The 5 Most Memorable Sports Moments Of My Life
Monday, August 9, 2010 at 9:38AM 
One Great Season
Being a Cleveland native means I don't have a long list of championship celebrations under my belt. Perhaps if the time comes, I can hit up a few Pittsburgh friends who've enjoyed Steelers' Super Bowl wins or Cincinnati buds who followed that great wire-to-wire season of 1990, and they can tell me the do's and dont's of parade etiquette.
Until I get to enjoy an Indians World Series triumph or a Super Bowl win by the Browns, mostly all I can do is look backward at the five best sports moments of my barely 40-year-old life (not in any particular order):
+ Dan Hanson's fourth state wrestling championship: Who's Dan Hanson, you ask? He's the guy whose name was on the signs welcoming drivers on Richmond and Highland roads to our fair city of Richmond Heights. I was never much of a wrestling guy, but my high school was a powerhouse back in the day. Prior to March 1987, only two Ohio grapplers had won four state titles, but on this night, Hanson was one of three to turn the trick. And I will never forget the hair-raising several-minute ovation Hanson got in the closing seconds of his final match, and then when the referee held his arm skyward and did a 720-degree spin -- very slowly -- to show him off to the adoring crowd at St. John Arena in Columbus.
+ Ohio State's 2002 national championship: Barry had the big-screen TV, plenty of good food and an endless supply of cold Budweisers in the fridge. It was a Friday night in Cincinnati in January 2003 and just a small collection of good buds watched every second of that nailbiter. And like a bunch of 5-year-olds, we went screaming out of the house when Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey's final pass fell incomplete and the Buckeyes had their first championship in more than 30 years. Unlike a bunch of 5-year-olds, though, we kept running past the train track on Wasson Avenue and landed at familiar R.P. McMurphy's Pub to further the debauchery celebration.
+ Cincinnati's win at Pittsburgh in 2009: This was by far the best game I covered on my excellent college football adventure last fall. Not only am I a proud UC graduate, but there were so many of the elements that make football by far America's best sport. It was cold and snowy, Cincinnati was seeking its first-ever 12-0 regular season and had a slim shot to get into the BCS title game, its coach was rumored to be leaving for Notre Dame, the conference title was on the line and Pitt took a huge lead late into the first half. Then, one big play after another brought the Bearcats to within striking distance, and quarterback Tony Pike eventually found a diving Armon Binns in the end zone with a half minute left to claim the 45-44 win. The post-game madness that ensued on the other team's field was something I'll remember forever.
+ Michigan at Ohio State, 2006: In the long and storied history of sports' greatest rivalry, these bitter enemies had miraculously never played each other as No. 1 and No. 2. But that's what happened when the 11-0 squads got together to settle the Big Ten championship, and to figure out who would play in the BCS title game. The day began when 105,000 fans in Columbus' Ohio Stadium offered a well-behaved moment of silence to honor legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, who'd died the day before. He and longtime friend and rival Woody Hayes sure cooked up a good one, providing sunny skies and perfect football weather for the 42-39 thriller that the home team won.
+ The Indians advancing to the 1995 World Series: Sure the Tribe did it again in 1997, and they lost both trips, but this was a huge first for Cleveland sports fans of my generation. It had been 41 years since the team's last World Series appearance, and the Tribe was game this time around. Sure they lost to Atlanta in six games, but five of the games in that series were decided by one run, so there was no shortage of drama. That postseason is largely what made me a fan of October baseball. When you're not used to watching a ballgame closely and you don't pay attention to the analyst's breakdowns, you don't realize how celebral the game is. There is so much strategy involved in every at-bat, and really in every pitch in postseason baseball, that it's impossible not to have great respect for it. Now if only my squad can get back there sometime in the near future!
Lists
Reader Comments (8)
Mine would be:
1989 comeback win by OSU over Minnesota (2nd biggest college comeback of all time)
OSU championship 2002
Reds 1990 championship sweep over Oakland
Osu-Michigan 2005 last second victory
Osu-Purdue 2002
OSU-Purdue in 02 was indeed stellar, as was that great catch by A Gonzalez and ensuing TD run by Pittman in Ann Arbor in 05. I don't seem to recall the 89 win over Minnesota, and I wasn't quite into the Reds yet in 90. But good list. I hope more people join this conversation.
1) Game 6, '86 World Series -- grew up a Mets fan -- what a team they had, yet we still needed Buckner, lol.
2) UC-OSU, 2002 at PBS. I don't care what the scoreboard says. UC was the better team that day.
3) Tyson - Douglas.
4) Knicks - Pacers, Game 5, 1994. Being a Knicks fan, I had a tangible hatred for Reggie Miller -- and I had to watch the game at a bar in Indy to add insult to injury.
5) UC-Duke, 1998 -- Great Alaska Shootout. Was fortunate enough to be with some friends in Vegas watching that classic. Still remember the tears of joy streaming down Levitt's face.
Great topic.
Fresh, thanks for chiming in. I'm embarrassed to have forgotten about UC-Duke in 98. I'll never forget that Fletcher-to-KMart-to-Levett play to end it. Incredible finish.
John -
Great topic!
As opposed to the five objectively supreme sports moments of my lifetime (Christmas of 1975 until now), this subject allows me to tap into my most satisfying experiences as a fan.
5 - The 2008 Wimbledon gentlemen's singles final. Though a fan of Roger Federer, I'm an admirer of Rafael Nadal, and what these two men produced under the circumstances (the championship match of the most prestigious tournament in the sport of tennis, inside its most venerated and hallowed cathedral) might never be matched in my lifetime. Nadal's consistency, Fed's comeback, the fourth-set tiebreaker with BETTER QUALITY than a certain fourth-set breaker in 1980... and then the 9-7 fifth set decided at the very end of the day (had the players reached an 8-8 tie, the match would have been suspended and the moment would have been diminished). This was epic tennis played through rain delays and other events that would normally break the momentum of two players, even two as accomplished as Roger and Rafa. The two points at 7-all in the fourth-set tiebreak - Rafa's ridiculous running forehand pass to set up championship point, followed by Federer's unreal running backhand pass into the coffin corner down the line - represent the best back-to-back succession of high-stakes points in any tennis match, hands down. There have obviously been many great individual points in countless matches, but I defy another match to have back-to-back points as great and as momentous as those were. It was a day for beauty and brilliance and perseverance and will and everything else that makes tennis a boxing match... just without the unseemly and unsightly violence.
4-The 1986 Major League Baseball playoffs as a whole.
RedSox-Angels. Game 5. Baylor. Mike Witt running out of gas. Gene Mauch making the sensible move, only for Gary Lucas to hit Gedman. Henderson driving Donnie Moore to suicide. One of the most emotionally riveting and psychologically impactful baseball games ever played, a mesmerizing experience for a 10-year-old kid watching from Phoenix.
Mets-Astros. Dykstra with the walk-off knock in Game 3. Close games at every turn. Mike Scott's brilliance carrying Houston and then awaiting in Game 7... if only Houston could win Game 6. Bob Knepper dominating into the ninth, only to lose a 3-0 lead. The Mets taking the lead in the top of the 14th, only for Billy Hatcher to hit the left-field foul pole and revive the Astros. New York scoring 3 in the 16th, Houston answering with two, but Kevin Bass failing to deliver the tying hit in the bottom of the 16th. An exhausting postseason classic.
And that was just the prelude for the World Series.
"Little roller up along first. IT GETS BEHIND THE BAG! IT GETS THROUGH BUCKNER! HERE COMES KNIGHT AND THE METS WIN IT!" - Vin Scully
I had given up on the game, as had the NBC Sports crew which put the wrap throughout the Boston locker room.
No baseball postseason has ever matched 1986. 1992 was pretty good. 1980 was solid. 1972 was an upper-tier year. 1985 would have been amazing had Don Denkinger not messed it up. Those years don't rise to the standard set by 1986.
3-The Los Angeles Lakers winning the 1985 NBA title.
As someone who ONCE WAS a Laker fan (emphasize past tense; before 1995, I was a fan; not afterward), this was the most special championship of the 1980s. The Boston Celtics forged the Memorial Day Massacre in Game 1 of the Finals, 148-114, and a Laker team still haunted by the Gerald Henderson play in Game 2 of the 1984 Finals - a series L.A. definitely should have won - had to stare its demons in the face. Kareem led the charge and inspired his teammates to be better. "The Captain" delivered his finest hour in this series. I wonder where today's Laker fans place this title; it's at the top of my list, that's for sure.
2-The 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State versus Oklahoma. Quite simply, the most amazing football game I'll ever witness. I'll never write another game story like the one I wrote for College Football News. As sportswriter Oscar Madison says in the movie version of The Odd Couple, "That was the ever-lovin' lulu of all time!"
1-Roger Federer winning the 2009 French Open. Being a fan of an individual athlete is modified in an individual sport, and no moment as a tennis fan topped what happened in June of 2009. A moment I honestly thought would never arrive somehow became reality. Similar to Federer's amazing Olympic gold medal in men's doubles at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, this moment in Paris - on a larger and more historic scale - affected me with a level of emotional power that remains unmet to this day.
Matt: Thanks for weighing in and for the great description of the 08 Wimbledon final. There aren't a ton of tennis matches that I can recall where I was when I watched it, but I do recall spending that ENTIRE Sunday on the couch in my apartment watching that whole thing. Indeed very memorable.
A very Louisville-centric top 5.
Last game at Freedom Hall. An Incredible experience and appropriate for the closing of one of college basketball’s most historic venues. Loud, number 1 ranked opponent, full house and a win. And Kyle Kuric having a game every kid from Louisville dreams about. As a kid, I must have acted out similar performances a thousand times in the backyard.
Hippodrome Du Parc De Beyrouth. As a Kentuckian, I am obligated to bet on three legged nags chasing each other on a carousel. But to watch “thoroughbreds” race backwards on a clay track in the middle of what was once, and most likely, will be again, war torn Lebanon was a pleasure, and something I will never forget. And I won some coin.
Navy at Notre Dame (2009). Me and my buds got kicked out of Notre Dame stadium in the first quarter because we were having to much fun. That, and because I was representing my Navy squad with a hat and we were up 14-0. Anchors Away, bitches!
Miami at Louisville (2006). Louisville was well on our way to college football legitimacy until we got Kragthorped, and this game was the pinnacle. Highlighted by Mario Urrutia’s catch and stiff arm of a Miami DB for 15 yards on his way to the house.
Louisville vs Duke (1986). Cool Hand Luke (Denny Crum) beats the Dookies for our 2nd National Championship of the decade. In one of the more humorous ending of any championship game, Danny Ferry punkishly close-lines Jeff Hall after the horn sounds and, from off camera, Hall fires the basketball and hits Ferry.
Nice list. And yeah, I do remember Hall whipping the ball at Ferry in 86. Surprised that rarely gets talked about.