The Leap by the Lake
I was reading Simmon's latest column on ESPN.com today and I was very impressed with the below passage.
"the most poignant moment of Round 1: Brandon Roy's unfathomable Game 4 performance, when he dragged Portland back from 20 down for an astonishing comeback victory that doubled as "The Round 1 Game You Would Have Most Wanted To Be In The Building For" and guaranteed him a free trip to the 2011 ESPYS. I wrote once that true sports fans feel obligated to watch everything hoping they might catch one of those rarer than rare sports moments -- something that might happen once every 2,500 times -- and that we put up with the other 2,499 times for that 2,500th time when something magical might happen. The Brandon Roy game was definitely a 2,500th Time Game. There's no question. I will always remember watching it. That specific player, in front of those specific fans, at this specific point of his career? I still can't believe it happened.
Quick tangent: During the tail end of Larry Bird's career, after his body had betrayed him, my father and I went to a playoff game against Detroit when Bird couldn't hit anything. Then a bird flew from the rafters, parked himself near midcourt and wouldn't leave. The crowd started chanting, "Lar-ree! Lar-ree! Lar-ree!" They got rid of the bird. Larry came out and started making jumpers. A bunch of them. The fans were beside themselves. We won the game. And as we were leaving, my dad looked at me and said, "Did that just happen?" Anyway, it's one thing to watch a game like that on television -- but being in the building for a "Did that just happen?" game. You never forget. You just don't. The Blazers may have lost in Round 1, but their fans will always have that game."
I completely agree, he is describing the exact thing I struggle to explain to my wife when she asks, "Why are you watching this game? You don't care about either of these teams." I have been lucky enough to attend a few of these 2500th moments. I was at the UofA v Cincy game in 1996 when Miles Simon put in a 3/4 court shot to win the game (we need to give this game a nickname), I was at game 5 of the Dbacks v. St. Louis Cardinals 2001 NLDS series where Tony Womack hit a game winning single that won the series and launched us on our way to the pennant. I have watched even more of them on TV (most recently the Cats dismantling of Duke).What are some 2500th moments that you have attended?
What are the overall Arizona sports 2500th moments?
(just to get us started)
1) Gonzo's broken bat RBI, 2001 World Series Game 7
Other contenders:
- Arizona v Duke 2011
- Arizona v Kansas 1997
- Cardinals v Panthers NFC Divisional 2008 (all those interceptions = domination)
- Suns v Celtics Game 5 Finals1976 (triple OT)
- Suns v Bulls Game 3 Finals 1993 (triple OT)
- Randy Johnson Perfect Game (May 18th, 2004)
- Wildcats v Devils Chuck Cecil Pick 6 (1986)
First of all I disagree about the Duke game being a 2500th game, I thought that the Texas game was a 2500 moment, I have seen U of A blow away teams many times but I have never seen that kind of comeback in that amount of time with those odds against us. To me that was a more amazing win that you watch for and have to chance to experience.
ReplyDeleteThe other games which I have attended that were amazing:
The U of A vs California football game this year, the whole game the crowd was on the verge of dying and then the most exciting two mintues of football I have ever seen or experienced happened with Criner and Foles hooking up again and again and an improbable win that should have never happened.
The U of A Stanford game from two years ago was a great game but with a great ending but it was more likely to happen than the cal game so I rank that lower.
The U of A vs Washington basketball game is up there because it ending was incredible and the crowd was losing their shit all game.
Honorable Mention
The next 2500th game was the Jazz vs Heat game where Paul Milsap was just burying three after three and he had only made 2 in his career before he made like 4 in a row in this game. That was amazing if you havent seen this game you should look it up it went to overtime and Milsap dominated, that was the best game all season that I watched.
I agree with the Milsap game and I take your point about the "unbelievable" factor that needs to be considered. I do think it is unbelievable that the Cats killed the Blue Devils that much. I forgot one more, the Ortege Jenkins flip into the end zone game against UW has to also be included in this list.
ReplyDeleteTo follow up on the OJ flip...remember when we saw him driving through campus during basketball camp? My 2500th moment was running into him a few years ago at a bar and seeing him hit on a female friend I was with...which led to him buying me a drink and then me telling him about how we saw him drive through campus back in the day. I swear, I've had at least 2500 ex-college quarterbacks buy me a drink and only one of them has been Ortege Jenkins!
ReplyDelete