Well, I skimmed through all the replys and I can’t belive I didn’t see Kirk Gibson’s homer in the '88 series. I was 14 at the time and this was around the time that I was really interested in baseball. I was so focused on this game while I watched it with my father. I felt so sorry for him as he limped to the plate and fouled off a couple pitches against Eck. When he hit that homer…it was a feeling of shock and excitment I’ve never experienced watching a ball game. It was a complete turn around that nobody saw coming. I will never forget how I felt at that moment. (and this is coming from an Oriole/Ripken fan)
ColonelMoose, that moment wasn’t obscure at all.
I named my favorite sporting moment based on my favorite sports team (my beloved college) winning the championship. However, if I wanted to name the most exciting/amusing/memorable play I’ve ever seen, that play has to rank highly, possibly number one.
I’ll never forget seeing the referees huddled, trying to make a determination. Seemed like EVERYONE in the stadium was on the field–fans, mascots, players, band members, cheerleaders. I remember that when the refs signaled “touchdown”, a Cal cheerleader started doing a dance routine.
I also saw the last quarter of that game on ESPN classic. Even though it was 3 AM and I had to work the next day, it was worth it, if only to hear the announcer’s voice crack and just lose it. (Normally, a “homer” announcer is annoying, IMHO, but I think we can forgive the guy his excitement.)
What a play. What a memory.
Got a few personal ones as well. First was the inaugural MLS Cup, DC United vs. LA Galaxy. Two goals in the last 15 or so minutes on a muddy pitch to tie it up, and then an Eddie Pope Golden Goal to win the Cup for DCU amidst many players and fans bellyflopping and doing Rick Dempsey-esque slides on the sodden field.
Another was the last out of the 1983 World Series. Watching the soft liner fall into Cal Ripken’s glove was just bedlem for me and my 10-year-old friends watching.
But the best moment – followed by the worst – was the end of the third quarter at the 2000 Sugar Bowl, VT versus FSU for the championship. Down 28-7 at half, Michael Vick led the Hokies back to take a 29-28 lead into the fourth quarter with some unbelievable plays and personal effort. I remember just jumping up and down in my nosebleed seat saying the same thing over and over again: “Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!” At that moment I was certain we would win.
Damn that Peter Warrick. LOL.
I am assuming this is intended to be limited to those witnessed either in person or at the time the event occurred on broadcast. Otherwise, jeez, names like Bobby Thompson just leap to mind…
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1975 - Bear tracks on the 16th green at Augusta.
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1980 - Watson sinks his marvelous chip (damn him) on the 17th at Pebble (saw that one in person from the 18th fairway through binoculars)
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1975 - Franz Klammer and a suicide downhill run for gold
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1980 - Eruzione from in front, 4-3, and “Do you believe in Miracles??!!”
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1967 - My oldest sports memory of all, Bart Starr and a “Frozen Tundra” and he sneaks his way into the second straight Super Bowl, watched on a black and white TV at the age of 7 by a Packers fan.
I have to cut the list off somewhere; perhaps with age the moments become less special, as some cynicism about it all, or maybe mellowness, creeps in. Other moments that come to mind include watching Kite hole out on 7 in 1990 (quite a bit more difficult that Watson’s chip on 17 ten years earlier, but without quite the same dramatic impact), Fisk in '75 (but then they lose game 7 and it is all for naught), 1983 and Phi Slamma Jamma goes down to defeat on an airball they don’t block out on (lots and lots of NCAA tournament games won in the last second make March Madness what it is!), 1994 and an own goal by Columbia helps send the US into a July 4th showdown with the best team in the world (my kids painted their faces redwhiteandblue to sit with me at Stanford Stadium to watch the game with Brazil, but what could be sadder than the news of Andres Escobar, gunned down at home for a simple mistake?), oh, the list can go on and on and on.
This is, of course, what makes sport worth watching; that one moment that you manage to capture forever in your mind. And almost always, for everyone made ecstatic, there is someone with slumped shoulders. Did that ball actually cross the line in '66? Will Boston ever be able to get past memories of Buckey Dent, and Bill Buckner? How many majors would Norman have won if he hadn’t been slam dunked by Mize (and by Tway)? So, when we get a little jaded, when we feel a bit left out, when we find it hard to empathize with multi-million dollar players and owners, let’s remember the moments, and keep watching for the moments to come. 
Of course, I want to say the '96 Packers winning the '97 Super Bowl, but I’ll just wait a while til I can say the 2001 Packers winning the 2002 Bowl (:D).
Actually two of the best moments I can remember seeing live are fr0m Olympic track.
First, total domination. Michael Johnson running a 19.32 200m in 1996. When he crossed the line the announcer said “19.32…that can’t be right”. Someone earlier mentioned Secretariat still pulling away at the tape. Same thing here.
Then, Derek Redmond at the '92 games. Trains 4 years (actually more) to get there and tears a hammy before he can finish. Gets up and hobbles the rest of the way, with his father helping him the last part of the way. If you can watch that and not tear up, I don’t want to know you.
“If there’s a goal that everyone remembers,
It was back in ol’ 72.
We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the trigger,
And all I remember is sitting beside you…”
Ahem, as a Canadian, it is sacrilege to not mention THAT particular sports moment.
However, my fave was in when Simon Whitfield won the first Gold Medal ever handed out in Triathalon at an Olympics (Sydney, Sept. 16, 2000). My heart was in my throat the whole time. http://tsn.ca/olympics/readstory.asp?Story_Id=634888
al.
P.S. Thanks to the Tragically Hip
John Elway tucking the ball and running for the first down in the '98 super bowl. There was no doubt in my mind that he wanted that win more than anyone in the world when he did that.
ANY of Walter Payton’s highlight clips. He ran that ball with PASSION, man.
I’m not sure on this…but I think it was Dave Parker’s throw from the far corner of right field ALL THE WAY to home plate, without a bounce, to throw a runner out.
A Hip quote. A HIP QUOTE!
Will you marry me?
1983 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. When the barely-made-it-to-the-tournament NC State Wolfpack, defeated the already annoited champion Houston Cougars (with Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajawon) on a wild shot by Derek Wittenburg that was about 12" short, but was turned into the game winning slam dunk when his teammate snatched it out of the air, just before time expired.
I remember the commentator, before the game, being asked which team they thought would win and (I think it was Billy Packer) he said “Which ever team has more slam dunks! Ha ha ha!” He meant Houston, which was also nicknamed Phi Slamma Jamma because of the great, atheletic dunks that they performed. Ironically he was corrected. Final dunk count, NC State 2, Houston 1.
Then to see Jimmy Valvano running around the court looking for someone to celebrate with, was truly spine tingling.
Bryan
Yep, but be forwarned, I’m nothing but trouble. 
“You’re gonna miss me,
Just wait an you’ll see,
Fully.
and Completely.”
As a long-suffering Seattle sports fan, there aren’t a tremendous number of moments to get excited about. I was about 5 years old when the Sonics won their championship in the 1970’s, so that’s out as a personal memory.
My favorite moment, bar none, comes from the 1995 Seattle Mariners. This was a team that never, ever won anything. It never even came close. I rooted and cheered and went to the games with a few thousand (and I mean a FEW thousand) of my allies, but they still sucked. It was basically 30 years of Clipper basketball, without the occasional playoffs. But in 1995, the team caught fire. They chased down the Angels from 12+ games back in August and won a thrilling one game playoff to beat the Angels. Randy Johnson pitched an outstanding game. The hit down the right field line in the bottom of the seventh to win the game over ex-Mariner Mark Langston. That game was amazing, but it wasn’t the best.
The best was when the Mariners faced the New York Yankees in the Divisional playoffs. These were the New York Yankees - the ultimate team in baseball history and the team everyone outside New York loves to root against. They were just gearing up for their remarkable run of four championships in five years. The Mariners fell behind in the series in some terrific games, but eventually force a deciding Game 5. Game 5 had everything you could possibly want, including Randy Johnson and Black Jack McDowell making appearances out of their team’s respective bullpens. The game went into extra innings. The Yankees took a one-run lead in the top of the 12th inning against Randy. But, all hope was not lost.
Joey Cora bunted his way aboard. Ken Griffey, Jr. singled (I believe). And up stepped Edger Martinez. (I am getting chills just writing this.) He smoked a ball into the left field corner. Cora scored easily from third. Junior, running like I have never seen him run before or since, slid into home plate, beating beats the throw. He is mobbed by his teammates, including a very young A-Rod. Edgar is mobbed. The Kingdome and the entire town goes absolutely berserk. It was the first time that Seattle experienced the thrill of a baseball pennant race and playoff fever. Nothing, even a World Series victory, could ever top that first time, highlighted by the magical double by Edgar and the slide by Junior.
(Sits quietly pondering the joy that sports can bring and whiles away the rest of the work day.)
P.S. Forgive any minor inaccuracies in the account, working off of my memory banks. The moment is Edgar’s hit and Junior scoring and that moment will be etched in my mind forever, even if the other details grow fuzzy.
The Boston Celtics in Larry Bird’s prime, peaking at the 86 playoffs. With Game 7 of the Lakers series being at the Garden, there was no real question what would happen, just this quiet knowledge that went beyond mere confidence that somehow McHale and DJ WOULD get Larry the ball inside the last minute, that he WOULD make whatever shot it took, Johnny Most WOULD be screaming more hoarsely and incoherently than ever in the radio booth, and the Celts WOULD win the title, no matter what Magic and Kareem did. The mere anticipation of a good sporting event coming up, involving the home team, doesn’t describe the feeling. We KNEW what would happen, in a way that few sports fans ever get to feel. And it did.
Next to that, and this may sound weird coming from a Yank, was watching Mika Hakkinen on the victory podium for the 1998 Monaco Grand Prix. He’d been in Formula One for years, with inadequate cars and only a journeyman’s level of success, but at that moment one could actually see him realize that he DID have car at long last, that he finally knew at last that he WAS good enough, and that he WAS going to be the world champion. All those years, all those races, the crash and months-long coma in Australia when his team and girlfriend could have abandoned him (nobody would blame them), and it all paid off. For the first time ever in public, the sheets of ice broke off his face, and the simple joy took over.
Aka “The Play”. Obscure, my ass, I was surprised it wasn’t #1 on the list.
But I’m biased. I WAS THERE! GO BEARS!
1
“The Miracle on Manchester,” in which the L.A. Kings come back from a five goal deficit in the third period to beat the hated, Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers 6-5 in overtime. Heard the whole thing on the radio with the ageless Bob Miller announcing (not televised). Danced around the living room with my best friend for that one…broke some things, if I remember correctly.
2
Chicago Bears whupping up on the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl
3
USA v USSR at Lake Placid, 1980
4
Any Mighty Ducks’ victory (so hard to come by!), but in particular their playoff series wins over the Phoenix Coyotes from last year.