OK What is the greatest sporting moment you remember seeing live (or live on TV)?
The 2000 Olympics Women’s Soccer gold medal game.
It was US vs. Norway. The US, fresh off their world cup victory over China, were relatively heavy favorites. And within the first 10 minutes or so, the US in fact cruised down the field and scored what seemed like a relatively effortless goal. However, Norway had a cunning strategy, consisting of repeatedly serving up long balls and hoping that they would bounce around, end up at the feet of a striker, and be scored. Which worked. And then it worked again. So the US is down 2-1. And attacking. And attacking. And attacking. 90 minutes. Stoppage time…
deep in stoppage time, Hamm down the right wing, centers, and SCORE!!!
GOAL!!!
Oh my God, I jumped out of my chair, I could not believe we’d actually pulled even.
Then in overtime, Norway once again served up a long ball, the US defender misplayed it, and wham, Norway wins 3-2.
(So the US lost that game, despite really seeming like the better team. Ironically, the US beat Brazil for the gold medal this year, despite really seeming like the worse team for most of the game.)
Live: Bobby Orr scores the winning goal in the 1970 Stanley Cup series at Boston Garden. (I was standing about where his upraised leg is pointed.)
TV: Franz Klammer wins the downhill ski race at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.
Not ‘great’ but easily the first that springs to mind - the death of Ayrton Senna. I saw that live.
Second that springs to mind is not live. “Some… people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over. It is now” - John Mottson. I wasn’t born. But it is probably the greatest moment in British sporting history.
Third is England winning the Rugby World Cup. Interestingly I don’t remember the closing commentary for that one, but I do remember Johnny Wilkonson’s name being mentioned.
Fourth may be England winning a Test series (cricket) against arguably the second best side in the world - South Africa (The best being Australia)
Fifth. Redgrave’s final Gold medal performance.
Sorry, English sporting history.
It probably wasn’t all that great a moment for Scots, Welsh, and Northern Irish people.
In 1999 when the New York Yankees won the World Series, and teammates swarmed Paul O’Neill, whose Father had died that day. The cameras tried to force their way into that private moment, and Jim Leyritz grabbed a camera lens, fixing a fiery “don’t you dare” stare on the would-be intruder.
And I managed to bugger up the quote. I’ve only heard it about two hundred times.
“He’s got… Some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over. It is now”
What was John about to say before he interrupted himself?
I had planned to put The John Williams rugby try, but when I googled it I realised I must have seen it repeated, sice I was only 3 at the time it was scored. So I wrote the OP without a valid moment to put in myself.
But now I think I must say it was the Ian Botham ashes winning turn-arround in Cricket. Though I can’t name the particular test match, the brilliance and excitement of the time is still memorable to me.
Some of Prince Nazeme (sp?) early professional fights, when he still used the low hand position were fantastic. As someone keen on Japanese Martial arts it was great to see a boxer who rellied more on fast foot work than keeping both hands in front of his face.
I believe it’s “Nazeem”.
I don’t like boxing. and I especially don’t like Nazeem. I always saw him as increddibly full of himself.
But I do like Martial Arts.
Canada - - USSR 1972 Summit Series, game 8, final moments, Paul Henderson scored and won the series: http://www.1972summitseries.com/henderson.html
Lobbers, I believe the words (as Geoff Hurst broke to score England’s fourth goal in the World Cup Final) were:
“And here comes Hurst. Some people are on the pitch. They think it’s all over…It is now.”
Gee. Still get goose bumps as I write it after all these years.
The commentator was Kenneth Wolstenholme, by the way. Motson came alon a few years later.
Bippy, the match usually referred to as Botham’s Test was the third test of the 1981 series v Australia at Headingley, Leeds. He bopped 149 (going from memory) before Bob Willis destroyed the Aussies with 8 wickets. This was the game when Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh backed England to win at 500-1. They duly became only the second team in Test history to win a match after following on.
As a St. Louisan, I have to say the final play of the 1999 Superbowl, with the open-field tackle on the 1-yard line.
Kirk Gibson’s hobble-legged home run for the Dodgers in the 1988 World Series
And the filly Ruffian breaking her leg in a match race against Foolish Pleasure in 1975
That was the first F1 race in six years (ages 6-12) that I didn’t watch, because I was taking a scholarship exam. I haven’t been able to watch another one since.
Certainly the most dramatic sporting moment I’ve seen since moving to the states- although I was rooting for the other side 
The Music City Miracle (from that year’s AFC Championship game- quite a season of drama for the Titans) was heart-stopping too.
He spells it *Naseem, * although I don’t think it really matters since Arabic characters don’t translate directly anyway. (I may be wrong about the translation thing)
My choices would be Roberto Baggio’s missed penalty which gave Brazil the 1994 World Cup, Ayrton Senna’s 1993 F1 win at Donington in a car which had no right to be on the lead lap, let alone win a race, or Byron Leftwich leading Marshall to victory over UCF two years ago on a broken leg- he had to be carried up the field by his linemen after each first down. Hardly a huge game, but an astounding performance.
The Miracle On Ice. Lake Placid. I loathe hockey, but that moment still burns bright in my memory…“Do you believe in miracles?”
Joe Carter’s home run.
Kirk Gibson’s home run.
The goal to end the 1987 Canada Cup.
The Miracle On Ice.
I was three, and hence don’t remember it at all, though I’ve seen and heard it often enough that I can hear Foster Hewitt’s play by play in my head. “Henderson has scored for Canada!”
My pick would have to be one of RickJay’s - the 87 Canada Cup final, when Lemioux scored off Gretzky’s assist. Those three games are still the finest hockey I’ve ever witnessed.
Game Four of the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals. Colorado Avalanche versus Florida Panthers, with the Avs on the brink of the championship.
This was just an incredible game, which I don’t think anyone saw coming. The Avalanche had controlled the Panthers pretty handily up to that point, but the fourth game was a 0-0 tie going into overtime. Then double overtime. Then triple overtime. It’s not that the teams were playing defensively - they were taking plenty of shots, but the goalies - John Vanbiesbrouck for Florida and the incomparable Patrick Roy for Colorado - were absolutely amazing. I recall that the goal lights went off once or twice when the goal judge thought the puck was in the net, when actually the goalie had somehow snagged it.
Then in the third overtime, some guy named Uwe Krupp put the puck in the net for Colorado.
It was wild.
Another one…John Elway’s helicopter leap in Super Bowl XXXII. Did it win the game? No, but it was a darn electrifying moment.
Donovan Bailey winning the 100 in Atlanta, as a Canadian it was pretty neat. Helped us get over the whole Ben Johnson fiasco.
Ray Bourque winning the cup.
Lefty winning a major.
Most exciting game finish–49er’s v. Bengals Superbowl XXI? (1989? 90?) With less than 2 minutes left, Joe Montana moved the team all the way down the field with precision and style. Every man on that team played with every ounce of effort, perfectly together. Come from behind victory–so very sweet.
I’ve seen the Willie Mays over the shoulder catch so many times I think I saw it happend, but I was too young. It does give me chills to see, still.
Jimmy Connors, who I never liked, played an incredible game to end his career. It lasted for hours and hours, and, ten or so years older than his opponent, Connors kept pulling it out just when everything seemed finished. It was magnificant to watch.
But my all time geatest sports moment, that I saw live, was when I honest-to-god hit an inside the park homer in the bottom of the ninth with two men on to win the city championship. I hit a few homers in my day, but that was the sweetest. (I was eleven, and it had only recently dawned on me that I’d never make it to the big league because I was a girl.)