The Greatest Games of the Last Ten Years
Last night with two minutes left in another scintillating playoff contest between the Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks, I found myself wildly running around the house writing emails and IMs to as many people who could possible care that this might be the best game I had ever seen. The last minute did not live up to the first forty-seven, as the Warriors fell apart and let the Mavs back into the series. Ultimately it was just another exciting game, highlighted by perhaps the finest stretch of basketball I have ever seen as the Warriors turned a twenty point deficit into a nine point lead before their collapse.
As I wildly announced that this might be the best sporting event ever, I got to thinking about some of my all-time favorite games. I watch a lot of sports, and love to make lists, so naturally within 30 hours I managed to compile a countdown of the greatest games from the last ten years.
Honorable Mention
20. France vs England, Euro 2004 First Round
England led 1-0 going into stoppage time...
19. Los Angeles Lakers vs Philadelphia 76ers, 2001 NBA Finals Game One
A 19-game win streak snapped.
18. Indianapo
lis Colts vs New England Patriots, 2007 AFC ChampionshipToo painful to watch.
17. Texas vs USC, 2006 Rose Bowl
About as well as the game can be played at the college level.
16. Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trailblazers, 2000 Western Conference Finals Game 7
On an episode of The Circuit, Haralabos Voulgaris tells a story of how he sold his business for something like $100,000, then wagered the whole kitten kaboodle on the Lakers at 7:1 to win the NBA Championship. When I think of this game, I always imagine what Haralabos must have gone through watching it.
15. Detroit Pistons vs New Jersey Nets, 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 5
I've actually never seen this one. Three OTs and a halfcourt buzzer-beater to end one of them.
14. Northwestern vs Michigan, 2000
I remember thinking this game might cost me admission to Northwestern because of increased applicants.
13. Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees, 2004 ALCS Game 5
The tensest moments of that series came as this game went deeper into extra innings.
12. Goran Ivanisevic vs Patrick Rafter, 2001 Wimbledon Final
To fully appreciate, one must have an understanding of Goran Ivanisevic's career before this match.
11. Barton vs Winona State, 2007 D-II Championship
Trust me.
10. Texas A&M vs Kansas State 1998 Big XII Championship
What this clip doesn't show is KSU completed a hail mary at the end of regulation, but the receiver was tackled a yard short of the end zone.
9. George Mason vs UConn 2006 NCAA Regional Final
What if Gus Johnson called this one?
8. Manchester United vs Bayern Munich 1999 EUFA Champions League Final
I still think the ceiling hasn't been reached on soccer yet.
7. Boise State vs Oklahoma, 2007 Fiesta Bowl
Really the best game of them all, with a compelling storyline, loads of jawdropping plays, a likable underdog, and a pinpoint climax. Unfortunately all bowls except the championship game are meaningless.
6. Los Angeles Lakers vs Sacramento Kings, Game 4 2002 Western Conference Finals
The Robert Horry Game of Robert Horry Games.
5. Illinois vs Arizona, 2005 NCAA Regional Final
Still gives me chills.
4. Pittsburgh Steelers vs Indianapolis Colts, 2006 AFC Divisional Playoff
Shame I could only find this one clip.
3. Ohio St vs Miami, 2002 Fiesta Bowl
Featured the added entertainment of Willis McGahee's ACL destruction repeated in super slo-mo.
2. Team ski jump competition, Nagano Winter Olympics, 1998
Happy Harada's jump was so long it went over the measuring devices and competition was delayed for several minutes while they hand-measured.
1. Arizona Diamondbacks vs New York Yankees, 2001 World Series Game 7
The most exciting game I have ever seen.
posted by GnightMoon @ 8:55 PM
11 Comments:
THE MOMENT
March 28, 1992. Philadelphia Spectrum, NCAA East Regional Finals. Duke vs. Kentucky, two universities encrusted with rich basketball tradition, battling for a chance to go to the Final Four. Mike Krzyzewski vs. Rick Pitino. Defending NCAA champion Duke vs. a proud Kentucky team having returned to power after the embarrassment of NCAA probation just three years earlier.
In the second half, Kentucky stages a furious rally from 12 points down to tie the game with 33.6 seconds left, and when Duke's Bobby Hurley misses at the buzzer, the game goes into overtime.
During the final 31.5 seconds of overtime, the ball changes hands five times, with each possession resulting in a lead change. The final half minute drips of everything that is great about competition. With the score deadlocked at 98, Duke's Christian Laettner receives the ball in the post with the shot clocking winding down. As he spins around, Kentucky's Jamal Mashburn knocks the ball loose, but Laettner regains control of the ball and flings a low line drive that deflects off the backboard and drops into the basket.
"A miraculous shot," Krzyzewski would say afterwards. Pitino, realizing Laettner has not missed a shot the entire evening, turns to his assistants and says, "That sucker's never going to miss."
Mashburn then slips in along the baseline for a layup and is fouled. He sinks the free throw that pushes Kentucky back into the lead, 101-100. "I thought that was it, that'd we won," Mashburn says.
At the other end, Duke gets the ball inside again to Laettner, who's fouled by Mashburn, Kentucky's star, who is now fouled out. Laettner sinks both free throws, giving the lead back to Duke, 102-101, with 7.8 seconds left.
Pitino calls time out and sets up a play for Sean Woods to drive to the hole and kick the ball out to the wing if Duke collapses in on him. As Duke breaks its huddle, the ever-alert Hurley reminds his teammates to call time if Kentucky scores. "I couldn't believe it. I forgot to remind the guys of that," Krzyzewski would admit later.
Woods takes the inbounds pass, freezes Hurley with a head fake, accelerates to the hoop and flips up an ugly one-handed push shot that has just enough of an arc to clear the outstretched arm of Laettner, who had raced to the middle of the lane to help. The ball glances off the backboard and falls through the hoop, giving the 'Cats a 103-102 lead. Duke immediately calls timeout. The clock shows 2.1 seconds.
As Duke's players walk toward their bench, Krzyzewski immediately says, "We're gonna win." He reminds his team that the clock won't start until the ball is touched inbounds, that a pass could travel 70, 80, even 90 feet without the clock moving. Krzyzewski devises the play: Grant Hill to throw the ball in, three-quarters of the way upcourt, to Laettner, who would station himself on the foul line.
Meanwhile, in the Kentucky huddle, Pitino and his staff debate whether they should put a defender on the inbounds passer. Six years earlier, when Pitino was head coach at Providence, he failed to defend an inbounds pass, lost the game, and vowed to never again fail to put a man on the ball.
However, against Duke, it is a different set of circumstances: the 6-8 Mashburn, Pitino's first choice to defend the inbounds pass, had fouled out. So had 6-8 Gimel Martinez. Kentucky's two tallest players -- 6-9 Aminu Timberlake and Andre Riddick -- are freshmen and not experienced enough for Pitino. The only options left are 6-7 Deron Feldhaus and 6-7 John Pelphrey, but Pitino knows that if he puts Pelphrey or Feldhaus on the ball, the other has to play the 6-11 Laettner one-on-one, and he fears Laettner catching the pass and simply bulling his way to the basket. So Pitino decides to put Feldhaus on Laettner, have Pelphrey play center field and hope he deflects the pass.
As Hill walks to the baseline and and sees that his pass won't be defended and his view downcourt will not be obstructed, he breathes a sigh of relief. The teams line up. The soldout crowd stands, as one. Hill unleashes a pass downcourt. While the ball spins in the air, Laettner turns and races to the free-throw line, beating Feldhaus, who steps in behind Laettner, conscience not to get too close, fearing a foul. Pelphrey watches the flight of the ball, and sees it heading right to him. He envisions catching the ball and heaving it upwards to the heavens. "There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I was going to catch it," he would say later. "I could almost smell the leather."
The ball somehow eludes Pelphrey's fingers and hands and lands iin the hands of Laettner, who turns, takes one dribble, fakes right to create some distance from Feldhaus, spins left, rises and shoots a majestic fallaway. Feldhaus rises with Laettner, but for fear of fouling, he is too far away to come close to touching the shot.
"Everything was in slow motion, like one of those classic scenes from 'Hoosiers' and 'The Natural,'" Hill would say afterwards. The eyes of the basketball world intently watch as the ball descends ... swish. Ballgame.
As an overjoyed Laettner hoists his arms in the air and races toward midcourt, wide-eyed and hysterical, absolute disbelief, joy and horror engulfs the arena all at once. Pandemonium ensues as one side of the arena celebrates while the other collapses on the floor in dismay as it attempts to comprehend what has just transpired. Tears flow. Tears of joy, tears of pain.
How could you list the Horry game, but not list Game 7, when the Sactown Queens pulled the most explicit choke job in sports history?
L
What about Miami-New York Jets 2000 on MNF?
1. 15 yrs ago
2. Close - this isn't about choking
3. Very close - a dull game for 3 quarters
Sports Commentator. Think about it dude.
--Truman
Good post moon. Thanks for all the links as well. If you want to know how to make the videos pop up in a new window or have them appear directly in your blog, I can show you.
Not to argue the point too much further... The Horry game is without a doubt one of my favorites, BUT, the game wasn't that exciting up until the final minute (final second), when Horry dropped that bomb. You could say it was the Shawshank Redemption of basketball games. However, Game 7 was intensely played throughout capped by a huge Laker comeback to bring it to overtime, and then the choke job in overtime. Of course, I know this list isn't about choking, otherwise you would have listed Games 5 and 6 of the Diamondback series. However, the tension was so PALPABLE the choking took the game to EXCITING HIGHS (culminating with an uncovered Peja Airball). Maybe time has faded out the memory of watching the game at Nate's place that day, but it is still my all-time favorite basketball game.
Game 7 Kings-Lakers absolutely belongs in the top 20, maybe even top 5. I butchered that, but only because the game was immediately erased from my memory. A youtube clip http://youtube.com/watch?v=zsivkdo4pjg brings it all back so painfully.
Rams vs Titans Superbowl (some consider the best superbowl of all time)
i just have to chime in that i was at #1 and thus accept your envy forever
i've often wondered how the kid who sold me 2 outside the stadium feels about it nowadays
Gotta go with chris on the rams-titans superbowl. Such an amazing game, and it came down to an arm's length with time running out. It doesn't get any more dramatic than that.
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