Who was in your mind the

Manny Ramirez...Brooklyn Youth Service, Randallstown H.S. (MD) July 4th Tourney in 91-93 time frame. I was coaching one of the host tournament teams. Manny, along with Frankie Rodriguez were on Mel Zitter's team. Mel says before the game he's got an OF who's pretty good. Many goes 4 for 4 with 2 dongs. Oh yea, Frankie hit 96 on the gun several times that day.

Mark Texiera, 1995/6 American Legion Regional Championship game vs. Brooklawn N.J. Mark was playing for Jim McCandless' Severna Park team. Down to Brooklawn by 2 runs with 2 outs in the 9th, Tex steps up with runners on 1st and 3rd. He proceeds to hit 3-2 pitch over fence for game winning runs, sending his team to A.L. World Series. As soon as he hit it, his arms went up in the air.

A tie between Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky.

I saw both of them do things that really didnt seem physically possible.

More of an electric moment...Darrell Griffith, Univ. of Louisville, freshman basketball player.

Univ. of Cincinnati had the longest home court winning streak in the nation at about 70+ games. 17,000+ fans in Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum around 1976 or so. Cincinnati leads all game, but its close. My father is really impressed by Griffith and tells me all game, I really wanna see him dunk one.

With seconds left, he takes an alley-oop pass and slams it home to give Louisville the upset win and 17,000+ fans go dead silent. They all get up and quietly walk out of the arena...including me (a Cincinnati fan).

Great question!!!

I have been going back in my memory bank, trying to answer this one. But I don't think I can. As I have been fortunate to have seen several Hall of Famers in both football and baseball!! Nolan Ryan, Willie Mays, are at the top of my baseball list!!
I was fortunate as a kid we had season tickets to the Cowboy games from the late 60's to the mid seventies so I was able to see most of the old time HOF players of that era, One of the most exciting players that I recall was"Bullet" Bob Hayes. Every time he touched the ball everyone would hold their breath!! I saw him catch a pass from Don Merideth,in the old Cotton Bowl, at about the 40 yard line the defenders didn't even bother to try and catch him after he got behind them and he sprinted down the center of the field 60 yds. in about 2 seconds (or so it seemed).

Bo Kimble, at the first two games after his best friend Hank Gathers passed away. In the first game, he had four quick fouls, and stayed in the game, trying to make it to the line to shot the free throw left-handed in tribute to Hank. Finally got it, knocked it down, and then went on to lead them to victory.
2nd Game ended up being the highest scoring game in NCAA tourney history. For both games we had seat 30 feet from the end line. Amazing.

Prob Darin Erstad, saw him play football for the huskers,hope that counts.

I've seen many greats: Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Pedro, Griffey, A-Rod, Edgar martinez. Also saw Allen Iverson, Scottie Pippen.

I think the best thing I saw was when Griffey Sr. and Jr. roamed the outfield together. Man, I miss the Kingdome...psych.

Sidenote: Wasn't Erstad just a punter for Nebraska?

Jack Thompson, the "Throwin' Samoan" while I was at Washington State. What an amazing athlete, and the game I recall in particular was nothing but him picking apart the defense with bullet after bullet after bullet, marching the Cougs downfield at will.......awesome display.

Emmitt Smith...I was stationed in Pensacola in the early to mid 80s and Emmitt played for Escambia High School. He wasn't a man among boys, he was from a different planet. More than once he had 180-200 yards by halftime and sat the rest of the game!

Off the subject, but reminded of my P-Cola days, as I was a Pensacola Open volunteer in the Press Tent for several years, biggest pro athlete jerk...Jerry Pate. Absolutely nicest guy on the tour, then....Joey Sindelar... and his wife made my knees buckle.

Mine is Emily Schneider....She is not famous, nor is she playing sports any more. Believe it or not it was T-Ball.

Our rules:
Max 5 runs per inning
Must change person playing pitcher each inning

Anyway we were playing a team that had been undefeated, and it was very important to that coach. Typically the games end up in a tie, basically each team scoring 5 runs every inning.

It was exciting...well not really the game was tied going into the last inning. My team batted first, we only scored 4 runs.

The other team begins cheering as they see Emily race to the mound. In fact the coach muttered, not he said it loud enough for us to here on the other bench, "We got this game!"

Quickly the other team scores 3 runs, we get one out, and they load the basis with Ted Williams (not really), their best hitter coming to the plate.

I remember him making sure his batting gloves, solid white to match his white baseball spikes, were nice and tight. He lines the ball directly to Emily and defensively she catches the line drive.

In T-Ball,nature takes over and all the kids took off. Once she realized she had the ball she ran to third, doubled that runner up, ran to second doubled that runner up, and if that was not enough she ran to first and doubled him up also.

Never taking the ball out of her glove the whole team tackled her, no different than the Red Sox. Out of the pile I could see her freckled face smiling from ear to ear.

Yes I let her keep the "Incredaball" and to this day I wonder if she still has it.

PS: As our kids were jumping for joy, not knowing that we won, just happy that we turned, as one kid put it, "one more than a triple play!" I saw the coach throw the "T" over the backstop.

For me it is as follows:

Baseball--Willie Mays-- every day he played

Football -- Deion Sanders running back kick offs and punts

Basketball--Michael Jordan especially in the Graden vs the Knicks

Lacrosse--Jim Brown when he played at Manhassett HS on LI--he was also a college All American on the locrosse field

At the risk of showing bias to my alma mater, and the Hokie Nation, when Michael Vick took a snap and dropped back, every heart in the stadium skipped a beat-he might throw it 70 yards, he might do a "Vick-esque" run, you just never knew, and he was far over the athletic level of any other person on the field.

Clinching moment: Sugar Bowl, National Title game, 3rd quarter, Florida State had two defensive ends both within 2 feet of Vick, one rushing from each side. Both are now Pros. Vick stepped up, stepped back, faked, spun, and neither as much as touched him, and these were professional calibre athletes. Amazing moment. He looked like he belonged in his own league.

I'm not a basketball fan and I think Iverson is a terrible role model, but watching him run circles around NBA players was just amazing.

Other than that I most enjoy seeing top pitchers throw. Watching Gagne shut down the Yankees from just behind the dugout seats this year was a treat.

HalfMoon...great observations on both Emmitt and Jerry Pate ( ). Remember one high school game where Emmitt burst thru the line, jumped over a diving "tackler", then plowed over the next chump in line.

Two other remarkable athletes I got to see in person while I was in school at FSU (late 70's, early 80's)...Ron Simmons, noseguard, FSU...saw him on a play against, I believe, Miss. St...qb running option around the end...got past the line as Simmons was coming directly across...Ron reached out, grabbed qb's jersey and threw him backwards with one hand! The strength it took for him to do that as he was going at a 90 degree angle with the qb, has stayed with me to this day.
Dominique Wilkins, Univ. of GA...got to see one of his famous tomahawk dunks against FSU. Seems like he took off from the right sideline.

Barry Sanders, especially live......the anticipation every time he touched the ball was amazing.

I was lucky and got to see lots of great players close up from good seats. The guy who was the most exciting to me was Bobby Orr.He is also the best player I have ever seen in any sport.

When I was kid my best friend was one of the best youth hockey players for his age in the country. I'd borrow one of the team jackets and get in free when they played before a Kings game. The arenas weren't full in those days and one time we spent most of the first period right behind the Bruins bench. All I remember is Bobby Orr having a badly cut up lip at the time.

This is a bit off the topic but one of the most interesting things you can do is play a round with a professional golfer. The skill difference is incredible.

CADad, you are correct regarding the pro golfer comment. A buddy of mine in high school caddied for Tom Kite at the Western Open. I followed him during pro-am, the amateurs were good but Kite's talent was incredible.

Joe Montana. Best illustration and to this date my best in person moment in professional sports-The Catch.
The two athletes I watched and admired the most were Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax. They were as good as it gets in demonstrating their skill.
Must have thrown 10,000 pitches trying to do it like they did. Never got it right once.

Pretty tough to beat "The Doctor", Dr. J. The originator of high-flying excitement was decades ahead of his time.

DaddyBo, I am positive we know each other. Are you a golfer? Do you know Dan Schugart? Jerry Stephens? I'm sure you've taken money from me!
CaDad, I played in a ProAm with Evan "Big Cat" Williams in 1986 at Perdido near Pensacola and the first hole we played was a par 5. We used my drive, my second and my put for an Eagle. We never used another shot of mine the entire round. While I sucked, Big Cat drove out of a sleeve, through a phone book and off the handle of a 5 iron. We all got blotto'd at the bar that evening. Good memories. In 1990, I played the Old Course with a couple of caddies one week after the British Open. Sean Connery was playing two holes behind us. I shot an 84 and three-put 11 greens. Figure the math. But the fun part was drinking wee drams of Talisker and chasing with pints of Guiness with James Bond after the round. No wussy Martinis for us! God Bless the US Navy and Naval Aviation. Maybe I have a problem?

Randy Johnson -- 4,000 K

HalfMoon...The only way I would be able to take money from you in golf would be to truck you over the head with the wedge! I haven't played a round in several years (been busy with son's travel ball,etc.). I know Shugart and Stephens, just not personally. Years ago did some work on a regular basis around Pate (during his days running Tiger Point) and was able to experience his less than friendly demeanor on several occasions (and his rep did precede him re: this). He does appear though to have a well respected rep in the community as a businessman.

Larry Bird with Indiana State v. Stetson U., November 1978. This guy ran amuck on my school the first half of the game. We were all saying "who IS that guy?" "He is really GOOD!" Basketball scouts we were, I tell ya.

Saw the boston Red Sox play the New York Yankees at Yankee stadium in the late 50's I was about 10. Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams at one time. does not get much better than that. the "Mick" hit a homer to win it.

The guys talking about the greatness of the pro golfers is so true. One winter, I had the pleasure of playing about 20 rounds with the best ball striker I have ever seen. His name was Moe Norman, and he just passed away about a month ago. He did not fade the ball or draw it......he hit it dead straight, which no tour pro does or can do. The greatest ball striker in history, and I got the opportunity to learn from him for free.

Was in Yankee Stadium, July 4, 1983. It was George Stienbrenner's birth day, he was giving out incredible prizes every half inning from cars to large sums of money. On that day Dave Reghetti threw a no-hitter and got a standing ovation for at least 30 to 45 minutes after the game. My lasting impression was a picture of Reghetti on the jumbo tron sitting on the steps of the dugout during this incredible ovation with obvious tears of joy streaming down his face. Just a few other notes of the day that stick with me was seeing Dave Winfield roam the outfield saving the no-hitter with a great diving catch for he yankees; their oppponent that day was the Boston Red Sox; the opposing pitcher was John Tudor; the red sox had great hitters like Tony Armas and Wade Boggs playing for them. Just an incredible experience for me!

My kids, when they were younger and listened to me , would ask "who was the best player(athlete). I always wanted to say May's, Mantle or Jim Brown, but I always said Bo Jackson and Dave Winfield. They could dominate any sport they played.

Halfmoon,
Going to play in a scramble this weekend. Haven't played since July and not since this time last year before that. Going to hit the range several nights this week. If I can just get myself where I can hit half my drives halfway solid I can probably contribute off the tee. I'll work on the short game but it is going to be ugly. I wouldn't embarass myself but it is being put on by the HS baseball booster club and it is time to start you know whating up just in case that matters.

The two athletes that I've seen live that were memorable are Larry Bird and O. J. Simpson. Any game you saw Bird play in was always incredible and the one I'll never forget was Mother's Day 1992 when he was out for most of the season with a back injury. The Boston Garden gave him about a 10 minute standing ovation when he first came into the game.
When I was growing up my father and I had Patriots tickets and it seamed like every game against Buffalo in the early 70's Simpson was setting a new single game rushing record against us. In his day he was amazing, especially against the Patriots.

Jeff

Loaded question for a sportswriter. But here goes:

Herschel Walker ... running track. You could only imagine what he could do on a football field.

Nancy Lopez, during her amazing streak. And again in the midst of her divorce. A great competitor and a classy person.

Willie Mays ... Nothing more need be said.

Mickey Mantle ... My first major league game.

Pearl Washington at Syracuse ... He did at least two things every game where you'd just shake your head and say, "How?"

Watching Chris Evert practice perfection.

Watching my 6-year-old do one-arm pushups, because he saw someone do it on TV.

Tom Seaver ... Perfectly fluid.

And, after all that, working the backside of the race track on Preakness week. Watch the horses train and then race. Awesome.

Brett Farve, Bart Starr Self evident

Henry Aaron, Robin Yount again self evident

Dan Jansen - His drive and courage should be an inspiration to all

I got to see Muhammad Ali when I was 13 yrs old. He was training in Las Vegas for a fight with Jerry Quarry. I was there visiting relatives for the summer and my grandfather took me to see him train at Ceasars Palace!! I was able to work my way to within 10 feet of him and watched in awe as he worked the speed bag and then the jump rope!!! That may not sound like a very exciting event. But I consider myself very lucky to have seen one of the legends of our time up close and personal!!!