Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The best game you've ever seen in-person

Big thing going around the Internets last week or so is a question about the best sporting event you've ever been to in person. Mottram has a series of posts on it, and Shanoff had a quick piece on it as well.

So naturally, we were out at a trendy bar this weekend with some buddies and the conversation kinda sounded like this:

Us: Whoa! That girl is totally giving us bedroom eyes.
Friend: She's pretty hot.
Friend 2: Yeah, go talk to her.
Us: Gotta finish this drink first...
Friend: Pussy. Go now.
Us: (Pause) Ugh, so here's an interesting question, "What's the best sporting event you've ever been too."

After the successful change of subject (the girlie probably had crabs anyway), we started talking about all these great sporting events.

The point of this post is not what the best sporting event you've seen live. If you want to tell us what it is, we'd love to hear though. Drop off a comment.

Rather, we discussed which game you would go to if you could go to any historic game.

Some quick ones came to mind. The Catch. Jordan's shot vs. the Jazz. Shot Heard 'Round the World. Titans/Rams Super Bowl. Flutie Hail Mary. Miracle on Ice. Don Larsen's World Series perfect game.

Dunno. There are some great games out there. The consensus we came to though was that Boise State-Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl would be the game we would have wanted to be at. Best. Game. Ever.

Go ahead. Tell us we're batshit-crazy. C'mon. Bring it, motherfuckers.

That game had it all. Substantial comeback. Upset factor. Big stage. Trick plays. Wild ending.

We challenge you to think of a better game in the last 20 years. Fuck it. Longer. Fifty years. If anyone reading was at that game, wow, we envy you.

Feel free to wildly disagree. This is supposed to generate a discussion about the best game ever. Or talk about that Fiesta Bowl. Or discuss how many Long Islands you'd need before getting all adulterous with Ian Johnson's fiancée.

Because that game still makes us pop wood, here's the video of the last sequence. It'll give you your second (morning wood) stiffy of the day.

24 comments:

twins15 said...

Great question, some of my answers offhand: (After reading more closely, I guess these are just games I've seen live. I haven't really seen anything memorable in person)

- Boise St./Oklahoma
- Texas/USC
- Yankees/Red Sox Game 7 in 2003 (aka the Grady Little game)

Unknown said...

As a Sharks fan, I gotta go with 1994, game 7 - when the Sharks (8 seed) beat the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings for the first ever playoff series win in team history.

insomniac said...

First thing that came to mind was Kirk Gibson's game winning HR in the '88 series.

I'm not a Clemens fan, but the game when he broke the 20k barrier would have been a great one to see in person.

But I think my final choice would be to attend the Negro League game at Yankee Stadium where Josh Gibson reportedly hit a ball out of the stadium.

Anonymous said...

the play. that was a home game for the bears (not a bowl) against their arch rival and had an even better ending than boise st. oklahoma. "the band is on the field!" you'd have shat your pants.

rstiles said...

First off, the 3 best games I ever attended:
- 1999 Boston @ Cleveland - ALDS - Pedro comes out of the bullpen and no-hits the Indians
- Colorado @ Michigan - yeh, I was there for the Kordell Stewart pass...and it was the longest 4 hour drive home ever
- 1997 Ohio State @ Michigan - Woodson returns a punt for TD and Michigan goes on to win a share of the title....

Hmmm, let me think about the second part of your question of what historic sporting event I would want to watch....I'll get back to you

Ray said...

Hmmm, there's few and far between in Cleveland. I was at the game where Jordan scored a career high 69 against the Cavs, but I was only 6, so it hardly resonated.

If there was a game I wish I was at, I'd agree with Boise St.-Oklahoma and Texas-USC. Those are good ones.

Being a college basketball junkie, though, I'd have to go with Kentucky-Duke in 1992. That was a battle of two heavyweights, trading baskets throughout the whole second half, then topped off by that ridiculous runner in the lane from Kentucky, and of course Hill to Laettner. Endings don't get any better than that, unless you're in Asia.

GMoney said...

Excellent topic. I'm going all hoops on you and say that NC State/Houston and Villanova/G'Town from the 80's had it all. Charismatic figures, big time underdogs, Billy Packer...everything.

wjackalope said...

not sure about the games I would want to have been at... some memorable ones I've been to:

Georgia Tech at UVA football, 2002: UVA's last home game and a chance to go undefeated in Charlottesville on the season. The two teams combine for something like 5 TDs in the 4th quarter and UVA wins it on a (yes, just like Boise St) a Hook-and-ladder. Didn't go to overtime but still a great game and a party in the stands.

Duke @ UVA basketball - 2002: UVA takes down the highly ranked Duke for the second straight year. Then of course we tank and don't make the tournament.

those are really only good because I was a student at UVA. Nothing really historic about the games themselves.

rstiles said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rstiles said...

After thinking about it, here are 10 games that I wish I could go back and attend:

1. USA vs. USSR - 1980 hockey game - this is the greatest game ever...I was 11 years old when this took place at 5:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon and was not on live TV...

2. Yankees @ Red Sox - 1978 1-game playoff - Bucky Dent's homer...

3. NC State vs. Houston - 1983 Finals - Jimmy V baby...Jimmy V

4. Ohio State @ Michigan - 1969 - Bo ends OSU's winning streak and goes to the Rose Bowl...

5. Lakers @ Celtics - 1986 Finals - Game 6 - L.A. finally beats the Celtics - and in the Boston Garden

6. Cowboys @ Packers - 1967 NFL Title Game - The Ice Bowl...Lombardi's last hurrah...

7. Lou Gehrig's Farewell Speech - July 4, 1939 Yankee Stadium - nuff said

8. The U vs. Nebraska - 1984 Orange Bowl - back and forth battle in the old Orange Bowl...Kosar pulls the upset

9. The U @ Notre Dame - 1988 - Catholics vs. Convicts Game...brawl in the tunnell...1 point Irish win

10. Even though these were fictional - but what the heck, its my list - both Rocky Balboa - Apollo Creed fights were great...

Anonymous said...

One word, friends:

Basketbrawl!!!

The Big Picture said...

anonymous 2:09:

great one. my parents were at that game and The Catch. i should ask them which one they found more exciting.

Anonymous said...

that laetner shot would have been pretty cool to be at.

the butler said...

I'm with anon-

Duke vs. Kentucky - Grant Hill to Laettner for the win.

That Boise St. game is a good pick. Probably the most entertaining football game I've ever watched.

Marco said...

I was at Mason-Uconn in 06....Greatest.Game.Ever

TJX said...

Try a tournament then Zach. Best game ever tourney.

How about the Oilers vs. Bills?

When the BIlls were down by 32 points and cameback and won, that was a wild game. I wasn't born at that time, but I've watched the replay, and It's absolutely sick!!

The Big Picture said...

not a bad idea, mookie. not a bad idea at all.

and that game was awesome! ernest givens, what what.

tecmo said...

Super Bowl 39 AFC divisional game. jets at steelers. steelers were 15-1 that year. doug brien missed 2 field goals in the 4th quarter, and steelers were able to force overtime in a poorly played game. jeff reed hit the game winner in ot. me, my best friend bob, his buddy eric, and the rest of the fans at the closed end of the heinz field (behind the uprights that brien missed both fgs on) were all arm in arm, and the whole stadium was shaking from the crowd. surreal experience. then 30,000 fans spilled into the streets losing their minds as cars honked and tried not to mow down some people. completely nuts.

Larry Brown said...

I was at the best game I could ever imagine. (And yes, you left the door open Zach, so I have to rub the salt in the wounds). I was there in-person, Game 7, 2002, when my favorite team the Angels beat the Giants to win the World Series, and on top of that, my favorite player, Garret Anderson drove in all three Angel runs. Sorry Zach, had to do it. But, it doesn't get any better than watching your favorite team in all of sports win a game 7 in person.

One More Dying Quail said...

Game Three of the 2003 Atlantic League Division Series. Nashua Pride vs. Bridgeport Bluefish.

Bottom of the ninth, down 7-6, best closer in the history of the league (the guy saved 40 games in a 126 game season that year), Mike Guilfoyle on the mound. He gets two quick outs, then goes ahead of the shortstop, Chris Petersen, before hitting him with a pitch.

Next batter, James Lofton, goes down 0-2. Guilfoyle's throwing high, hard heat at Lofton and he can't handle it. 0-2, he tries to mix it up, maybe waste one - throws a curve that ends up out of the park.

I was working in the Pride's Media Relations department at the time and was in the press box when this happened. Joe Morgan would not have approved of my behavior when Lofton hit that ball.

Games I would have liked to see in person are Game Six of the 1975 World Series and Game Four of the 2004 ALCS. I actually could have gone to Game Four, but turned down the offer of a free ticket from my cousin because he didn't have one for my wife, I hate going into Boston by myself, and who wanted to see the Sox get swept? Not one of my finer moments.

Unknown said...

I'm gonna try to pick out a game for each of the big sports:
Baseball: 20th game of the A's win streak, where Hatteberg came off the bench and hit a walk off.
Basketball: definately the Laetner shot, I remember listenin to it on the radio in the car and not wanting to get out because I would miss something.
Football: The Game, The Play, The band is on the feild. Go Bears.
Wild Card: Cal Ripken's record breaking night. My personal athletic hero. I watched the game on TV and it was incredible, and he hit a bomb.

Anonymous said...

Two greatest games I have attended.
1994-LSU at Auburn: The Auburn Tigers score 4 defensive touchdowns (including 3 picks for scores in the 4th quarter) to come from behind to win. It keeps Terry Bowden's record at AU at 17-0 and Auburn moved to #4 in the polls. It also signaled the end of Curly Hallman at LSU.

Bills-Titans-AFC Title Game (The Music City Miracle).
I was on the sideline when the Titans ran the backwards pass on the kickoff to win the game.

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