Great moments in sports you’ve witnessed

Nolan Ryan’s 7th no hitter in Arlington.  Place was electric from the 5th inning on!

Have rotten luck on this. Probably closest is 10/7/01 at Qualcomm Stadium: Rickey Henderson's 3,000th hit came in Tony Gwynn's final game. Lots of tears at the end when Tony just missed the 5.5 hole in his final AB.

I've mentioned my #1 on this site before here it is and will never happen again:

Yankee Stadium: One Arm Man throws No Hitter - I was at the Jim Abbot no-hitter in 1993.

I've been to Yankees clincher game 6 in 2009 at Yankee Stadium (FUN),  Not a great sports moment but game 1 sat on top of the Yankee dug out at turner field (yankees did win).  Missed the all century team announcements which were game 2,  was at game 6 at yankee stadium in 1981 when Dodgers won the world series (not a good game for me).  One of my fav times is taking my son to MSG to watch Linsanity at the height of the hype.... 

1985 - Royals/Cards Game 6 - Denkinger (Royals fan, so loved it)

1998 - Clint Stoerner stumble and fumble vs. #1 Tennessee (Arkansas fan, so hated it)

2000 - Music City Miracle (TN Titans/Oilers season ticket holder, so loved it)

Wes Mathews Sr hitting a half court shot to beat Michigan State, and seeing the incredibly fake Magic Johnson all dejected.  Priceless.

I was at the Raiders-Colts playoff game in Baltimore that went into OT and Kenny Stabler threw the winning touchdown

I have not been fortunate or willing to spend a lot of coin on the memorable play off games. I did take my kid's to Mariano Rivera's last game at Yankees Stadium.

The infamous Game 3 of the 1989 Series between the Giants and A's at Candlestick.  Initially thought the rumbling was from fans stomping their feet at first only to look out and see the concrete rim of the stadium and outfield grass in rf look like a rolling sea.  

most of FSU’s memorable football moments in the 90’s. I was there when Marshall MacDougall hit 6 bombs. Tampa Bay Lightning’s first game. 

Probably not as memorable to others, but as a kid growing up it was awesome.... I saw several bench clearing brawls at Fenway in the late 80s-early 90s. 

Have to be honest here:

Watching one of my sons pitching a complete game, 3-hit shutout against Clemson at the College World Series to propel his team into the winner's bracket in 2006. Coming into the game, Clemson had the highest batting average in Division I. It was also on Fathers' Day. Hard to top that combination from my perspective.

P.S. The Clemson pitcher that day, Stephen  Farris, pitched almost as well in a 2-0 loss. If I'd been his father that day, I'd been proud, as well. It's all about parenting.

Same year, two games, was at 2008 AFCCG (Steelers fan) where Troy Palamalu sealed the game with an incredible pick 6, then took my then 7 yo son to the Super Bowl and James Harrison’s 100+ yard pick 6 right before halftime, then the final TD catch by Santonio Holmes.  Two amazing  games and incredible plays to see live.

Not a game per say, but I was at Martinsville, VA in 2015 for a NASCAR race when Jeff Gordon scored the final win of his career.  Hard to say what was more awesome - his win or Matt Kenseth pile driving Joey Lagano into the wall late in the race.  The crowd loved it.

@Prepster posted:

Have to be honest here:

Watching one of my sons pitching a complete game, 3-hit shutout against Clemson at the College World Series to propel his team into the winner's bracket in 2006. Coming into the game, Clemson had the highest batting average in Division I. It was also on Fathers' Day. Hard to top that combination from my perspective.

P.S. The Clemson pitcher that day, Stephen  Farris, pitched almost as well in a 2-0 loss. If I'd been his father that day, I'd been proud, as well. It's all about parenting.

I remember that game like it was yesterday.  Had to be one of or the best pitching dual in CWS history.

Ok so I am gonna be honest too. The best moment in sports for us was watching son close out the super regional game at Clemson to get us to Omaha to watch that game on Father's Day!

Hard to compete with what has been mentioned. But the most amazing sporting event that I ever attended was the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The US basketball team was amazing and featured Michael Jordan, before he ever played a game in the NBA. Watching them play at the Forum was unforgettable. At the Coliseum I saw Carl Lewis win the 100 meters and Edwin Moses win the hurdles. But what I remember more than anything was the ground swell of patriotism that was alive in the air. You could feel it - and the sound was deafening. People were proud to be Americans and it was on display for all to see. If everyone could see a sight like that right now we would all be better off for it. 

@adbono posted:

Hard to compete with what has been mentioned. But the most amazing sporting event that I ever attended was the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The US basketball team was amazing and featured Michael Jordan, before he ever played a game in the NBA. Watching them play at the Forum was unforgettable. At the Coliseum I saw Carl Lewis win the 100 meters and Edwin Moses win the hurdles. But what I remember more than anything was the ground swell of patriotism that was alive in the air. You could feel it - and the sound was deafening. People were proud to be Americans and it was on display for all to see. If everyone could see a sight like that right now we would all be better off for it. 

My roommates and I discussed renting our condo and heading to aEurooe during the Olympics. We decided to leave work at noon and attend an afternoon and evening event each day. We spent a ton of money. But it was all worth it. There was such a stream of gold medals in track and swimming they don’t stand out other Han Benoit’s because I knew her.

I did attend an a 1984 Olympic event that was the best party I’ve ever attended. It was cool to see 100,000 people from all over the world dancing together. Outside of the Patriots first Super Bowl win this was the most expensive ticket I’ve ever purchased.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zixh

Saw Rick "The Rocket" Mount score 61 against IOWA. IOWA won 108-107.

Years later the Purdue engineering dept watched the game and added a 3 point line to see how many it would have been today. Sorry I do not remember but it was a lot. He would shoot s fast his team would meet him going the other way.

My husband (then boyfriend) was a starter for the University of Richmond basketball team that beat Syracuse...the very first time a 15 seed beat a 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Game was at Cole Field house/University of Maryland and my parents were there with me. Talk about an electric atmosphere. Super fun to be there. 

Baseball-wise we were there for CC Sabathia's final game with the Yankees after 19 years in the MLB. 

Football...unbeknownst to us...my family was at the Colts' last football game in Baltimore before they stole away in the dark of night in Mayflower moving vans. 

Years ago we had a rare quiet weekend. My guy is a bb/bb player and had never wrestled. I decided to take him to a large tournament near us. Everyone else entered as a team, but we showed up in gym shorts and a tee and alone.

Entered him to wrestle. Right before his first match he said 'I don't know anything about wrestling. What do I do?"

I told him he needs to know 2 things. First Dan Gable says " the person who gets the first takedown almost always wins!" So at the whistle you take him down as fast as you can. Number 2 is do not let him up until you hear my voice.

Too damn funny. Won the whole tournament and still have the bracket on his wall. 

Good experience for a pitcher!

Same kid. Calls me from the golf course 1 day and says and old guy wants to play a few holes with us, what do you think?

I told him play and then introduce yourself and send me a note.

Hour later he says to me " He said his name was Johnny Lujack!"

The oldest living Heisman trophy winner! How cool is that!?

Course he never heard of him.

Not a "Great" moment but I attended the infamous NFL Snowball game at the Meadowlands where the Giants played the Chargers. We arrived at the stadium that day and there was over a foot of snow. The stadium had not been cleaned and you had to dig a hole in the snow to place your feet when you sat down. Security was also light.... in our section there were only two ushers, a female and a small male.

During the first half, a lot of snowballs were thrown but it started to tail off. At the begining of the second half, they announced the UPS delivery of the game where one lucky fan won some prize. They would show the winner on the jumbo-tron running up one of the stairway carrying a football. Well, the lucky winner was wearing a Steeler Jersey. All you could see from my nose bleed seats was the Steeler fan running up the steps between two sections, it was a gauntlet. He had hundreds of snowballs thrown his way. After that, the stadium went nuts and the snowballs were flying. A Charger coach was knocked out by a piece of ice. The game became infamous............It was also the reason stadiums are shoveled out before game time today.

I forgot one of the biggest. I was stationed at Long Beach Naval Station at the time and some friends and I went to watch the WCC basketball tournament. I was at the game where Hank Gathers dropped dead on the court. Of course, we didn't know what was going on until hours later. They simply canceled the game and cleared the arena. What an amazing college basketball player Gathers was.

@RJM posted:

My roommates and I discussed renting our condo and heading to aEurooe during the Olympics. We decided to leave work at noon and attend an afternoon and evening event each day. We spent a ton of money. But it was all worth it. There was such a stream of gold medals in track and swimming they don’t stand out other Han Benoit’s because I knew her.

I did attend an a 1884 Olympic event that was the best party I’ve ever attended. It was cool to see 100,000 people from all over the world dancing together. Outside of the Patriots first Super Bowl win this was the most expensive ticket I’ve ever purchased.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zixh

Damn. You're way older than I thought. 

growing up in Hawaii, I didn't have too much access to big time sports and big moments (my youth coach rode the pine for Chaminade when they played Virginia but I wasn't there for it) but two "great for me but not for thee" moments stand out.

1982 Rainbow Classic tournament:  before there was the Maui Invitational there was the Rainbow Classic.  It was the premier winter college basketball tournament after the Great Alaska Shootout and they used to draw big time teams.  as a kid on winter break, we were able to roll up at 9 AM, but a cheap ticket and watch hoops all day (16 teams, iirc so 8 games a day). 1982 didn't have any particularly memorable moments, from a historic standpoint (although Wayman Tisdale throwing down a 2 handed tomahawk right in front of me while sitting courtside under the basket is firmly etched in my mind) but the field that year had Jordan and Perkins from UNC and a year removed from winning it all, the aforementioned Tisdale as well as Byron Scott with Arizona State.   there were also a number of other future NBA players in the field  (Jon Sunvold and Steve Stipanovich from Missouri among others).  It was a great year to be a sports crazy kid in Hawaii)

the second is fun for me.  I was living and working in the SF area and my dodgers were in town. 1995, I think. I was doing shift work and working midnights so I was able to walk up to Candlestick, buy a cheap ticket and move my way down to field level (the Stick drew zero fans on the best of days and even less during midweek day games), even when my beloved (and hated by everyone else there) Dodgers were in town.  Thus, I was front row when Raul Mondesi flattened Kurt Mainwaring and sparked a benches clearing brawl.  if IG or YouTube had been around then, everyone would have known about it.

@mattys posted:

growing up in Hawaii, I didn't have too much access to big time sports and big moments (my youth coach rode the pine for Chaminade when they played Virginia but I wasn't there for it) but two "great for me but not for thee" moments stand out.

1982 Rainbow Classic tournament:  before there was the Maui Invitational there was the Rainbow Classic.  It was the premier winter college basketball tournament after the Great Alaska Shootout and they used to draw big time teams.  as a kid on winter break, we were able to roll up at 9 AM, but a cheap ticket and watch hoops all day (16 teams, iirc so 8 games a day). 1982 didn't have any particularly memorable moments, from a historic standpoint (although Wayman Tisdale throwing down a 2 handed tomahawk right in front of me while sitting courtside under the basket is firmly etched in my mind) but the field that year had Jordan and Perkins from UNC and a year removed from winning it all, the aforementioned Tisdale as well as Byron Scott with Arizona State.   there were also a number of other future NBA players in the field  (Jon Sunvold and Steve Stipanovich from Missouri among others).  It was a great year to be a sports crazy kid in Hawaii)

the second is fun for me.  I was living and working in the SF area and my dodgers were in town. 1995, I think. I was doing shift work and working midnights so I was able to walk up to Candlestick, buy a cheap ticket and move my way down to field level (the Stick drew zero fans on the best of days and even less during midweek day games), even when my beloved (and hated by everyone else there) Dodgers were in town.  Thus, I was front row when Raul Mondesi flattened Kurt Mainwaring and sparked a benches clearing brawl.  if IG or YouTube had been around then, everyone would have known about it.

Nice. I always thought Tisdale would be, in the NBA, what Jordan turned out to be.

@roothog66 posted:

Nice. I always thought Tisdale would be, in the NBA, what Jordan turned out to be.

he was a better bassist, thought.  I also remember he was really cool. maybe because he was a freshman and hadn't won a NC but he was very accommodating to us kids waving programs in his face asking for autographs.  others...not quite as nice.

@TPM posted:

I remember that game like it was yesterday.  Had to be one of or the best pitching dual in CWS history.

Ok so I am gonna be honest too. The best moment in sports for us was watching son close out the super regional game at Clemson to get us to Omaha to watch that game on Father's Day!

I smile when I read posts like this - hell, I almost cry. How satisfying it must be to experience that kind of moment. Most of us here just think, "maybe one day." You're truly blessed with good kids who were also great ball player, but I assume you know that.

@roothog66 posted:

Nice. I always thought Tisdale would be, in the NBA, what Jordan turned out to be.

Had you seen Jordan play in the ‘84 Olympics I bet you wouldn’t have thought that. He was incredible and obviously destined to be a star. I told friends I had never seen a player like him before. Was often said the only person that could ever hold Jordan under 20 ppg was Dean Smith

@adbono posted:

Had you seen Jordan play in the ‘84 Olympics I bet you wouldn’t have thought that. He was incredible and obviously destined to be a star. I told friends I had never seen a player like him before. Was often said the only person that could ever hold Jordan under 20 ppg was Dean Smith

Oh, I watched all of those games. Jordan was obviously destined for superstardom, but Tisdale just had more...pizzazz. One of my most memorable moments as a Razorback basketball fan was watching Arkansas beat #1 North Carolina and Jordan in Pine Bluff.

@roothog66 posted:

Oh, I watched all of those games. Jordan was obviously destined for superstardom, but Tisdale just had more...pizzazz. One of my most memorable moments as a Razorback basketball fan was watching Arkansas beat #1 North Carolina and Jordan in Pine Bluff.

Another guy who I HATED, but you could tell was going to be a superstar was Larry Bird. I recently went back and was watching the 1979 Arkansas/Indiana regional finals (where Arkansas got screwed out of a final four) and, even today, some of the stuff Bird did was just unbelievable.

@roothog66 posted:

Another guy who I HATED, but you could tell was going to be a superstar was Larry Bird. I recently went back and was watching the 1979 Arkansas/Indiana regional finals (where Arkansas got screwed out of a final four) and, even today, some of the stuff Bird did was just unbelievable.

Okay, let me get this straight. You hated Larry Bird, you saw Jordan play in the ‘84 Olympics, and you still thought Tisdale had more...anything?!?  I’m afraid you have lost all basketball cred with me. Not that I think you care 😀

@adbono posted:

Okay, let me get this straight. You hated Larry Bird, you saw Jordan play in the ‘84 Olympics, and you still thought Tisdale had more...anything?!?  I’m afraid you have lost all basketball cred with me. Not that I think you care 😀

Well, obviously I was wrong, but I wasn't alone when you consider Jordan was drafted third behind...Sam Bowie???!!! At least Tisdale was only considered second fiddle to Patrick Ewing. Tisdale, in college, was "allowed" to show more skills than Jordan was in college. Tisdale just had more of that "Pete Maravich" kind of vibe. Again, I think history shows I was very, very wrong in my assessment.

@roothog66 posted:

Well, obviously I was wrong, but I wasn't alone when you consider Jordan was drafted third behind...Sam Bowie???!!! At least Tisdale was only considered second fiddle to Patrick Ewing. Tisdale, in college, was "allowed" to show more skills than Jordan was in college. Tisdale just had more of that "Pete Maravich" kind of vibe. Again, I think history shows I was very, very wrong in my assessment.

The NBA draft took place before the ‘84 Olympics were played. Olympics were Jordan’s coming out party. Had Olympics been played before the draft Jordan it’s been widely acknowledged that Jordan would have been the first player taken. 

@adbono posted:

The NBA draft took place before the ‘84 Olympics were played. Olympics were Jordan’s coming out party. Had Olympics been played before the draft Jordan it’s been widely acknowledged that Jordan would have been the first player taken. 

Apologize for that last sentence structure. 

I was a little  hesitant at first but for ME....it has to be a part of my son's baseball journey thus far (yeah I know, cop out answer ) .  I've narrowed down a few things off the top of my head:

- Watching his last college game that solidified his winning a few NCAA D1 baseball titles and finishing in the top 10 of several other categories for the season. A perfect way to say goodbye for the last 3 years.

-  Being part of 60 - 70 relatives, friends, and teammates, and coaches watching the MLB Draft and he being selected in the 1st round.

-  Being there for his MLB debut as we heard his name over the loudspeaker being introduced as a starter in front of 31,000 plus fans in attendance (ok truthfully there were only 3 of us who were actually paying attention).

I have lived a storybook life thus far, can't wait to see how the book ends.  All you baseball parents and players, time goes by fast, enjoy and take in as much as you can.

@adbono posted:

The NBA draft took place before the ‘84 Olympics were played. Olympics were Jordan’s coming out party. Had Olympics been played before the draft Jordan it’s been widely acknowledged that Jordan would have been the first player taken. 

I also found that team to be a farce. If you watched the trials that year (I was big into basketball in the early/mid 80's), Charles Barkley dominated and was somehow cut by Bobby Knight.

*edit* "Farce" may be a bit of an overstatement. I was mainly interested in watching Alvin Robertson and Joe Kleine.

@roothog66 posted:

I also found that team to be a farce. If you watched the trials that year (I was big into basketball in the early/mid 80's), Charles Barkley dominated and was somehow cut by Bobby Knight.

*edit* "Farce" may be a bit of an overstatement. I was mainly interested in watching Alvin Robertson and Joe Kleine.

I did follow the trials and you are correct about Barkley. He clearly should have made the team. 

@adbono posted:

I did follow the trials and you are correct about Barkley. He clearly should have made the team. 

I think Knight hated him. Bobby Knight is, well...Bobby Knight. Interesting story; in the 1988 Olympics, I won about $1,000 off my shipmates by taking 10 points and the Soviets. They all paid when we lost, but also held my ass down for a very patriotic pink belly session I'll never forget.

@roothog66 posted:

I also found that team to be a farce. If you watched the trials that year (I was big into basketball in the early/mid 80's), Charles Barkley dominated and was somehow cut by Bobby Knight.

*edit* "Farce" may be a bit of an overstatement. I was mainly interested in watching Alvin Robertson and Joe Kleine.

It was Joe Klein who prompted my draft philosophy of “avoid great white slugs.” Back in the day centers mattered only Bill Walton was agile. As a low post forward Kevin McHale was agile despite having the appearance of a deer taking his first steps. Now everyone plays facing the basket or they’re considered weak offensively.

Since some people are getting into personal thrills rather than known to everyone thrills ... 

When I was fourteen a friend and I sneaked into the visitors locker room at the Boston Garden. I met Oscar Robertson and chatted with him about playing guard and shooting for ten minutes before being tossed out. 

A friend’s brother was the visiting team ball boy and locker room assistant.  He told me the door would be unlocked. From that point I was on my own. And don’t mention I knew the door would be unlocked.

@RJM posted:

It was Joe Klein who prompted my draft philosophy of “avoid great white slugs.” Back in the day centers mattered only Bill Walton was agile. As a low post forward Kevin McHale was agile despite having the appearance of a deer taking his first steps.

That was at a time when the 7' centers were the focus of the draft. I want to say that year, 4 of the first 6 picks were center. That season, Ewing, Kleine and Jon Konkac all had similar senior seasons and played each other. Kleine dominated Koncak, Koncak dominate Ewing and Ewing dominated Kleine head-to-head. Ewing was obviously the better NBA prospect, Kleine had a pretty decent journeyman career (not what you want from a top-5 pick, though) and Koncak was a bust. Kleine also used to absolutely dominate Olajuwan every time they went head-to-head. College is just a different game.