What is your favorite play in each sport you watch? I do NOT mean a specific, single play, e.g. The Immaculate Reception, but rather a general type of play.
For example, my favorite plays are:
American football: the safety, because of its relative rarity and that it both puts points on the board and switches possession.
Basketball: I like the pull-up three-pointer. Not flashy like the alley-oop or a fancy crossover, but rather I like how it is not flashy but still a big “fuck you” to the other team.
Baseball: the 5-4-3 double play. I like that the ball will go all the way around the diamond. A triple play would be great too, but I’ve never seen one.
Baseball: Stealing home. In my lifetime, I’ve seen it done twice when the catcher came too far from home plate up the first base line to field the ball; bothtimes the runner started on SECOND base, advanced to third on an out, then broke for home when it was apparent that the catcher (a) didn’t have the ball, (b) was several feet from home plate and (c) was totally not thinking about having to cover home plate with the ball still live.
Jackie Robinson famously did it straight up with the batter actually still batting, in the World Series yet.
Basketball: The weak side blocked shot: the ultimate form of help defense.
(US) Football: an interception followed by a forward pass. I understand why it’s evolved that way from informal pickup games, but in general I wish football were less stratified by offense / defense / special teams… I therefore like to see plays develop that demand that “role players” suddenly have to play football (as in, all aspects of the game).
Football - I don’t know exactly what robardin meant, but maybe he’s referring to the same thing…I love it when a team gets an interception, and when their offence comes out to the field, the first play is a deep pass to/toward the end zone. Especially if the other team was driving, that can be a quick 14-point turnaround.
Soccer - the slide-rule pass. I saw a youtube clip a few months ago of Rui Costa, and it was just precision pass after precision pass after precision pass. For those that don’t know, it’s generally when a midfielder sees where a forward is just about to run, so the mf passes into a seemingly empty area of the field, but just as the ball is about to lose momentum, the forward has come onto it and beaten the defender. It will often result in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Well executed, it’s just a beautiful play.
Baseball: inside-the-park home run; petty exciting. Another is a runner on third tagging up on a deep fly and the outfielder throws a strike to the plate and guns him down.
Football: a kick or punt return to The House!
Basketball: a 3-on-2 full court fast break where they drive and dish off artfully to get the slam or layup. It’s not the shot that’s exciting, it’s how the floor is managed, players are spaced, and the ball is passed sometimes two or three times.
I can’t recall offhand of a specific example but I know I’ve seen it happen.
Like safeties, interceptions returned for a long 40+ yard runs are rare plays but they happen every season. Even 95+ yard end-to-end touchdown interception returns have happened, even in the Super Bowl. What I’m picturing though is not “just” an interception return, but where there is a pass as well in the return play. Like a guy picks the ball off, runs down the field, then just as he’s about to get tackled makes a pass - forward or even lateral! - to an open man who then carries the ball even further.
Football: Naked bootleg. Or, for a series of plays, I like the option. A well-run option offense is about impossible to stop. I loved watching Pat White and Steve Slaton at WVU
Soccer: I love seeing a slow rolling ball, behind all the defenders, heading for the net. Clint Dempsey’s goal against England in 2010 was a good example. The ball is heading toward the net and there’s nothing anyone can do about it other than watch it go in. I like tap-ins where the player has beat all defenders and just needs to touch it home, but there’s still the chance that he can foul it up somehow. Not so much with the slow rollers. The same thing applies to Panenkas where the keeper has already dived. Those are good when the shooter misses, too
I remember seeing Joe Namath running one, gimpy knees and all, near the end of his career (still with the Jets, not with the Rams). The defense didn’t expect it at all, and he scored easily. It was a great call.
The Music City Miracle was definitely exciting: a lateral (barely, confirmed only after much instant replay review) on a kickoff return. I was there! Okay, in front of my TV, when it happened. One of the most exciting NFL plays I’ve ever seen.
That may be why I have trouble recalling an example of it When I typed it the second time I wrote lateral, then realized I’d written forward pass originally, wondered about the forward pass bit then shrugged.
So yeah, I meant a lateral pass. The play I had in mind was a shovel (underhanded) toss to another player who ran a few yards further; it was so unexpected (perhaps because it was foolhardy, as a dropped lateral is still live) that it was awesome.
I forget why a forward pass is illegal in an interception return (as is I guess obvious, I’m a fairly casual fan and only an occasional watcher of US football), but that’s for me to look up in Wikipedia (not to derail this thread with my error).
Even better for me, I like the stick route (I think that’s what it’s called…i was a lb, not a wr). Essentially it’s the same as the slant, but the slot receiver goes straight ahead instead of angling toward the middle, and the pass still gets to the slot receiver in stride. If the qb is really good with this, the safety will have bit early and it’s empty space in front of the receiver.
Writing earlier about The Music City Miracle reminded me of the most exciting baseball play I ever saw live, “The Brian Johnson Game”, the bottom of the 12th-inning home run at Candlestick Park to beat the Dodgers, tie them for the NL West lead, and the Giants went on to win the West. I don’t know which play was more exciting, Johnson’s leadoff, 1st pitch home run, or the top of the 10th-inning bases loaded, 1-out, 4-2-3 double play to end that inning (after it was bases loaded with no outs!).
I was in the upper deck, center field, with three friends from work. One of those friends is now my wife, and we just celebrated our 10th anniversary.
In American football, I love to see a pass deflected straight up into the air - the higher the better. There’s a second or two during which anything might happen.
People are likely to disagree with me, but in football and baseball I like the rare “trick” play that works.
First baseman has the ball hidden on him after a conference on the mound and tags the runner on first out. Center snaps to someone other than the QB. Terry Bradshaw stumbles around after being tackled; looks like he should leave the field, but takes the snap and runs 40 yards.
Fake punts and fake field goals, like the one that the Packers ran last Thursday night. They’re rare because, once you run one, the next teams you play will be on the lookout for it…but, if you can catch the other team napping, they can work brilliantly.
Inside the park HR.
Triple, especially when the right fielder has a gun and the batter is fast.
Runner thrown out at the plate on a sac fly attempt, or trying to score from second on a single.
Drag bunt into the no-mans-land between first, second, and the mound.
First and third, double steal.
Steal of home. (Never seen this one except as part of a double steal.)
I did see a triple play (in person, major leagues) once–it was cool, but oddly enough not as cool as I’d anticipated.
A forward pass is not legal in that scenario. Are you sure you’re thinking of American football?
When I typed it the second time I wrote lateral, then realized I’d written forward pass originally, wondered about the forward pass bit then shrugged.