# Greatest Sporting Moments **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sporting-moments/264752 "2004-09-16T23:28:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sporting-moments/264752/61 "2004-09-21T15:40:15Z")
> [@Proudest Monkey](#): > > The most personally exciting moment has to be Adam Vinatieri’s kick to win the Super Bowl for the Patriots. Listening to Madden and company verbally hump the Rams for the whole game, second-guess Belichick’s decision to play for the win instead of overtime–that magical season had a lot of heart-stopping moments, but the Super Bowl victory was sweet enough to last a lifetime of Sox fades. My favorite part of that game was what Tom Brady said in an interview long after the game was over. Apparently, Belichik (sp?) told him to go out there, play it safe, and take it to overtime. Fine. So as he’s heading out to the field, he hears Bledsoe shout from the sidelines “Tom! Tom! Fuck that shit! Go sling it!” (Bleeps covered the swears in the interview.) hehheh, that’s just too cool. My personal favorite moment is the Miracle at Midnight. It was the first NFL game I’d ever gone to see in person. The Jets were down 30-7 going into the fourth quarter, and most of the fans had left. We had adopted the “25 point rule”, so were within 2 points of bailing on the game ourselves. But since it was so empty, at the start of the 4th quarter we moved down from the nosebleed section to the mezzanine section at about the 20 yard line of the goal line the Jets were attacking in that 4th quarter. Watching that comeback, and screaming my throat bloody raw well past midnight on a work night, will forever be etched into my memory. As for watching on television, no question it was the Giants / Bills superbowl. That was one of the greatest games ever played, and possibly the greatest Superbowl that ever will be played. And it’s not only for the slimmest of victory margins. There wasn’t a single turnover in the entire game by either team. In fact, there wasn’t a single _mistake_ by either team the whole game. Both teams executed their gameplans on both sides of the ball with amazing precision and staggering heart. The four 3rd down conversions on a single drive, the heads up safety by Hostetler, the inhuman pounding the Bills dished out to Hostetler, the breathtaking running of Thurman Thomas, and the brutal domination of the Bills receivers by a ferocious Giants defense were all merely stage dressing for the real showcase: The best execution either coach could ask for in their polar opposite football philosophies. Parcells with the ball control win-in-the-trenches approach against Marv Levy and the unbelievable K-Gun offense. Both sides played their hearts out, and played up to a level since unseen in the NFL. We may never again witness such a literally perfect game at any time, much less in a Superbowl. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sporting-moments/264752/62 "2004-09-21T19:37:19Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > The final time trial in the Tour De France 1989. > > Greg Lemond had to take 42 seconds from Laurent Fignon, and this in France, in Paris, on the last stage of the Tour against a Frenchman who had already previously won the tour twice and was also a time trial specialist. > Lemond still had, and still has I guess, twenty or so shotgun pellets in him after a hunting accident that nearly killed him, and yet here he was, proving to the world he was back to his best. > > Watching this live and seeing Lemond beat all the time checks for every previous rider, and Fignon following and thus knowing exactly what he needed to do to beat Lemond, its considered an advantage to be the following rider for this reason, this was really high drama, shootout at the OK Corral and all that stuff. > > Watching as Fignon slowly slipped behind Lemonds schedule, and finally, 8 seconds, Lemond not only got 42 seconds back he took a further 8 seconds out of Fignon, it was so close that you had to watch it all right to the last half kilometre. > > After 2000 miles, it came down to just those 8 seconds. I am not a road race expert but if I recall correctly, 42 seconds was (and probably is) considered an insurmountable lead for the final day’s time trial. Coupled with Fignon’s prowess in the event it Lemond’s chances were slim. Apparently somebody forgot to tell him. As for myself, the 1981 NFC Championship game between the upstart 49’ers and the mighty Dallas Cowboys. Un-f\*cking-believable. There is a reason why it is simply known as **The Catch**. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sporting-moments/264752/63 "2004-09-21T19:50:11Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > And on a personal note, the University of Hawaii football team, after losing something like 300 straight games to BYU, finally mange to close within 7 and score a touchdown, with no time for another drive. This was before OT was instituted, so it’s do or die time. Countless thousands around the state breathlessly anticipate exactly which play the coach is going to call for the conversion attempt. Decades of frustration hang in the balance. Finally, the call is made… Ah, but wasn’t it great when that streak was broken? 56-14 in 1989. And then next year BYU claiming revenge and Heisman QB Ty Detmer… and lose again to UH 59-28. How I miss the Hawaii-BYU games. The new WAC teams just don’t stir the same passion. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sporting-moments/264752/64 "2004-09-21T21:45:30Z")
1. Olsen Field. College Station, Texas. First game of a double-header against arch-rival University of Texas. Texas A&M is down in the bottom of the 9th. John “Bye-Bye” Byington smashes game-winning home-run. Second game of the double-header. Texas A&M is down in the bottom of the 9th. John Byington _ **AGAIN** _ lofts one over the fence for a game-winning homer. Sheer madness erupts! ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sporting-moments/264752/65 "2004-09-21T21:54:20Z")
Excellent moments coming to remember. I must also include the first Wimbledon won by Borris Becker. He was a complete outsider and I think only 16 years old, yet his athleticism and skill were unsurpassed. They way he jumped for unreachable returns, often rolling to avoid a painful fall were brilliant to watch. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sporting-moments/264752/66 "2004-09-22T02:14:04Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > I must also include the first Wimbledon won by Borris Becker. He was a complete outsider and I think only 16 years old, yet his athleticism and skill were unsurpassed. They way he jumped for unreachable returns, often rolling to avoid a painful fall were brilliant to watch. He was 17, playing a nobody named Kevin Curran, who, earlier in the tournament, annihilated John McEnroe with a serve that seemed inhumanly unreturnable. He and Becker went toe-to-toe with serves that appeared to be so fast they were moving backwards in time. Both he second and third sets were 7-6. They were both pure servers, and it was great to watch, an absolute acefest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sporting-moments/264752.md?page=3)