Caution: Sports Nerdery Ahead

After chatting with a friend the other night about Big Moments in sports that we had witnessed, I came up with the following list:

Ten Most Impressive Sports Moments I’ve Witnessed

The rules are fairly simple.

First, I have to have actually experienced the event in real-time. That means that I might not have seen it live, but I definitely had no idea what would happen as I watched. Highlights don’t count. This rules out moments such as Secretariat at Belmont (I wasn’t alive yet), Kirk Gibson’s home run (I had been sent to bed), and Derek Fisher’s 0.4-second shot (I was in my car).

Second, these are sports events that are impressive to me. You can help yourselves – in fact, please do – in the comments section, but this means that I’ll include a couple of moments that involve my favorite teams that wouldn’t be so impressive to you and that not all of them are shining moments – we’re just looking for things that made an impression. Don’t expect to find Cal Ripken breaking the consecutive-games streak (I never really cared), Tyus Edney going coast-to-coast (apologies to Josh), or Michael Jordan’s unnecessary lay-up-instead-of-slam (it happened against the Lakers, and I’ve never forgiven him).

Third, we’re talking moments here, so full games don’t count. Sadly, I didn’t see Kobe’s 81-point game in real-time, but if I had, I couldn’t put it here. I’m also leaving off Fiorentina’s upset of Man United in 1999 (I was there), as well as the Pats original and, at the time, unlikely Super Bowl win over the Rams (I thought the Rams were going to be what the Patriots have ended up being).

Honorable mentions go to Joe Carter (and Mitch Williams’s fabulous mullet), Joe Montana, and Mike Tyson. And I’m looking forward to filling this list up with sick Noel Devine plays in the near future.

Here goes, backwards, in true top-ten fashion…

10. Vince Young scrambles from about 20 yards out to cut USC’s 2006 Rose Bowl lead to 38-33, with a pump fake (something he’s quite good at) thrown in for good measure (1:37 into video). As difficult as it is for me to highlight Texas in any way, this was only one of several hard-to-believe plays from Young during the game that led to the Longhorns’ improbable win.

9. Music City Miracle. Everyone in Buffalo knew it would happen, no one else did. I didn’t actually see this, as I was working at Domino’s Pizza at the time (I was covering for my manager, who had Titans season tickets and was at the game). But we were listening on the radio while six or seven pies went unmade, so I count it. Bonus points on this video for reminding me that Jevon Kearse dominated the league for a minute.

8. Jean van de Velde rolls his pants up and wades into the water at the 1999 British Open. Greg Norman couldn’t believe a guy could choke this badly…

7. Robert Horry finds himself in the right place at the right time. This is another Domino’s game for me; I watched the video after work one night and found myself jumping around and yelling at 3 in the morning. Warning: When you view the video, you may find yourself shocked to realize that Sacramento once had an NBA-level team.

6. Michael Jordan steals the ball from Malone, dribbles up the court, pushes Byron Russell into the first row, then makes the 1998 championship-winning shot just before retiring the second time. Ten years later, Jordan’s foul on Russell is whistled, and Dwayne Wade goes to the line.

5. Mariano Rivera becomes human, as Luis Gonzalez bloops a single over second base to win the World Series for the Diamondbacks (choose fifth video from bottom in drop-down menu). This was the least likely hit I’ve ever seen. Rivera was untouchable, and, following September 11th, the Yankees seemed as if they were meant to win the championship – it’s the only time I can remember people outside of the Tri-State area actively rooting for the Yanks. While we’re on Rivera, watching him warm up and run out of the bullpen from the bleachers in Yankee Stadium is strangely invigorating.

4. Eric Davis puts the A’s on notice. This one has no video, but 10-year-old me could hardly contain himself as the Reds – huge underdogs to the juggernaut A’s – jumped out to a first-inning lead in game 1 of the World Series…then never looked back. Of course, now all I can do is look back, and cheesy Jurassic Park music helps, I guess.

3. Ben Roethlisberger makes the Best Tackle Ever (2:20 into video). A few random notes about this one: Gary Brackett, who forced the fumble, is a Rutgers alum. Nick Harper, who picked up the fumble and made the terrible decision to run at the only Steeler on the field between him and the goal line, had been stabbed in the leg the day before in a domestic dispute. Finally, this wouldn’t have been nearly as dramatic if the refs had correctly ruled on Troy Polamalu’s interception earlier in the fourth quarter (1:45 into video).

2. Christian Laettner catches a pass from Grant Hill, dances the Lindy Hop at the foul line, then makes a jumper to beat Kentucky. Thomas Hill cries, Laettner runs around enjoying his last great moment as a basketball player, and Coach K’s card is American Express. This is probably the most famous college basketball shot of all time, and it would be number 1 if it weren’t for…

1. Keith Smart. This is the first official sports memory for me, as we were pulling hard for the Hoosiers in my house. My mom and dad spent 1976 in Bloomington watching IU go undefeated, became infected with Hoosieria, then passed it along to 6-year-old me. I’ve always wondered if I would be such a big sports fan if Smart had missed and my first official sports memory involved my team’s failure (at least it would’ve prepared me for the 2000-2007 Cincinnati Reds).