30 rows up). Second, the Silverdome was ridiculously loud all game long. Well, except for when my third moment happened, and that was when Reggie Brown went down for his career due to a freak neck injury. And finally, the fourth moment from that game was when Barry broke the barrier with a two yard dive, but then took the ball 55 yards on the next play. The crowd was going bananas, and I�m getting chills just thinking about it.
>>I hate the Dodgers. I really hate the Dodgers. But there�s no denying that Kirk Gibson�s Roy Hobbs home run in the World Series was a tremendous moment. Thank god he was an MSU Spartan and a former Tiger, because had that been Steve Freaking Garvey or someone, I�d have never mentioned it again. I remember thinking, �what the hell are they doing letting him hit?� as he was hobbling out there, and nearly weeping after he poked it over the right field wall. Great, great moment.
>>�Welcome back to Madison Square Garden, number 45, Michael Jordan!� I knew that Mike wanted a big game that night. You knew it was going to happen. You just did. But 55? In the Garden? Wow.
>>I think it was 1997 when the Red Wings won their first cup with the current team. I was living in the metro Detroit area, and got caught up in �Cup Fever,� following a team I never really had before. And I had never really seen the aftermath of the Stanley Cup finals before either. I don�t believe there�s another celebration in all of sports that�s as joyous and moving as the Stanley Cup presentation. It�s a big damn trophy, and it�s a big damn deal who gets to skate with it first, and who he gives it to next, and it�s just awfully cool. By the way, on a side note it seems that when there�s talk about the great warriors and leaders in all of sports, Steve Yzerman unfairly gets left out of all the discussions. I�m just saying�
>>The Detroit Pistons winning their second championship in two years was in almost every way more satisfying than the first. The media cheapened the first trophy due to the Magic/Byron Scott Laker injuries, which I found terribly unfair to do to a great team. With the second championship, Isiah Thomas� place as the greatest little man in NBA history was assured. Of all the pro teams over all the seasons I�ve rooted for, this was the one that brought me the most satisfaction.
>>But of all the college teams over all the seasons that brought me joy, the 2000 National Champion Michigan State Spartans are at the top of my list. In a sport (college basketball) ravaged by early-entry to the NBA Draft, to see a group of upperclassmen band together to win a championship was really special. And to have such an amazing floor general like Mateen Cleaves leading the way was icing on the cake. The most thrilling moment of the whole tournament was after that little bastard Teddy DuPay from Florida damn near broke Cleaves� ankle in the second half. Cleaves was carried limping to the locker room, but came back out with under ten minutes to play, not about to be denied his rightful place at the point for these last moments of his college career. I�m getting misty just thinking about it.
>>The most unbelievable individual performance I�ve ever watched was Tiger Woods� record setting performance at Augusta, which I think was back in 1998 (?). There may have been two balls total in his last 63 holes in that tournament that didn�t end up in precisely the right spot. It was surreal. But what do you expect from a guy who hits a 220 yard bunker shot to within ten feet in a British Open?
>>My absolute most favorite Detroit Lions team moment was in the 91-92 playoffs. Erik Kramer led the Lions against the Cowboys, who I hate even more than I hate the Dodgers, and absolutely decimated them. I remember I was working during the game, so I taped it. I got home around 10PM, and stayed up until nearly 4AM watching the game through twice back-to-back. I wish I still had that tape.

[>>]posted at 6:52 PM by BG - click to email
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