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Posted by on Oct 17, 2014 in Blog, Personal, Travel | 6 comments

What’s the Most Memorable Sporting Event You’ve Attended? (Part 2)

 

boca-juniors-stadium

Boca Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina — home of the legendary Boca Juniors

 

Let’s continue with the best live sporting events we’ve seen.

Yesterday, in Part I (READ HERE), I featured several games I attended from 1969 through 1979.  Today, I’ll look back on sporting events from 1980 to the present which I saw in person.

Feel free to add your favorite sporting event memory, either in the comments section or on Facebook.

 

Listed in chronological order:

roger-staubach

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys (NFL) — 1979

This was an astounding comeback victory led by Roger Staubach, which would turn out to be his final victory for the Cowboys.  Staubach, who won the Heisman Trophy with Navy and led Dallas to two Super Bowl wins, retired just a few weeks later.  I sat in the end zone where wide receiver Tony Hill caught the pass from Staubach with seconds left, capping a 17-point comeback in the final 5 minutes of the game, which was for the NFC title.  Played just a few days before Christmas which was the last game of the regular season, my and my high school friends yelled so much we lost our voices (I was a senior in high school at the time).  Staubach was a class act and remains one of my heroes in sports.

2005_RFK_stadium2

RFK Stadium empty and eerie….. a huge mistake to not renovate this classic arena…..Redskins haven’t been the same team since they moved to the Maryland suburbs

New York Giants at Washington Redskins (NFL) — 1986

The old RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., was the most exciting stadium I’ve ever been inside to watch a football game.  I saw lots of games there when living twice in the Nation’s Capital (1986) and (1992-2001).  The stadium was a total dump.  It only held 53,000 seats but could have sold twice that for Redskins home games.  The season ticket waiting list was 25 years long.  The fans were so passionate the stadium actually used to move off its foundation when everyone was standing and cheering.  There was also something about the outdated sightlines and a strange design that was magical.  You could hear everything that was said on the field when the players were talking and yelling.  A truly amazing experience.  I attended my first Redskins home game when the two NFL East rivals were Washington (coached by Joe Gibbs) and NY Giants (coached by Bill Parcells).  Coming from Dallas, the other rival team in the division, this was truly memorable.  I sat on the 40-yard line downstairs and came to realize this was the way football was meant to be played — on real grass, in cluttered stadiums, with fans standing the entire game.  The team even had its own band.  This particular game wasn’t memorable, but the experience of seeing RFK Stadium for the first time in person certainly was.

memorial-stadium

Memorial Stadium on Baltimore’s north side, which always drew great fan support for the Colts and Orioles

Minnesota Twins at Baltimore Orioles (Baseball) — 1986

If major league baseball has a similar “RFK Stadium moment,” it was most certainly going to a game at the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.  Since the Orioles were just 40 miles up the road from Washington, which was the closest baseball game at the time (the Nationals came into existence 15 years later), I went to a Saturday afternoon game and saw the Orioles who had Cal Ripken near the start of his streak, managed by the great Earl Weaver.  Memorial Stadium was a dump.  But much like its old counterparts in Chicago and Boston, the stadium had character.  Lots of memories of Memorial Stadium, from Johnny Unitas playing most of his career there with the Colts to all those great Orioles teams from the 1960s and 1970s.  It’s been demolished now, so I savor this memory.

6_-Tom-Landry-NFL-Coach-Dallas-Cowboys-NY-Giants

A rare smile from Tom Landry after winning the 1970 NFC Championship game. He coached the Cowboys for 29 seasons. With Craig Morton, Dan Reeves, Bob Hayes, and Calvin Hill

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (NFL) — 1988

Just before I departed the U.S. to go live in Europe, I was back home on leave and just so happened to be offered free tickets to the meaningless final game of the NFL regular season played at Texas Stadium.  The Cowboys were well out of the playoffs by then and this was a cold-weather game versus the hated Eagles, coached by Buddy Ryan at the time.  The game did not seem important, but I decided to go.  I sat on the 40-yard line downstairs with a friend.  Dallas lost badly.  After the game was over, I remember thinking that this would be the final Cowboys home game I would see for a while.  Since I was leaving to live overseas, I did not know when I would return.  When the game ended, Tom Landry walked slowly off the field, which was his 29th year as the head coach.  No one knew it at the time, but that would be Tom Landry’s final game as head coach in Dallas.  He was fired a few months later when Jerry Jones bought the franchise.  I also didn’t realize it at the time, but that Dallas-Philadelphia game would be my final Cowboys’ football game.   I have not seen them play in person since.  After twenty years of cheering for the team, I lost interest in them as a fan and have not been to a game in 26 years.

steaubucuresti

Not just standing room only, but sitting-room only — which would never be allowed today given safety concerns….at 23 August Stadium in central Bucharest, 1990

Dynamo Bucharest at Steaua Bucharest (Soccer) — 1990

This was the most heart-pounding moment I’ve ever witnessed in sports.  While living in Bucharest right after the Romanian Revolution, the two main soccer rivals in the country faced off at the old stadium built during the communist era.  It was called “23 August Stadium.”  Barbed wire fences kept fans off the field.  Sections of fans were split apart and were not allowed to mix.  Nevertheless, a riot broke out.  Marieta attended the game with me (we were dating at the time).  Fans of one team started burning the jerseys of the other team in stands, and this caused pandemonium.  This game released a lot of pent-up frustration as Dinamo was known as the Securitate (secret police) team and they were playing Steaua (Star), which was the team of the national army.  They were not just rivals, they hated each other, as did the supporters of each team.  Since the revolution has been a battle between Securitate and the Army, this game was a continuation of those hostilities.  We cheered for Steaua and were run out of the stadium by a mob.  Marieta and I had to run to our car and race off after being chased by dozens of fans who were swinging sticks and clubs.  It was a madhouse.  We were lucky to get away without being attacked and seriously injured.

barack-obama-basketball

President Obama attends a GWU basketball game, which was played on campus just a few blocks away from the White House

West Virginia at George Washington University (College Basketball) — 1993

George Washington University is a small campus located right between the White House and the State Department, which is called Foggy Bottom.  I attended some GWU home games during the early to mid-1990s when the GWU basketball team was a national contender.  They made the Sweet 16 one year and the Final 8 the next.  GWU home games were amazing because the arena was very small.  It held perhaps 2,000-3,000 people.  So all the seats were right night next to the court — almost like a high school arena.  Every seat was right next to the action.  I went to one key game where GWU won on a last-second buzzer-beater shot.  I have to say that college basketball is really fun to watch in person, especially if you have great seats.  Note:  This photo shows President Obama at a GWU home game a few years ago.

dodger-stadium

American sports best outdoor venue, Dodger Stadium

Cincinnati Reds at Los Angeles Dodgers (Baseball) — 2005

Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles is the most beautiful and best-designed stadium in all of American sports.  Really amazing, since the venue is more than 50 years old.  The stadium remains not just state of the art but is ultra-modern looking.  All the seats are decent.  It’s also aided by perfect weather, a great location, and a celebrity factor that comes being next to Hollywood.  I never cared for the Dodgers or Los Angeles sports teams.  But my one visit to Dodger Stadium about ten years ago left a lasting impression.  The place is gorgeous.  I got some tickets right behind home plate with a friend, and we went to the game.  Since we had to bet the game also, we decided to wager on the UNDER, which means we hoped for a low-scoring game.  This was common in Los Angeles, where runs are usually hard to come by.  By the top of the third inning, the score was Cincinnati leading 8-7.  Our bet lost by the time some fans had even arrived at the ballpark.  As my friend and I were angrily leaving the stadium in the middle of the third inning, we were driving out past cars that were still arriving in the parking lot.  There were two empty seats the rest of the game, right behind home plate.

yankee-stadium

Old Yankee Stadium way back when, even before the 1975 renovation…..looks great on television, but a terrible place to watch a ballgame

Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees (Baseball) — 2005

No one can really be a fan without traveling to one of the most sacred shrines in American sports.  Right before it was demolished to make way for a new venue without mystique, I insisted on visiting the old Yankee Stadium, a.k.a. “the house that (Babe) Ruth Built.”  The old stadium was cramped and many of the seats were terrible.  The gradual slope in the bottom deck made it quite tough to see the field when fans were standing.  Yet the upper deck was such at a sharp angle, that I’m shocked more fans didn’t fall down the stairs, fall over the rails, and tumble to their deaths.  The stadium was a terrible place to watch a ballgame.  I can only imagine how much worse it must have been when the NY Giants played home games there, with the field so far away.  If you are looking to watch a baseball game in New York, Hellotickets is exactly where you want to be to get the best seats in the house.  The stadium looked great on television, but it was one of the worst stadiums where I’ve ever watched a game.  Yankee Stadium produced some great memories for fans of New York teams.  Nonetheless, I understand why it had to be torn down in favor of a newer arena.  I don’t remember about the game I attended, except that I went by myself and sat right behind the Yankee dugout.  I also got into an argument with an usher.  

La-Bombonera-Boca-Juniors-Stadium-Buenos-Aires

Nothing comes close to the passion South Americans have for soccer — here’s the Boca Juniors playing at home in Buenos Aires

River Platte at Boca Juniors:  Buenos Aires (Soccer) — 2008

I’m not sure any sporting event on earth is more exciting than a top South American soccer game.  Here, the game is a religion.  Argentina is a soccer-mad country where the two biggest teams are the Boca Juniors and River Plate.  They are bitter rivals.  Boca is the Italian section of B.A. where mostly the immigrants live (Argentina got its wave of millions of Italians much like the U.S. at the early part of the 19th century).  This is a much older, artistic area of the city which is marked by the buildings having vibrant colors.  The old B.A. is represented by the legendary Boca Juniors.  Their most famous player was Maradona, who is now considered a god in Argentina.  Across town is a much newer and flashier team and bigger stadium, which is River Plate.  This is the team favored by people in the newer part of the city.  As one can imagine, when these two teams play, the entire region of 10 million people shuts down.  Marieta and I found this out the hard way in September of 2008 when we were visiting Buenos Aires and happened to be in Boca when the Juniors were about to host River Plate.  We considered going to the game, but tickets were impossible to come by.  So, we went to a bar and ate beef all night, drank wine, and watched the teams play — along with the rest of Argentina.  Okay, so we were not at the game.  But we did get into Boca Stadium earlier that day and experienced the excitement of an Argentine soccer match.  So, it makes the list.

NFL: San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints

Any New Orleans Saints Home Game (NFL)

I’ve been to five Saints games, between 1980 and 2012.  The games were really fun when the Saints were the worst team in football.  They are even better now.  The most memorable game of all in my favorite American city was the time the national radio broadcaster Howard David invited Marieta and me to sit right in the press box with him when he called the game live.  Try this — 45-yard line seats in the press box, next to the man calling the action!  How’s that for an experience?  The Saints lost to Tampa Bay in an exciting game.  The Superdome was deafening.  Love watching the Saints play and then celebrating or drowning one’s sorrows in the bars and restaurants.  One of the best sporting experiences in America.  Forget tailgating — the entire city of New Orleans is a tailgate when the Saints play.

buschstadium

Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals (Baseball) — 2011

This experience was meaningful for multiple reasons.  First, poker pro-Dennis Phillips and national radio personality and talk show host Paul Harris took me to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game, which was a real treat.  We had great seats and at least Dennis and I kept the beer guy busy.  I was really impressed with how much St. Louis is truly a “baseball town.”  This is not seen much anymore, since other sports are now much more popular.  But in St. Louis, baseball remains king.  Everyone in the city seems to follow the team and asks about the score (I was there for two weeks, and everyone keeps an eye on the Cardinals).  The games almost always sell out.  However, one thing that was terribly annoying was being constantly bombarded with signage, announcements, breaks in the action brought to us by some car dealership or insurance company, and anything else where a product or service could be sold or pimped.  The ballgame wasn’t a sport.  It was the QVC Channel.  This is one of the reasons why live sporting events have lost me.  It’s why my interest is now gone.  I want to watch the games and enjoy myself.  Not be pitched at with products and brands every 15 seconds.  As much as I appreciated the experience of attending my first and only Cardinals home game, I won’t be going back, not here, nor anywhere else, most likely.  At least with the remote in my hands, I can turn the channel and tune out the commercials.

Okay, so that was my list.  Once again — what’s yours?  Feel free to post in the comments section, or at FACEBOOK LINK HERE.

TAG:  List of most exciting sporting events

6 Comments

  1. Watching special olympics participants at any stadium anywhere.

    or Air Force Navy Football game at USAFA stadium should be done once in a lifetime
    Setting –

    at each score he freshmen get on field and do pushups
    http://d2.static.dvidshub.net
    /media/thumbs/photos/1410/1598087/450x300_q95.jpg

  2. cont – the wing marches on the field, in this setting

    http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/afa/sports/genrel/auto_original/2811621.jpeg

    the US flag is parachuted into stadium

    and then the Flyovers which budget cuts have reduced (including B52, B2, B2, B117, F16, F15,…)

    https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3537/3573900519_031429aaae.jpg

    halftime USAFA has the only performing mascot (a prairie falcon) in the NCAA

    at conclusion the AF team sings and the Navy (army) team sings to the student body

    spectacle not matched anywhere!

  3. As a spectator – Has to be watching John Henry win (photo) the first Arlington Million in 1981. My future peg & I had discovered that AP at the time was great bargain entertainment for broke ass students. General admission was only $2 and they allowed carry ins. When we went for a day at the races we loaded a $4 case of Huber Bock returnable bottles into a cooler with few sandwiches and other snacks and would budget about $50 for bets. I had read Ainslie’s Complete Guide to Thoroughbred Racing, but more than anything else we figured out early, when in doubt bet pat day’s horse and that strategy sent us home with a profit more often than not. John Henry hammed it up in the paddock. He seemed to know everyone was there to watch him run and enjoyed the attention. I think that was the race where we heard someone on the rail yell to Shoemaker during the post parade “Got any tips Bill?”. Bill snapped back, “Don’t bet the ponies!”

  4. Game 5 of 1989 World Series at Wrigley Field … Oh wait that game never happened … I won the phone sales lottery, I had 4 tickets. I could have bought NLCS tickets when I won the phone lottery … could have sold them for a several thousand dollar profit … but I went for the big one a Cubs World Series game at Wrigley that never happened.

  5. Top Ten Sporting Events:

    Note: I have never seen an NFL or NBA game in person. I’ve largely drifted away from watching much professional or college sports in person or on TV in the past 10 years except for
    Murray State (my employer) in college basketball.

    1. August 2, 1978 Cubs vs Cardinals, Wrigley Field

    I was 8 and this was my first trip to a professional sports game. My cousin and I ran around like little kids do and we almost got Ernie Banks’ autograph, as he was being mobbed by a pack of kids and signed for some kids until the Andy Frain ushers shooed us away.
    Cubs won 3-2 with Mike Krukow on the mound, Bruce Sutter with the save, and Mike Vail (remember him?) getting the winning hit. I looked up the box score and the attendance was only 14K, 75 degress with a 17 mph wind, pretty sure blowing in that day. Game lasted just 1 hour 58 minutes.

    2. January 16, 1988 Wyoming vs BYU, college basketball
    I was an undergraduate in Laramie in the late 80s and early 90s. My senior year in high school, Wyoming made a Sweet Sixteen run in basketball behind the exploits of Fennis Dembo (future NBA washout who outplayed Reggie Miller in an upset of UCLA) and Eric Leckner (future NBA big white stiff). Dembo and Leckner were seniors for my freshman year and the team was built up as a legit contender to go deep in the NCAA tournament. There was a coaching change, as disciplinarian Jim Brandenburg left and was replaced by “boys will be boys” Benny Dees. I know to be true as I witnessed some of the partying exploits of our basketball players during my college years, including a player named Robin Davis scoring 30+ points in a game my sophomore after drinking with us before the game (he lived on the same floor as I in my dorm).

    Anyways, Wyoming was ranked as high as #5 that year IIRC, and were probably about #10 or so when we faced our hated rival BYU. The game was televised on ESPN, we made a sign with some
    sort of stupid acronym and a picture of a screw, as we tended to chant “Fuck You, BYU” for this game, despite the athletic director’s plea that we show our visitors that Wyoming fans
    are classy (they weren’t). We lost 83-67 in front of sellout crowd of 15K. The team flamed out in the first round of the NCAA tournament, losing to high-scoring Loyola Marymount. This was the Hank Gathers-Bo Kimble team a couple of years before Gathers’ tragic death.

    3. November 5, 1988 Wyoming vs UTEP

    The late 1980s were the golden era of Wyoming’s college athletics. Both our football and basketball teams were winners and participating in post-season. Our club soccer team wasn’t so
    good (featuring a certain future statistics professor as a crappy substitute on a shitty team). Wyoming went undefeated in the old WAC (many of these teams play in the modern Mountain West Conference, although some like Utah and BYU have gone on to supposedly better things) and played in the Holiday Bowl both years.

    Wyoming home games were noted for being cold as fuck (the wind would whip and the elevation was over 7200 feet). Students got in for free and we spent the money not spent on tickets on liquor that we smuggled into the stadium. Vendors selling sodas would come into the student section openly yelling “Get yer mixers!” We’d buy a few large sodas, pour most of the soda out, and fill the cups with our contraband whiskey.

    UTEP was traditionally shitty at football, but were good this season. We were 9-0 and ranked #10 in the country, they were 8-1.
    We slaughtered them 51-6 to win the WAC title. Goalposts were torn down and paraded through the streets of Laramie. The team went on to the Holiday Bowl, where Barry Sanders ran wild as Oklahoma State routed us 62-14. Sanders had 222 yards and 5 TDs as our players were completely unable to stop him.

    4. July 12, 1996 Colorado Rockies vs San Diego Padres

    I lived in Colorado during much of the 1990s, and probably attended a couple dozen of Rockies games during the high-scoring “Blake Street Bombers” era. Back then, major league baseball was still a novelty in Denver, and the new Coors Field and the gentrified LoDo neighborhood were a big draw, as most games were sold out. A way to go to games on the “cheap” was to stand in line and buy “Rockpile” seats sold only on the day of the game. Starting 2 1/2 hours before the game, the center field bleachers (the worst seats in the house) were sold for $4, first come first served. We’d buy cheap tickets and then spend the rest of our money drinking beer at nearby brewpubs and on burritos and tamales that Mexican women would sell on the street near the ballpark, as the idea was to not spend any money inside the stadium on overpriced Coors and hot dogs.

    This game looked like a dud, as the Padres had a 9-2 lead in the 7th inning, when there was a lengthy rain delay. Most of the 48K in attendance took this as their cue to go home, but some of us stayed. The game did eventually restart and we were treated to an amazing inning of baseball. The Padres manager decided to not put his starter back in after the lengthy delay, and the Rockies ended up scoring 11 runs in the bottom of the 7th. This inning featured 5 pitching changes, a second rain delay, Andres Gallaraga being hit by a pitch twice in the same inning (the second of which led to a fight and an ejection of a Padres reliever), and a Vinny Castilla grand slam. The Rockies almost blew their 13-9 lead in the 9th, but held on for a 13-12 win. Game time was 5 hours 22 minutes.

    5. April 17, 1999 Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs

    I saw a few Colorado Avalanche games during my time in Colorado in the 1990s, including a memorable night at a sports bar when the Avs won the cup in 1996, as we had all jumped on the bandwagon of the former Quebec Nordiques. I’ve also seen the Nashville Predators a few times in more recent time, but my most memorable game was the one sporting event I saw north of the border.

    I was in Montreal for an academic conference. I arrived the night before and it happened to be the final game of the regular season, as the Canadiens faced the hated rivals from Toronto. The game was meaningless in the sense that the Canadiens were out of playoff contention and the Maple Leafs had wrapped up the #2 seed, but it’s still a bitter game. I decided I had to see
    this in person, and bought a ticket from a scalper. I learned that the Quebecois don’t care for “Oh Canada” that much. There were a bunch of young dudes from Toronto chanting “Let’s go
    golfing” at the Canadiens, but Montreal did get the 3-2 win on this night. I then ended up in some Irish pub in downtown Montreal, avoiding the bros from Toronto and ended up befriending
    some random businessman from Chicago who ended up buying all of my drinks for me!

    6. July 10, 1999 USA vs China, Women’s World Cup final

    I’m a big soccer fan, and when the USA women advanced to the World Cup final, I impulsively decided that I should try to see the game. I went online and there were still tickets available
    on Ticketmaster. There couldn’t have been many left, as I bought one “best available” which ended up being in the VERY TOP ROW at the Rose Bowl (which by the way is a dump). Found a somewhat reasonable flight to LA and there I was.

    As we lined up to get into the Rose Bowl, all of the Mexican guys who were working at the Rose Bowl were chanting “China! China!” just to troll us, although I’m sure they didn’t really care about women’s soccer. It was actually a doubleheader, as the 3rd place game was also played that day. That game was a rather dull 0:0 draw, with Brazil winning on penalties.

    The actual final was also a pretty dull, lifeless game, as the USA and China played to a 0:0 draw through overtime. Of course, all anyone remembers that the USA won 5:4 on penalties,
    with Brandi Chastain ripping her shirt off after scoring the winner. Brianna Scurry, the US keeper, pretty blatantly cheated and came way forward off her line on the one shot that was
    saved. From my horrible seat, I didn’t even realize Brandi was running around clad in just her sports bar.

    Hey, I’ve seen my nation win the World Cup on home soil. No Brazilian has seen that. Although the USA women have done great in the Olympics, they have not won the WWC since.

    7. July 4, 2001 Colorado Rapids vs DC United

    I attended a handful of MLS games in Denver, all when the team still played in the old Mile High Stadium before it was torn down in 2002. The Rapids, not the Bronocs, were actually the last pro sports team to play at the old stadium, with the 2001 season being the last season before moving to the new Mile High and eventually to the soccer-specific Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

    Most MLS games got an attendance far too small to provide a good atmosphere in a NFL stadium, but the Rapids had a tradition of a “Fireworks” game on July 4th, with cheap tickets and a fireworks show after the game. This game got 60K and I was seated (for my only time) in the section that containted Rapids fan club. These are the diehards that bang drums the entire match and actually know and care who the MLS players are. It was fun, and they razzed a couple of the DC United players who formerly played for Colorado as “Rapids rejects!” Honestly, the Rapids have sucked for most of MLS history and most players would want to get away. This was a good day for the Rapids, as Scotsman John Spencer scored in the first minute and twice more in the second half. Spencer’s hat trick led to a 3:1 win.

    8. August 31, 2003 Tennessee vs Wyoming

    Going to school at Wyoming and Northern Colorado and then working at Murray State meant that I’ve never been around an university that played big time college sports in a “major” conference.
    My undergraduate alma mater Wyoming signed a “2 for 1” deal with Tennesee, where Wyoming was supposed to get one home game in return for going to Knoxville twice. The first game was played in 1999 in Knoxville, with a big Tennesee win.

    Well, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce paid the Wyoming athletic department a considerable sum of money and Wyoming’s home game ended up being played in Nashville at what was known then as Adelphia Coliseum. This is where the Tennessee Titans play and it is now known as LP Field.

    I’m not really a rah-rah guy for my colleges, but I wore a Wyoming t-shirt around Nashville before the game. Downtown Nashville was completely overrun with creepy SEC football fans in that tacky hunter’s safety orange that the Volunteers love. Since Wyoming wasn’t a SEC rival and were assumed to be an early season cupcake, I and the handful of other Wyoming fans were treated as novelties rather than rivals.

    Tennessee destroyed Wyoming 47-7 that day. I grew to hate the “Rocky Top” song, which was played and sang after every Vol TD. Wyoming went 2-10 that season, but got their revenge when
    the final game was finally played in 2008. Philip Fulmer’s team was struggling and it was announced just before the Wyoming game that this was Fulmer’s final season. Wyoming ended up beating the Vols 14-13 in their own Homecoming game, as Fulmer’s coaching career sputtered to a rather humiliating end as UT hired Lane Kiffin.

    9. November 23, 2002 Murray State vs Eastern Illinois

    I’ve been a professor at Murray State since 2000. It’s a basketball school, and I’ve attended very few football games at our crappy ugly Roy Stewart Stadium. Division I-AA (now Football
    Championship Subdivision) football isn’t that great, and our team has only won the Ohio Valley conference and made it to the playoffs once in my time in western Kentucky.

    Eastern Illinois is usually one of the best teams in the conference and this game was for the OVC title and the automatic bid in the I-AA playoffs. It was a pretty high-scoring game,
    as neither defense seemed to be able to contain the other. With less than 2 minutes left, we led EIU 34-28, but EIU’s QB effortlessly led his team to a TD to take the 35-34 lead with about 30 seconds left. After a poor kickoff and a couple of completed passes, we had a desperation 52 yard FG to win the game. Hometown boy Shane Andrus booted the FG as time expired, leading to he only assault on our stadium’s goalposts in many a year. We lost to geographic rival Western Kentucky in the first round of the playoffs, as WKU went on to win the national title that year.

    Andrus ended up on the fringes of pro ball, kicking in NFL Europe and having short NFL stints with the Colts, Buccaneers, and 49ers, mostly as a kickoff specialist. Oh, and the EIU QB. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that it was Tony Romo shredding Murray’s secondary that day.

    10. April 3, 2014 Murray State vs Yale

    I’ve gone to several dozen Murray State basketball games over the years, but never before one in April. We have a pretty good mid-major program and are always at or near the top of the Ohio Valley Conference. There have only been 2 NBA players produced by the program in my time here; James Singleton, a power forward who has bounced around with several teams in the NBA (Mavericks, Clippers, and Wizards) and overseas (he’s currently playing in China) and Isaiah Canaan, a shoot-first point guard who was the star of our recent past and is getting ready to start his 2nd season in the NBA. He played mostly in the D-League last year after being drafted in the early 2nd round and had limited time with the Houston Rockets. Canaan had some memorable games in the dearly departed ESPN Bracket Busters, including home wins over St. Mary’s and South Dakota State in front of sellout crowds of over 8000 for nationally televised games.

    This past season, Canaan and several other excellent players were gone and we had a very inexperienced team, with a talented but inexperienced freshman point guard named Cameron Payne trying to
    take Canaan’s place after another player, who was supposed to lead the team, had legal troubles and ended up transferring.
    That’s a tough task for an 18-year old, as Canaan is a legend here and will probably end having his jersey retired. The team sputtered early, got better late, but were upset in the semifinals of the conference tournament by Eastern Kentucky.

    We got an invitation to the CIT (the College Insider Tournament). WTF is the CIT? Well, there are now 4 postseason basketball tournaments. You’ve probably heard of the NCAA and NIT tournaments, but the CIT and the CBI (College Basketball Invitational) have been spawned in the past few years and are roughly equivalent to minor college football bowl games sponsored by companies that you’ve never heard of. The CIT features games played at the participants court. We chose against trying to play the first round at home, as it fell during spring break. The team beat Missouri State on the road. The second round game was held at the CFSB Center or “The Bank”, our home court.

    We drew Nebraska-Omaha and won a chippy game, as Omaha had a thug named Mike Rostampour who tried his hardest to play and act like some sort of combination of Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman. The entire crowd was all over this guy, and he clearly loved being the attention of our hate. Attendance helps decide who gets home games, and getting a few thousand per game was enough to keep the Racers at home. We beat Towson in the quarters and Pacific in the semis to get into the championship game against Yale. We used to be called “Kentucky’s Public Ivy” in a PR campaign from several years ago, but now the real Ivy Leaguers are coming to town.

    We got about 4500 in our building on a weekday evening for a game that none of you watched on the CBS Sports Network, where Cam Payne scored 24 points and power forward Jarvis Williams scored 16 points going 8-8 from the field to win a championship at home. Our lone senior, Dexter Fields, had the fairly uncommon experience for a college basketball player in ending his career on a winning note AND at home.

  6. 1. Shea Stadium 1969 Mets’ win World Series
    2. Madison Square Garden 1994 when Mark Messier raised Lord Stanley’s Cup
    3. Yankee Stadium 3rd game 1964 World Series. My second ever baseball game, my first World Series, Mickey Mantle’s final post season homer and only World Series walk off homer.
    4. Churchill Downs May 1973, Secretariat wins Derby in 1:59.4
    5. Binions 2004 Greg Raymer wins WSOP. Gavin Smith still owes me dinner because I leaned over and whispered that Greg was going to win and he bet me, taking Josh Arieh
    6. Belmont Park July 1975. Ruffian Foolish Pleasure match race resulting in Ruffian breaking leg and being destroyed 🙁
    7. I was *not* in Madison Square Garden when Willis Reed took to the floor in game 7 of the NBA finals to rally Knicks. I turned down opportunity to go because I wasn’t a big basketball fan!

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