# If you could attend any ONE sporting event in history, what would it be? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 7, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545 "2011-09-07T21:20:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/1 "2011-09-07T21:20:27Z")
I’ve invented a time machine! Turns out the rules of time travel are kind of funny, though: I can send you _only_ to the spectator seating area of a sporting venue, and _only_ for the duration of a single event. By “event” I mean a single game, match, race, etc. You can go to a Super Bowl, for instance, but not an entire World Series; you must pick one game. And you can’t choose the 1968 Winter Olympics, but you can choose the Men’s Figure Skating finals thereof. Also, if you attempt to leave the venue you’ll instantly be pulled back to your own place and time. So there’s no point choosing an early soccer match at Wembley Stadium because you want to explore 1920’s London. It won’t work. You can explore Wembley Stadium and that’s it. And, oh yeah, after you’ve time-traveled once, you can never do it again, so you have one and only one choice. So, within those parameters, what sporting event will you attend and why? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/2 "2011-09-07T21:36:34Z")
To answer my own question, I think I’d have to go to the 5-year-old Yankee Stadium on Saturday, October 8, 1927. The '27 Yankees were arguably the greatest team ever fielded, and on October 8 they completed their sweep of the Pirates to win the World Series by breaking a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the ninth. Even though he went 0-for-5, I’d get to see Lou Gerhig play, and I’d see Babe Ruth hit a home run. I don’t think it gets better than that for a baseball fan. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/3 "2011-09-07T21:37:56Z")
Game 7, 1960 World Series. I’m surprised it’s not football, but while I’ve seen the Steelers win the Super Bowl I’ve never seen the Pirates win the World Series, and that game is the definition of historic. The Pirates had no business winning that Series. If you look at the numbers it wasn’t even close. Yet there was Mazeroski, hitting a very rare home run in a huge pitcher’s park to win it for the underdogs. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/4 "2011-09-07T21:42:17Z")
Hmm, I am not a big sports fan so I think I will go for the jousting tournament that almost killed King Henry VIII. I chose this for no particular reason. I’ve been reading books on the time period and I think it would be interesting to see how everybody reacted when the King went down. The sport itself doesn’t really interest me, but the time period and the people involved do. So put me down for Greenwich Palace on 24 January 1536. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/5 "2011-09-07T21:45:53Z")
I don’t particularly want to go there, but there is an event I would like to see on TV with modern technology. The 1960 US Open in golf. Hogan at the end of his career, Palmer in his prime, and very young Jack Nickaus in the mix. Golf tournaments are not all that fun to attend, a spectator misses so much of the action. If I got to choose won, the US/Soviet Union Olympic semi-final hockey game in 1980. It had to be electric. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/6 "2011-09-07T21:47:30Z")
As a Packer fan, shareholder, and season-ticket owner, there’s only one answer: the [1967 NFL Championship Game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_NFL_Championship_Game) (a.k.a. The Ice Bowl). ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/7 "2011-09-07T21:55:25Z")
Joe Frazier vs Muhammad Ali fight in Madison Square Garden NY March 8, 1971. Talk about an electric atmosphere! I’d keep the ticket stub in pristine condition and sell it on ebay when I got back to the present too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/8 "2011-09-07T21:56:58Z")
Super Bowl XXXIV. The year of the Ram! ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/9 "2011-09-07T22:08:11Z")
Probably the Merkle game in September 1908 between the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs. > **[Merkle's Boner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle's_Boner)** > > Merkle's Boner refers to the notorious base-running mistake committed by rookie Fred Merkle of the New York Giants in a game against the Chicago Cubs on September 23, 1908. Merkle's failure to advance to second base on what should have been a game-winning hit led instead to a force play at second and a tied game. The Cubs later won the makeup game, which proved decisive as they beat the Giants by one game to win the National League (NL) pennant for 1908. It has been described as "the most contr... ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/10 "2011-09-07T22:09:17Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As a Packer fan, shareholder, and season-ticket owner, there’s only one answer: the [1967 NFL Championship Game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_NFL_Championship_Game) (a.k.a. The Ice Bowl). I’ll be right there with ya. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/11 "2011-09-07T22:10:49Z")
I’m not in any way a hockey fan, but I’d like to have been on center ice at the Miracle on Ice. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/12 "2011-09-07T22:22:16Z")
Like many Englishmen, I suspect - the 1966 World Cup Final. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/13 "2011-09-07T22:27:49Z")
1986 World Series, Game Six. I always keep score, and the chance to write down that particular E-3 live as it happens would be impossible to resist. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/14 "2011-09-07T23:05:38Z")
Another vote for 1980 Miracle on Ice game between US and USSR. Close second would be the Kirby Puckett game 6 of the 1991 World Series between Minnesota and Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/15 "2011-09-07T23:07:54Z")
I’d go back to 1908 and attend a Cubs game to see what the fuss was about. (I’m a Cards fan.) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/16 "2011-09-07T23:25:36Z")
Hippodrome races, January 13, 532, Constantinople. Guess I’m just morbid. ---
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/17 "2011-09-07T23:28:43Z")
Jordan’s second last game… Game 6 vs. Jazz ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/18 "2011-09-07T23:31:46Z")
Choice between Miracle on Ice Game 6 of '75 or '86 WS Game 7 of '04 ALCS Havlicek’s steal At Heartbreak Hill the year it earned the nickname Super Bowl XXXVI (Pats beat Rams) '83 Sugar Bowl '87 Fiesta Bowl Game JoePa set win record ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/19 "2011-09-07T23:39:03Z")
I’d be at the '36 Boston Marathon. (Heartbreak Hill) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545/20 "2011-09-07T23:39:24Z")
[1976 Flyers-Red Army game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Flyers-Red_Army_game) I’ve watched the game on DVD many times. I would have loved to be there in person. Not a Flyers fan now, although I read a lot of books about Bobby Clarke during the 1970s when I was in elementary school. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-attend-any-one-sporting-event-in-history-what-would-it-be/595545.md?page=2)