# What are the best matches and bouts in the different sports? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 24, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754 "2015-05-24T23:03:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/61 "2015-06-01T15:17:09Z")
I’m old enough that, despite not caring at all about skiing, I still have burned into my brain Franz Klammer in the 1978 Olympics. Final run of the day and he needed the best run of the day for gold; I’ve not yet seen anything that better exemplified being terrifyingly and spectacularly right on the edge the entire time. Just an insane combination of absolute commitment to going for it all, skill, and indeed luck. ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/62 "2015-06-02T01:33:37Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > As a track fan - I have to say the 1988 Olympics 100m final. > > Carl Lewis is close to the greatest track and field athlete of all time (he may be a bit of a knob off the track). Ben Johnson was the only guy who was really challenging him in the 100. The build-up was fantastic. > > The race itself was great - fantastic contest, plus a world record. > > Yes, it’s a shame that 6 of the 8 competitors were later linked to drugs - but at the time, those 9.79 seconds were probably the greatest sporting experience I’ve had. Another track fan here, and a longtime student of the sport. I really think the men’s 2014 Boston Marathon rates as one of the great races of all time. Given the situation ('13 bombings), Meb Keflezighi stealing that race and holding off the cavalry in downtown Boston was almost unbelievable. The other great battle of all time was the 1991 World Championships long jump, where Mike Powell had to break the world record in order to beat Carl Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/63 "2015-06-02T02:04:05Z")
1986 National League Championship Series, Game Six, New York Mets at Houston Astros. Mets go down 3-0 early and get utterly dominated by Bob Knepper, then come back with three in the ninth to tie it. Mets take a lead in the top of the _fourteenth_ inning… only to have Billy Hatcher hit the tying home run off the foul pole with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Then, in the sixteenth inning - the SIXTEENTH inning - the Mets score three to take a 7-4 lead. And _then_ the Astros score two in the bottom of the sixteenth and get the tying run into scoring position. And _then_ Jesse Orosco strikes out Kevin Bass, and a nine-year-old in New Jersey goes to bed - finally - with a favorite sport. And Bill Buckner’s long national nightmare begins… ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/64 "2015-06-02T16:58:31Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > There have been a lot of great Football games in general and several great Super Bowls in particular but arguably the best was Super Bowl 52 where the Giants beat the up until then undefeated Patriots. Super Bowl **52**? Good lord, I hope we don’t have to see another Giants-Patriots Super Bowl 3 years from now. 😃 > [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > I have to think that Super Bowl XLIII is one of the best, if not the best, Super Bowls. A 100-yard interception return at halftime from James Harrison swung 14 points on the scoreboard, the Cardinals came back from 10-down to take the lead, culminating with a 64-yard Larry Fitzgerald reception with 2:37 left, and the Steelers responded with an amazing toe-tap touchdown from Santonio Holmes. Even then the Cardinals had a chance, but LaMarr Woodley sacked Kurt Warner and caused a fumble which the Steelers recovered. The Cardinals had the Steelers beat in every statistical metric except the scoreboard, and by a lot. > > Yes, I’m biased, but it was a great game by anybody’s standards. I am biased also, but yeah, this was a great game. Harrison should have been MVP, the single most exciting play from start to finish in SB history… The drama of him having to score because time expired, watching Larry Fitzgerald run him down for 100 yards and tackle him on the goal-line, and Harrison landing on Fitzgerald before hitting the ground… And then, having to sit through the replay… Amazing. Then, watching Fitzgerald streak up the middle with that quick slant, and TD late in the 4th… Then, add the final Steeler drive, where Holmes drops an easy TD pass before doing the tip-toe dance, and Ben throwing a pass into triple coverage when he had (I think) Moore open for an easy flip into the end-zone was incredible. For a Steeler fan, it was the ultimate. For anyone who doesn’t hate the Steelers and just loves football, this has to rank in the top 5 games of all time. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > 1980 Miracle on Ice > Caused my cat to go into labor. This game (not the gold medal game) is the single biggest memory I have of any sporting event. That was a true miracle. That Russian team was the closest thing to the Harlem Globetrotters on ice I have ever seen. I will add my own personal favorite.. Game 7, 1960 World Series, Pirates vs. Yankees. This is the famous Bill Mazeroski, bottom of the 9th walk off home run game. But it was so much more. The series was dominated by the Yankees, who had 3 blow-out wins. The Pirates somehow squeezed out 3 one-run games. Game 7 was incredible. What most people don’t know is that the Game was 5-4 Yankees after 7. The Yankees scored 2 in the top of the 8th to make it 7-4. The Pirates scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th, and a footnote in history, Pirate cacher Hal Smith, hit arguably the most famous HR in WS history in the bottom of the 8th… A 3-run homer with the Pirates down 7-6, to give the Pirates a 9-7 lead. That famous home run? Lasted for one inning. Smith could have been famous forever, but the Pirates blew the lead and the Yankees scored 2 in the top of the 9th to tie the game again. That set up Mazeroski’s famous hit. The only baseball game that came close to that excitement (for me, anyway) was game 6, Red Sox-Reds. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/65 "2015-06-02T17:26:34Z")
I happen to think the best single Super Bowl was the one between the Giants and the Bills. That was a very close game, AND it featured two VERY different teams doing what they did best. As a Giants fan, I admit I may be biased! But I think it would STRILL have been a great game if Scott Norwood had been a little more accurate. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/66 "2015-06-02T22:01:59Z")
> [@The\_Tof](#): > > 2011 Womens World Cup Quarterfinal USA vs. Brazil: The US was getting SCREWED out of this game. Somehow, someway… the soccer gods reached down and granted Rapinoe a magical cross onto the head of Abby Wambach giving us a chance with penalties. I hesitated to put this here, because my knowledge of soccer history is rudimentary and so in the grand scheme of soccer matches it probably doesn’t really compare… but, Wambach’s goal is maybe the greatest soccer moment I’ve witnessed live. If we can define “Women’s Soccer” as a sport for purposes of this thread, this is the winner. [Similar thread from a while ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=712987) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/67 "2015-06-03T07:01:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The 1991 World Series between Minnesota and Atlanta is often cited as one of the greatest championship matches ever played in any sport. I am a fan of neither team and was utterly riveted. It was an astounding series. You sound like me and my opinion of the 1997 Florida Marlins-Cleveland Indians World Series. Close second would be the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks-New York Yankees WS, with Luis Gonzalez and the game-winning hit. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/68 "2015-06-04T00:09:01Z")
> [@davidw](#): > > A few of boxing matches that haven’t been mentioned: > > Hearns vs Leonard 1 > Corrales vs Castillo 1 > Barrera vs Morales 1 [Hagler - Hearns Round 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PPhyBUsxaA) has to be on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/69 "2015-06-04T16:57:47Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I happen to think the best single Super Bowl was the one between the Giants and the Bills. > > That was a very close game, AND it featured two VERY different teams doing what they did best. I get this for the Bills - what they did best was lose Superbowls. What did the Giants do? ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/70 "2015-06-07T18:02:10Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > As a Giants fan, I admit I may be biased! But I think it would STILL have been a great game if Scott Norwood had been a little more accurate. It is hard to take your fan bias out if these types of memories. When you have an emotional attachment to one of the teams, and the game is exciting, it is euphoric when your team comes out on top. /hijack I often wonder if Scott Norwood have made that kick, if Bill Parcells would be remembered differently. IMO, he is one of the most over-rated coaches in NFL history. He was a very good coach, but everything connected to NYC gets blown out of proportion. If Norwood makes that kick, I wonder if Big Tuna would have been a lot smaller. /end hijack. I’ll add another game which most people won’t remember. The 1st game of the 1991-1992 Stanley Cup Finals, between the Penguins and Black Hawks. The Black Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and held a 4-1 lead in the second period. They dominated the Penguins, and were on a roll at the time. The Black Hawks came into the game with an 11 game winning streak in the playoffs. The Pens cut the lead to 4-3 late in the second period, when Mario Lemieux scored a goal from behind the end-line, by banking a shot off the back of Ed Belfour’s leg. With less than 5 minutes in the 3rd, Jaromir Jagr tied the game on a dazzling goal, where he carried the puck around 3 different Black Hawks before scoring a back-handed goal. It’s amazing to watch. Game tied, 4-4 17 seconds to go, and the Pens are on the power play, and the faceoff is in the Black Hawks end. The play unfolds in slow motion, shot on goal saved by Belfour, and Lemieux is in a perfect spot. He buries the puck. That was the loudest I’ve ever heard an arena on TV ever. The igloo was shaking, and as a Penguins fan, I was going crazy. Pens win, 5-4. Sweep the Black Hawks, end the playoffs with an 11-game winning streak of their own. Back-to-back cups. But game 1 is my favorite hockey game ever. Unfortunately, I had tickets to game 2. Pens won, but I would have given anything to be at game 1. For a Black Hawk fan, I imagine that game sucked. . Yet another Pittsburgh game that sucked but was great, was game 7, 1992 NLCS Pirates against the Braves. Pirates lead 2-0 going into the bottom of the 9th. Jose Lind makes an error, the Braves score 3 runs, Sid Bream (the slowest player in baseball history, with no knees) scores the winning run on a single to left that Barry Bonds threw up the first base line. Pirates lose, go onto a 20-year losing streak. A piece of me died that night. But it was a great game. Sorry for the lack of links. I still can’t post links to this message board. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/71 "2015-06-07T21:02:47Z")
> [@mascaroni](#): > > Rugby union: > > I’d go for Wales 8 France 9 in the 2011 World Cup semi-final. Despite having captain Sam Warburton sent off after 19 minutes (quite rightly IMHO - his tackle could have easily left Clerc a quadriplegic), and losing Adam Jones to injury they really took the game to France. Some might say that France were in second gear, but there was only one point difference. > > Obviously, Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal in 2003 was great (I was told that I looked like ‘a little boy who was about to cry’ when it happened), but, overall England underperformed in the game. They damn near got whistled out of the World Cup - the English scrum got penalised more times in that one game than in all their other games put together. But yes, it should have been a more convincing win, just as they should have steamrolled Australia in 1991. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/72 "2015-06-08T18:24:56Z")
How about Kerri Strug in the '96 Olympics on the vault, injuring her ankle and nailing the follow-up with a perfect vault for the gold, limping off and getting arm-carried to cheers… If this had been a movie, I would have complained about how cheap, unrealistic, and manipulative the scriptwriters were. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754/73 "2015-06-20T12:43:27Z")
Chess: Karpov vs Korchnoi 1978 Boxing: Ali vs Foreman Olympic Basketball: US vs USSR 1988 Women’s Olympic all-around gymnastics: Sylivas vs Shushonova 1988 Dunno why but everything about the 1988 Olympics was great. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-matches-and-bouts-in-the-different-sports/720754.md?page=3)