Yeah, I know we’ve done this thread enough times that there could be a "Your Personal All Time Top Ten “Your Personal All Time Top Ten Sports Moments Threads” thread, but whatever, there’s not one on the front page right now and I just worked this out for another board, so deal.
And I just clicked submit for some reason, so you’ll have to go to the next post to find out mine. Can you bear the suspense??
Do you mean Top 10 as in for our side (i.e., our favorite team,) or as in an unbiased Top 10 objective sports moments (so other teams as well?)
I interpreted this as to us personally. For me:
Final out of the 1992 World Series; Otis Nixon grounds out, Timlin-to-Carter, and the Jays win it all for the first time
Mike Timlin Gets Last Out 1992 World Series - YouTube
Carter’s home run to win the 1993 World Series
(Joe Carter was the last person to act in three straight playoff series; he made the putout that ended the 1992 WS, made the putout that ended the 1993 ALCS, and scored the run that was the last act of the 1993 WS. That has to be a unique accomplishment.)
1993 WS Game 6: Joe Carter wins Series with homer - YouTube
The Raptors win the 2019 NBA Finals
“Bautista with a drive! Deep left field! No doubt about it!”
Jose Bautista hammers go-ahead three-run shot in ALDS Game 5, delivers epic bat flip - YouTube
“The Blue Jays have finally won the pennant!”
The Shot. Bounce bounce bounce bounce
The Jays make the playoffs for the first time
Edwin Encarnacion wins the 2016 Wild Card game with a monster home run
BAL@TOR: Encarnacion launches walk-off homer in 11th, Blue Jays to ALDS - YouTube
Daniel Alfredsson’s goal to win the 2006 EC Finals
Wow, Joe Buck is featured prominently here.
1 thru 10, this is easy for me. April 14, 2005, the day baseball returned to Washington, D.C. Even the championship last year pales in comparison.
I was 18 when the (second) Senators left for Texas, 53 when it returned. I dropped everything and flew (from Boston) to D.C. for the 2005 home opener. Still have the ticket and the program.
[quote=“RickJay, post:3, topic:853504”]
I interpreted this as to us personally. For me:
As a fellow Canadian, I am more than a bit surprised you left our Paul Henderson’s late-game series winning goal in Moscow in 1972.
ETA: You must be a youngster!
I’ll try to list 10, but won’t put them in order:
Red Wings win the Stanley Cup in 1997. All of SE Michigan erupted for this one
Vinnie Johnson hits the buzzer beater to win the championship for the Pistons in 1990.
Nadal vs. Federer in the 2009 Wimbledon final. The next day, someone asked McEnroe if this was the greatest match of all time and he immediately confirmed it was. It still holds up as the best tennis final in history.
Michigan Football season 1997 - I attended every single home game and we tied for the national championship. For a key moment,** the Ohio State game**, which was amazing. I’m embarrassed Mich. football is not at that level anymore.
Agassi comes back to win the French Open in 1999. Two sets down, he had been on a career skid for awhile. Comes back from two sets down and wins the tournament.
US wins the Davis Cup in 2007 - well, men’s tennis is down now, but this was the last hurrah. I hope we win it again some time.
The catch in 1994 - I was standing in the stadium for this play. Painful, but I will never forget seeing it live. I’m in the video(well, a pixel size dot in the crowd). I was on the 50 yard line, up high, great view. a moment burned in my mind.
Claude Lemieux assaults Kris Draper - 1996. I’m sure there is more to the story, but in Detroit we see it as Claude attacked Kris. About a year after, Darren McCarty beat up Lemieux and it felt great.
**Armando Galarraga’s near-perfect game **- I did not see it live, but it was amazing. The whole perfect game plus the blown call plus the sportsmanship around it. **Amazing.
2000 USA wins gold in baseball at the Sydney Olympics **- Tommy Lasorda at the time said it was his biggest moment in baseball. I believe it. Stunning and incredible. It was in Australia, but I watched it late at night(I think). I cheered.
And completes the career grand slam. The look on his face after the final point was priceless.
I wasn’t yet a year old. Means very little to me except as a historical event. Sidney Crosby’s goal almost made it.
I’ve got ten here, but probably could have picked a bunch of others. These are all games or incidents that are particularly memorable to me for one reason or another. They’re in no particular order.
Australia defeats England in the final to win the 1991 Rugby World Cup.
Twickenham, London, England.
1999 Cricket World Cup semi-final. Australia drew 213-213 with South Africa, but went through to the final based on head-to-head record.
Edgbaston, Birmingham, England.
What a game. The Aussies seemed in control, then Lance Klusener came in and blasted 31 runs from 14 balls and looked like he was going to guide South Africa to a win with a few balls to spare. But then came the calamitous runout, leaving the game tied and sending Australia to the final against Pakistan, which they won easily. It was well after midnight in Sydney, and my housemates were asleep, so I had to leap around the living room in crazed silence.
Last-minute, length-of-the-field try wins the game for the Kangaroos, Second Rugby League Test, Australia v. Great Britain, 1991.
Old Trafford, Manchester, England
Pavel Bure scores a breakaway goal in triple overtime to win Game 7 in the first round of the playoffs, Vancouver Canucks v. Calgary Flames, 1994.
Saddledome, Calgary, Canada
1983 America’s Cup, Race 7, Australia II comes from behind to beat Liberty
Newport, Rhode Island, USA
The final day of the regular Major League Baseball season, 2011.
Multiple venues
Joe Carter’s home run to win the 1993 World Series
Skydome, Toronto, Canada.
I was living in Vancouver, and had not yet moved to the United States and adopted the Orioles as my team. As a Canadian-born Aussie, I naturally adopted the Blue Jays. I was working in a bar, and it was packed on the night of the game. The chaos when Carter hit the home run was amazing.
**
Cathy Freeman wins gold, Women’s 400m, 2000 Olympic Games
Olympic Stadium, Sydney, Australia**
Dennis Lillee bowls out Viv Richards on the last ball of the day to leave the West Indies reeling at 4/10 on their first innings. Day 1, First Test, Australia v. West Indies, 1981.
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
The West Indies were at the height of their world dominance, and Viv Richards was their most dangerous batsman. Australia scored only 198 in their first innings, and the West Indies came to bat with only 7 or 8 overs to face. The two openers went very quickly, and captain Clive Lloyd sent in Colin Croft as a nightwatchman, but when he was also dismissed, Richards came to the crease. He looked uncharacteristically nervous for the six or seven balls he faced, before he dragged a lovely cutter onto his stumps on thee last ball of the day. I was only 12 at the time, and I was leaping around the living room like a banshee. Australia went on to win the match, one of only 18 test losses for the West Indies in their 20-year run of dominance from the mid-70s to the mid-90s.
**
Tim Cahill scores for Australia against the Netherlands, FIFA World Cup, 2014
Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brasil**
Steven Bradbury wins Gold for Australia, 1000m Speed Skating, 2002 Olympic Games
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
And he won it because all four guys in front of him fell down.
Awesome!
Chronological order. I was present at those marked *. The rest I watched live on TV
August 1958. One of the very first baseball games I attended in person. I was 9. Vic Power steals home at some point. The game goes into extra innings and Vic Power steals home again in the 10th to win it.
circa 1959-60. We’re attending an Indians game. They are losing going into the bottom of the 9th. Dad says let’s go to beat the traffic. The first batter gets on base and they put George Strickland in to pinch run (Yes I know who? but he was my favorite player for several years around then.) Dad says, “I guess we have to stay don’t we?” We do and he Indians win the game. Dad had earlier in the game got a foul ball which when I was sick some time later he got George Strickland to sign for me.
December 1964. The Cleveland Browns with the NFL Championship (before the Super Bowl started). It was the first championship for any of “my” teams.
May (?) 1970. The Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup in overtime over St Louis with Bobby Orr’s “flying” goal. 1970-1 was a pretty marvelous season all along where the Bruins dominated the league, then lost to Montreal and stupid Ken Dryden. “My” teams are basically Cleveland, but I started to watch hockey when I went away to college in Boston and Cleveland didn’t have an NHL team.
February 1980. Team USA defeats the ‘unbeatable’ Russian hockey team and then wins the gold beating Finland for the Gold, which was almost an anti-climax.
October 1995. The Indians win 100 games in the 144 strike shortened season of 144 games and win their first pennant in my memory. (I was alive in 1954 but don’t recall the season)
October 2004. the Red Sox come back from 3 games to 0 and defeat the Yankees for the AL pennant (More noted personally that it was the hated Yankees who were the first to lose after leading 3-0 rather than it was the Red Sox winning.
June 2016. The Cavaliers win the NBA Championship. Actually I real didn’t much care as I don’t follow basketball, but at least is stopped all those stories that no Cleveland team had won a Championship since the Browns in '64.
Late season 2017. The Indians win 22 straight games. The longest ever winning streak in MLB with no ties.
And how I do so wish I could have put Nov 2016 on that list
Another Aussie here (like Mhendo) - my Top 10 are different (although his are great as well).
In No Particular Order (not all good moments, either).
Henderson’s goal was second to come to my mind. Joe Carter’s World Series-winning home run came first.
I will say, for Rick’s benefit, that Canada basically shut down the day of that hockey game. I was a middle-school student then, and school wasn’t cancelled–we still had to show up–but nothing was being taught and every TV at school was pressed into service, in order to show the hockey game. There weren’t enough TVs for each classroom, so classes doubled up, and teachers piled in too. I remember my friends and I quietly complaining how hard it was to see the TV when the very obese art teacher was sitting in front of us.
It’s difficult for me to narrow my favourites down to a Top Ten, but in addition to the two above, among them would be Jose Bautista’s bat flip, the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the 1967 Stanley Cup, and the Blue Jays’ very first game on April 7, 1977. I skipped school to go home and watch that game on TV.
I remember having my eyes glued to the TV, hoping that Tim May and Craig McDermott could pull them through. So close!
In the same vein, the MCG Boxing Day Ashes Test in '82-'83, with Allan Border and Jeff Thomson almost pulling out an amazing win.
The most recent gut-wrencher, and one that almost made my list for the sheer brilliance of the performance, was Nick Stokes’ one-man salvation of England in the third Ashes test last summer. One of the greatest innings in test history.
I’m quite aware of the event and the impact it had on Canada. It’s one of the most important sports moments in the history of the country, maybe the most important. That’s not what the OP was asking, though.
That was in fact the last time any player has stolen home twice in one game. It was August 14, 1958.
Power, of course, did not generally steal bases. He played a long time but stole only 45 bases, a figure Rickey Henderson used to pile up before the All-Star break. Actually, in Vic’s day, people generally didn’t steal bases at all; the stolen base was kind of a dead strategy. Power’s 10th inning steal also came with Cleveland’s best hitter, Rocky Colavito, at the plate, so I am not sure what the hell happened exactly.
Here’s another weird thing that I don’t understand; both pitchers that Power stole home off of, Bill Fischer and Frank Lary, were right handed. That’s AMAZING. The great majority of steals of home are off lefthanded pitchers, because a lefty is facing away from third base and has more difficulty holding a runner there. (For the same reason, lefties are more effective at preventing runners at first from stealing second.) To do it twice is a hell of a thing.
Vic Power was an interesting player, a very odd mix of skills. He was a first baseman but he didn’t hit like one; he had good batting averages but did not hit for power or draw walks. He was, however, one of the greatest defensive first basemen who ever lived, despite being righthanded. He had the athleticism and skill to play second base or third base (which he did occasionally when they needed him to) but he started out at first and was so amazing at it they kept him there.
Right, I took it as being a reflection on personal experiences in sports.
Under different circumstances, I probably would have listed the first championship victories for two of my childhood teams, the Penrith Panthers (rugby league, 1991) and the Sydney Swans (Australian rules, 2005). But unfortunately, I was living overseas for both of them, and didn’t really experience the victories except as news stories. That just doesn’t have the same immediacy and personal impact.
Thank you for reminding me. I watched it live and it probably belongs in my top 10. I could not believe it. I still can’t believe it. I have seem some seriously embarrassing moments in sports, but to have that happen…to Brazil(!)…*in *Brazil…was outrageous. My jaw still drops thinking about it.
As primarily a baseball and specifically Royals fan, my list will be very heavy on the 2014-2015 Royals teams, because they just had so many MOMENTS. I’ve been a fan of the team since 1982, but although there were some other good times in there, they didn’t quite have as much drama as there was in every game of those two post-seasons. Nonetheless, there are two non-Royals sports moments that are etched into my memory. Here goes:
I already had my ten listed, but I recalled one other very memorable moment, the pine tar home run. It’s not the home run itself, but the Royals protested the umpires’ decision and the game had to be replayed from that moment (two outs in the ninth with the Royals up by a run) later in the season with the home run now counting.
Before the first pitch to the “next batter”, Hal McRae, Billy Martin had the Yankees team appeal at first and second (but not third as I recall) that Brett had missed that base in his home run trot and should be out. The umpires called Brett safe even though they had not been the umpires at the original game and could not have seen whether Brett had touched the bases or not.
When Martin came out to protest this, the home plate umpire (or perhaps the crew chief) produced an affidavit from the original umpires that Brett had touched all the bases. I thought that was great anticipation on the part of the umpires, and the hated Billy Martin was put in his place.
[ul]
[li]Tony Parker’s 0.1 second shot that won Game 1 of the 2013 NBA Finals against the Heat (sadly, the Heat ultimately prevailed in the series)[/li][li]South Korea advancing to the semifinals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup (although aided by a great deal of underhanded officiating, unfortunately)[/li][li]Vince Young scoring on 4th-and-5 with nineteen seconds remaining to give the Texas Longhorns the win over the USC Trojans in the 2005 NCAAF football championship game[/li][li]Japan beating China 3-1 in the Asian Cup Final on China’s own home turf in Beijing in 2004[/li][li]England making it to the 2018 World Cup semifinals (I had hoped for England v. France in the final; alas, not to happen)[/li][li]Mavs overcoming numerous deficits to beat the Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals[/li][li]Cavs overcoming 3-1 deficit to beat the Warriors in 2016 NBA Finals[/li][li]Germany smashing Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup semifinals on Brazil’s own home turf (could have been 8-0 if it weren’t for Ozil)[/li][li]Cowboys overcoming six turnovers to beat the Bills 25-24 on Monday Night Football, 2007[/li][li]Japan coming back from deficits twice to beat the U.S. women’s team on penalties in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup[/li][/ul]