The 10 Best NCAA Championship Games Since 1979

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Last year, we counted down the top 10 NCAA Championship games since 1979.

Today, we give you the list once more for easy Friday page-views (click on the game for a short summary):

10. Michigan State over Indiana State, 1979
9. Connecticut over Duke, 1999
8. North Carolina over Georgetown, 1982
7. Syracuse over Kansas, 2003
6. Michigan over Seton Hall, 1989
5. Kansas over Memphis, 2008
4. Indiana over Syracuse, 1987
3. Arizona over Kentucky, 1997
2. Villanova over Georgetown, 1985
1. North Carolina State over Houston, 1983

The Top 6 Sports Movies Of All Time

This post was originally published on March 5, 2010. It has been re-posted due to heavy demand as it is Oscar Week once again.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

In honor of Sunday's Academy Awards, I've compiled a list of the six best sports movies of all time.

Anyone can do a Top 50, a Top 20 or a Top 10. If you do a Top 50, you don't really miss out on anything, leaving your readers no opportunity to write in and tell you how stupid you are. I like to take those chances.

I've seen dozens of sports movies and there are many I would have liked to have added to this list. Hundreds have been made over the years, and surely you'll disagree with this best-of countdown, but after recalling some of my favorites, I feel confident in calling this the only list you need to heed:

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WEIGH IN: What Is Your Favorite Sports Movie?

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6. The Express (2008) -- Rob Brown's second sports movie has him playing the role of Ernie Davis, the legendary Syracuse running back who would become college football's first black Heisman Trophy winner at a time when the civil rights movement divided Americans in the 1960s. Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder, played by Dennis Quaid in Quaid's fourth sports role, is set in his ways as he tries to make the Orange a top team in the east, but Davis teaches him as much about the world as the coach can teach him about football. Davis wins the Heisman, and his coach gets that elusive national championship.

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Fashion Week Special: The 5 Best Uniforms In Basketball

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

With Fashion Week getting started here in New York on Friday, it only makes sense to put the OGS Lists team to work and have them crank out a collection of the best uniforms in basketball. Here's what they came up with:

5. Los Angeles Lakers road unis: The overall coolness of the Lakers kits took a hit when they rolled out the white-on-white look about a decade ago. But the purple and gold is a great mix, and the design hasn't deviated once in my lifetime. Here's to consistency!

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Upon Further Review: An Updated Worst Super Bowls List

By MATT ZEMEK
One Great Season

The OGS Worst Super Bowls list below is a great list in terms of identifying hyped Super Bowl matchups that bombed to a particularly considerable extent. If a bad- or worst-game rankings list or hierarchy is based on the extent to which a game fizzled, the list is excellent.

I would only point out that it's worth exploring other dimensions of "bad games." Another school of thought — not inherently better or worse than the OGS list — would say that a bad game is not based on the "dud-to-pregame-hype ratio," but on the sheer (lack of) quality displayed over four quarters of competition.

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List: The 5 Worst Super Bowls Of All Time

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

The sad thing about the most overpromoted sports event on the planet is that on the rare occasion that the Super Bowl produces a good game, it still doesn't live up to the 336 hours (that's two weeks, Rain Man) of non-stop hype.

But on the majority of the previous 44 occasions in which the AFC and NFC champions have met for all the marbles, the season finale is a boring blowout memorable only for the commercials or the grand you pocketed from the lucky squares pool you won at your buddy's kegger.

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List: The 5 Best Super Bowls Of All Time

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

The OGS Lists Department has been hard at work this week, and we'll be rolling out all kinds of Super Bowl countdowns the next few days. First up, the best Super Bowl games in NFL history:

5. Super Bowl XXV: New York Giants 20, Buffalo 19 — "Wide Right" is known more in college football circles than pro, but this game will forever be remembered as the one that Bills kicker Scott Norwood could have won with a field goal on the game's final play. But he hooked it, allowing Bill Parcells and his underdog Giants to escape with their second Super Bowl victory.

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7 Things We Hate About the Super Bowl

By RAMZY NASRALLAH
One Great Season

Life is a constant struggle for the eternal contrarian: In a matter of days, much of the world will gather in its bars, living rooms and thatched huts to consume the Sport of Kings' pinnacle event. Despite the pageantry, the gambling, the gluttonous food and alcohol consumption and each of the 30-second commercials (Talking babies + talking animals = ABSOLUTE GENIUS) that cost far more than you’ll ever be worth, there's so much to hate about the Super Bowl.

You're surrounded by people in your life who live for the Super Bowl. Contrarians like us who despise it must stick together, because while football is the lifeblood of the American way, the Super Bowl absolutely sucks.

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The 6 Best Sports Movies Of All Time

Nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday. So we'd like to re-publish a story we first posted here on OGS before last year's Oscars: "The Top 6 Sports Movies Of All Time." Enjoy!

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

In honor of Sunday's Academy Awards, I've compiled a list of the six best sports movies of all time.

Anyone can do a Top 50, a Top 20 or a Top 10. If you do a Top 50, you don't really miss out on anything, leaving your readers no opportunity to write in and tell you how stupid you are. I like to take those chances.

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List: Super Bowl MVPs

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

The OGS list-building team is at it again, offering up to you a bookmark-able page for those interested in knowing every previous Super Bowl MVP. Study this table and you'll be the coolest guy at the party. Just make sure not to double dip.

Game	Date	Most Valuable Player
XLV	Feb. 6, 2011	Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers
XLIV	Feb. 7, 2010	New Orleans QB Drew Brees
XLIII	Feb. 1, 2009	Pittsburgh WR Santonio Holmes
XLII	Feb. 3, 2008	New York Giants QB Eli Manning
XLI	Feb. 4, 2007	Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning
XL	Feb. 5, 2006	Pittsburgh WR Hines Ward
XXXIX	Feb. 6, 2005	New England WR Deion Branch
XXXVIII	Feb. 1, 2004	New England QB Tom Brady
XXXVII	Jan. 26, 2003	Tampa Bay S Dexter Jackson
XXXVI	Feb. 3, 2002	New England QB Tom Brady
XXXV	Jan. 28, 2001	Baltimore LB Ray Lewis
XXXIV	Jan. 30, 2000	St. Louis QB Kurt Warner
XXXIII	Jan. 31, 1999	Denver QB John Elway
XXXII	Jan. 25, 1998	Denver RB Terrell Davis
XXXI	Jan. 26, 1997	Green Bay KR/PR Desmond Howard
XXX	Jan. 28, 1996	Dallas CB Larry Brown
XXIX	Jan. 29, 1995	San Francisco QB Steve Young
XXVIII	Jan. 30, 1994	Dallas RB Emmitt Smith
XXVII	Jan. 31, 1993	Dallas QB Troy Aikman
XXVI	Jan. 26, 1992	Washington QB Mark Rypien
XXV	Jan. 27, 1991	New York Giants RB Ottis Anderson
XXIV	Jan. 28, 1990	San Francisco QB Joe Montana
XXIII	Jan. 22, 1989	San Francisco WR Jerry Rice
XXII	Jan. 31, 1988	Washington QB Doug Williams
XXI	Jan. 25, 1987	New York Giants QB Phil Simms
XX	Jan. 26, 1986	Chicago DE Richard Dent
XIX	Jan. 20, 1985	San Francisco QB Joe Montana
XVIII	Jan. 22, 1984	Los Angeles Raides RB Marcus Allen
XVII	Jan. 30, 1983	Washington RB John Riggins
XVI	Jan. 24, 1982	San Francisco QB Joe Montana
XV	Jan. 25, 1981	Oakland QB Jim Plunkett
XIV	Jan. 20, 1980	Pittsburgh QB Terry Bradshaw
XIII	Jan. 21, 1979	Pittsburgh QB Terry Bradshaw
XII	Jan. 15, 1978	Dallas DT Randy White Dallas DE Harvey Martin
XI	Jan. 9, 1977	Oakland WR Fred Biletnikoff
X	Jan. 18, 1976	Pittsburgh WR Lynn Swann
IX	Jan. 12, 1975	Pittsburgh RB Franco Harris
VIII	Jan. 13, 1974	Miami RB Larry Csonka
VII	Jan. 14, 1973	Miami S Jake Scott
VI	Jan. 16, 1972	Dallas QB Roger Staubach
V	Jan. 17, 1971	Dallas LB Chuck Howley
IV	Jan. 11, 1970	Kansas City QB Len Dawson
III	Jan. 12, 1969	New York Jets QB Joe Namath
II	Jan. 14, 1968	Green Bay QB Bart Starr
I	Jan. 15, 1967	Green Bay QB Bart Starr

List: Super Bowl Champions

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

The OGS list-building team offers up this bookmark-able page for you. It's quite possibly the sexiest list of past Super Bowl champions.

Game	Date	Result	Location	Attendance
XLV	Feb. 6, 2011	Green Bay 31, Pittsburgh 25	Cowboys Stadium Dallas	103,219
XLIV	Feb. 7, 2010	New Orleans 31 Indianapolis 17	Sun Life Stadium Miami	74,059
XLIII	Feb. 1, 2009	Pittsburgh 27 Arizona 23	Raymond James Stadium Tampa	70,774
XLII	Feb. 3, 2008	New York Giants 17 New England 14	Univ of Phoenix Stadium Glendale, Ariz.	71,101
XLI	Feb. 4, 2007	Indianapolis 29 Chicago 17	Dolphin Stadium Miami	74,512
XL	Feb. 5, 2006	Pittsburgh 21 Seattle 10	Ford Field Detroit	68,206
XXXIX	Feb. 6, 2005	New England 24 Philadelphia 21	Alltel Stadium Jacksonville	78,125
XXXVIII	Feb. 1, 2004	New England 32 Carolina 29	Reliant Stadium Houston	71,525
XXXVII	Jan. 26, 2003	Tampa Bay 48 Oakland 21	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego	67,603
XXXVI	Feb. 3, 2002	New England 20 St. Louis 17	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	72,922
XXXV	Jan. 28, 2001	Baltimore 34 New York Giants 7	Raymond James Stadium Tampa	71,921
XXXIV	Jan. 30, 2000	St. Louis 23 Tennessee 16	Georgia Dome Atlanta	72,625
XXXIII	Jan. 31, 1999	Denver 34 Atlanta 19	Pro Player Stadium Miami	74,803
XXXII	Jan. 25, 1998	Denver 31 Green Bay 24	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego	68,912
XXXI	Jan. 26, 1997	Green Bay 35 New England 21	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	72,301
XXX	Jan. 28, 1996	Dallas 27 Pittsburgh 17	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe	76,347
XXIX	Jan. 29, 1995	San Francisco 49 San Diego 26	Joe Robbie Stadium Miami	74,107
XXVIII	Jan. 30, 1994	Dallas 30 Buffalo 13	Georgia Dome Atlanta	72,817
XXVII	Jan. 31, 1993	Dallas 52 Buffalo 17	Rose Bowl Pasadena	98,374
XXVI	Jan. 26, 1992	Washington 37 Buffalo 24	Metrodome Minneapolis	63,130
XXV	Jan. 27, 1991	New York Giants 20 Buffalo 19	Tampa Stadium Tampa	73,813
XXIV	Jan. 28, 1990	San Francisco 55 Denver 10	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	72,919
XXIII	Jan. 22, 1989	San Francisco 20 Cincinnati 16	Joe Robbie Stadium Miami	75,129
XXII	Jan. 31, 1988	Washington 42 Denver 10	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego	73,302
XXI	Jan. 25, 1987	New York Giants 39 Denver 20	Rose Bowl Pasadena	101,063
XX	Jan. 26, 1986	Chicago 46 New England 10	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	73,818
XIX	Jan. 20, 1985	San Francisco 38 Miami 16	Stanford Stadium Stanford, Calif.	84,059
XVIII	Jan. 22, 1984	L.A. Raiders 38 Washington 9	Tampa Stadium Tampa	72,920
XVII	Jan. 30, 1983	Washington 27 Miami 17	Rose Bowl Pasadena	103,667
XVI	Jan. 24, 1982	San Francisco 26 Cincinnati 21	Pontiac Silverdome Pontiac, Mich.	81,270
XV	Jan. 25, 1981	Oakland 27 Philadelphia 10	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	76,135
XIV	Jan. 20, 1980	Pittsburgh 31 L.A. Rams 19	Rose Bowl Pasadena	103,985
XIII	Jan. 21, 1979	Pittsburgh 35 Dallas 31	Orange Bowl Miami	79,484
XII	Jan. 15, 1978	Dallas 27 Denver 10	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans	76,135
XI	Jan. 9, 1977	Oakland 32 Minnesota 14	Rose Bowl Pasadena	103,438
X	Jan. 18, 1976	Pittsburgh 21 Dallas 17	Orange Bowl Miami	79,484
IX	Jan. 12, 1975	Pittsburgh 16 Minnesota 6	Tulane Stadium New Orleans	80,997
VIII	Jan. 13, 1974	Miami 24 Minnesota 7	Rice Stadium Houston	71,882
VII	Jan. 14, 1973	Miami 14 Washington 7	Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles	90,182
VI	Jan. 16, 1972	Dallas 24 Miami 3	Tulane Stadium New Orleans	81,023
V	Jan. 17, 1971	Baltimore 16 Dallas 13	Orange Bowl Miami	79,204
IV	Jan. 11, 1970	Kansas City 23 Minnesota 7	Tulane Stadium New Orleans	80,562
III	Jan. 12, 1969	New York Jets 16 Baltimore 7	Orange Bowl Miami	75,389
II	Jan. 14, 1968	Green Bay 33 Oakland 14	Orange Bowl Miami	75,546
I	Jan. 15, 1967	Green Bay 35 Kansas City 10	Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles	61,946

7 Things We Don't Want To See In 2011

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Typically around the turn of a new year, scribes like to share what they'd like to see in sports during the upcoming calendar.

Some do it seriously, others take a humorous approach. Today's lesson, kids, is a serious look at what we don't want to see in sports in 2011.

+ Chris Berman — I know this is a lot to ask for, especially right off the bat, but I don't think I know anyone who likes him. His yawny nicknames, John Facenda impressions, repetitive classic-rock references and tiresome sound effects are older than his ill-chosen coat-and-tie pairings. Berman, we get it; you're the face of the biggest sports network's biggest sport. But that doesn't mean every Super Bowl wrap show needs to end with "what a long, strange trip it's been." Evidence that your age is catching up to you is your out-of-breath diatribes that make you sound more like Martin Short's Jiminy Glick character than an enthusiastic NFL show host. You're 55. Do something else.

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The 10 Most Popular OGS Stories Of 2010

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

In case you woke up today wondering what the 10 most read OGS stories were in 2010, then this is for you.

Below are the stories you made popular this year. You should feel pretty good about your accomplishment:

1. Sept. 2: College Football Pub Crawl: Where To Drink & Watch In 83 Cities

2. June 8: World Cup Pub Crawl: Where To Drink & Watch In 35 Cities

3. Oct. 25: 10 Things You Hate About ESPN

4. June 12: World Cup 2010: Diego Maradona Timeline

5. Sept. 20: OU Mascot Planned Brutus Attack Last Year

6. Oct. 26: Foul Ball Girl Has A New Boyfriend

7. Dec. 7: 2010-11 College Football Bowl Travel Guide

8. April 30: Gallery: The Hot Girls Of The Kentucky Derby

9. Nov. 24 Could An 11-Team Playoff Save College Football?

10. Feb. 11: Fashion Week Special: The Top 10 Looks In Sports

Current Hot Topics: Lists | Surveys | Q&As | Oregon

The 5 Most Replayed Sports Highlights Of All Time

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

There are plenty of great sports highlights we've seen dozens of times, and they never seem to get old.

Below is a short list of the Five Most Replayed Sports Highlights Of All Time (click on the bold text to watch the video for each):

5. Carlton Fisk's Home Run — When you see highlights of the 1975 World Series, you rarely see a clip of something the Cincinnati Reds and their Big Red Machine did, even though they won baseball's top prize that year. Instead, you see Fisk's walk-off home run that clanged off the left-field foul pole in the bottom of the 12th inning, sending the Series to a Game 7. The home run itself certainly wasn't the most dramatic of all time, but the lasting images of Fisk jumping out of the batter's box, bouncing and trying to wave the ball fair make that moment all the more memorable.

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4. Flutie's Hail Mary — Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie saves the day for the Eagles with a last-second Hail Mary pass to Gerard Phelan, whose improbable catch in the end zone gave the visitors a stunning 47-45 win at defending national champion Miami.

3. The Band Is Out On The Field — Cal's bizarre kickoff return on the game-winning final play of the Bears' 1982 win over Pac-10 and Bay-Area rival Stanford always will be great video. A bowl eligible Cal team had no post-season invitation, but Stanford was playing to become bowl eligible, and with John Elway at the helm, the Cardinal surely would have earned an invite had they won. But the Bears, with only 10 men on the field, had other plans.

2. Christian Laettner — The call on the broadcast wasn't necessarily memorable, but just referring to this one as "Christian Laettner" is still a clear enough reference to college basketball's most replayed highlight (Sorry, Jimmy V!). Laettner's single-bounce, turnaround, fadeaway, foul-line jumper gave the Blue Devils a thrilling 104-103 victory over Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA Tournament East Regional Final. The event is widely regarded as the best college basketball game ever played.

1. Miracle On Ice — Al Michaels' legendary call during the ABC broadcast was a great moment in sports, in broadcasting and in American patriotism. As the U.S. team skated away the final seconds of their 1980 Olympics semifinal-round victory over the Soviet Union on a melting sheet of ice, Micheals asked, "Do you believe in miracles?" It's the greatest moment in American sports history.

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+ EXTRA: More Lists From OGS
+ ALSO: The Most Memorable Story Of 2010

National Underdog Day: The 5 Biggest Upsets In Sports

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

National Underdog Day is today, and the OGS holiday staff has compiled a neat little look at the 5 Biggest Upsets in Sports History.

5. Appalachian State beats Michigan — The FCS upstart blocked a last-second field-goal attempt by the No. 5 Wolverines in the Big House, preserving its 34-32 defeat in 2007. It marked the first time ever that an FCS school beat a Top 25 team. The Mountaineers would go on to win the FCS national championship that year, their third in a row.

4. New York Jets win Super Bowl III — Broadway Joe Namath made sports guarantees chic when he predicted a Jets defeat of NFL powerhouse Baltimore in 1969. The AFL champion was an 18-point underdog, hoping to represent the upstart league well after the NFL won the first two post-merger championships pretty handily. Namath's Jets claimed a 16-7 win, but haven't returned to the Super Bowl since.

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The Best Sportswriting Of The Year

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Everyone's starting to kick out their year-end reviews. I've got a couple of them in mind.

Today's first offering is a look back at the 12 best pieces of sportswriting I read this year:

+ Satirist Matt Taibbi crushed LeBron James on RollingStone.com in July with "The Five Funniest Things About the 'LeBron James' Superdouche Broadcast."

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+ Sports Illustrated college football writer Andy Staples told me he'd been waiting a long time to publish this wonderful tribute to his late mother, an Alabama alum whose alma mater won the national championship in January. "You Would Have Loved Tonight, Mom -- Your Tide Finally Won" is worth a bookmark. You'll enjoy reading it for the sixth time just as much as the first.

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