Top 10 Best Sports Moments

To prove I am not an eternal sports pessimist, I am taking some time to acknowledge the ten best sports moments of my life. That said, I should point out this list took 3 days to compile as opposed to the other, which took 30 minutes!

January 27, 1991- Super Bowl XXV- Giants vs Bills: I was only 9 years old when this happened. I remember the Gulf War that was going on during this game and how it nearly got cancelled. And what a great game it was. The Giants won 20-19 on Scott Norwood's field goal that sailed wide right.

May 27, 1994-NHL ECF Game 7- Rangers vs Devils: The greatest hockey game I ever saw. I believe I watched it at my father's apartment. Being New Jersey residents, we hated the Devils with a passion. An amazing first six games, capped off by Mark Messier's guarantee that the Rangers would tie the series in Game 6 and bring it back to MSG for Game 7. He delivered. In that decisive game, the great Brian Leetch scored for a 1-0 Rangers lead. But with 7.7 seconds left in the game, Valeri Zelepukin tied it and it went into overtime. I was so deflated. And my dad was numb. But 4:24 into the second OT, the series ended happily. Stephane Matteau scored on a wrap-around to give the Rangers a 2-1 win and a 4-3 series win. Of course, Rangers radio broadcaster Howie Rose had one of the greatest calls ever. "Matteau, Matteau, Matteau!"

June 14, 1994 Stanley Cup Finals Game 7-Rangers vs. Canucks: This was voted the greatest New York sports moment of the last 20 years and deservedly so. The franchise's 54 year curse was shattered. I ate dinner at Chili's that night with my Rangers jersey on and the waitress said they would never win it. And I watched the game alone with no jersey on. Reason being they had chances to win it all in Games 5 and 6 and I watched those games with a jersey on and they lost. And they won it 3-2. I was only 13, but I was so happy they won since that's the only team my dad, uncle, and I all root for.

1996 World Series- Yankees vs. Braves: This my sound like heresy, but I did like the Yankees when I was younger and I particularly liked this team. And this team was easy to admire. Joe Torre (never reached WS before), David Cone(arm aneurysm), Doc Gooden(no-hitter vs. Seattle), Darryl Strawberry (the comeback). It was Phil Rizzuto's final season broadcasting. Oh, and they were playing the defending champion Braves. Atlanta won the first 2 in Yankee Stadium and I figured it was over. I barely watched the next three games in Atlanta because I thought the Yankees were in trouble. But they won all three and wrapped it up in Yankee Stadium in Game 6. Even the biggest Yankee hater had to admire the toughness and resilience of this squad.

May 22, 1998- Mets Get Piazza: I always liked Piazza since he was tough, clutch, Italian, and practically my twin. The Mets had been terrible for years, but by 1997 were getting better. But they didn't have that guy. That guy who seemed made for New York. Who had the power, the presence, and the name. But we got him. We got him from Florida for Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and Geoff Goetz. Goetz and Yarnall turned into nothing and Wilson had a few good years, but came nowhere near to becoming the star he was supposed to be. Meanwhile, Piazza became the face of the Mets for 8 years. The moment I'll always remember came Sep 21, 2001 against Atlanta. It was the first regular season professional sporting event held in New York City after 9/11. With his team trailing 2-1 in the 8th, Piazza drilled a two-run homer to lift the Mets to a 3-2 triumph.

May 1999- Knicks Reach Finals: I'll always hold a special place in my memory for this team. Before the season, they traded longtime fan favorite John Starks and two others and got the infamous Latrell Sprewell. They traded tough warrior Charles Oakley for a young and athletic Marcus Camby. Allan Houston and Larry Johnson were solid team players, but legend Patrick Ewing was coming to the end of a great career. They were seeded 8th in the East and faced the Miami Heat in the first round. They won the deciding Game 5 in Miami when Houston bounced in a running one-hander off the front of the rim, high off the backboard, and in with 0.8 seconds left. Following a sweep of the Hawks, they faced Indiana. Despite losing Ewing to injury for the rest of the playoffs prior to Game 3, the Knicks won the series (aided in part to a legendary four-point play by Larry Johnson in the final seconds of Game 3) to become the first eighth-seeded playoff team to make the NBA Finals. Oh, and the night of Game 6 when they clinched, was also the night of my first date that wasn't a school function. I still have the game on tape and, yes, it was a pretty good night.

2000 NLCS- Mets vs. Cardinals: I still think the 1999 Mets were better than the 2000 team that made the series. There was one game from the regular season. It was June 30, when the Mets beat the rival Atlanta Braves. With the Mets losing 8-1 to begin the bottom of the eighth, they rallied back with two outs to tie the game, capping the 10-run inning with Mike Piazza's three run home run to put the Mets up 11-8. Sorry Tara! But they won the wild card and beat San Francisco in four in the first round. Benny Agbayani hit a walk-off homer in Game 3 and Bobby Jones pitched the game of his life in Game 4 to clinch it and and they ran through the Cardinals in the NLCS. They lost to the Yankees in 5 (I hate you Luis Sojo and Jose Vizcaino), but that was still a magical season!

January 14, 2001-NFC Championship- Giants smash Vikings 41-0: I watched this on a very snowy day in Winfield in my living room. Most people thought the Vikings would kill the "overrated Giants." Suffice to say, it was 14-0 G-Men before Minnesota's offense even took the field. QB Kerry Collins passed for 381 yards and 5 touchdowns. The defense limited the potent Vikings to only 114 offensive yards, sacking Daunte Culpepper 4 times, and forcing 5 turnovers. It was over early, but in a strange way, never stopped being exciting, because it was so hard to believe the game was going the way it was. Of course, then came the Super Bowl against Baltimore...

December 29, 2002- Giants Win, Jets Win: The single greatest football day of my life. No day will probably ever beat this until the Jets make the Super Bowl. I lived in North Carolina at the time. The Giants had to beat conference leader Philly to make the playoffs. For the Jets to make the playoffs, they had to beat NFC North champion Green Bay and New England had to beat Miami. Amazingly, I got all three of those games in Raleigh! The Giants game was amazing. Philly led 7-0 most of the way until Kerry Collins threw a TD to Jeremy Shockey. But Tiki Barber fumbled deep in his own territory and Philly had an easy shot to win it. Amazingly, Pro Bowler David Akers missed the field goal and the Giants had new life. In OT, Shaun Williams intercepted a Philly pass, Matt Bryant kicked a 39-yard field goal, and the Giants were onto San Francisco. That led to a moment in my "Worst list!"

But then I flipped over to the Pats-Fins. I knew Miami was leading early. But the Jets were about to start and I had to know what was going on in both games. So I turned the main TV to that Pats-Fins and the TV in the computer room to the Jets, since it had the VCR attached. I was running back and forth for about 10 minutes tracking both games! Thankfully, Mom wasn't home. New England wiped out an 11-point deficit in the final five minutes and won in OT to keep the Jets' season alive. When that happened, the Giants Stadium crowd erupted into cheers. The Jets game was six minutes in and 0-0. But all of a sudden, the lights went on. The Jets absolutely wasted Green Bay 42-17. And the BEST QUARTERBACK IN THE AFC EAST, CHAD PENNINGTON, threw four touchdowns.

September 26, 2004-Mets vs. Cubs: Okay, I had to put this in! And it breaks my heart because I was working that afternoon. An average Mets team dashes the Cubs' postseason hopes. A team with Gerald Williams, Richard Hidalgo, and Jeff Keppinger in the lineup and Aaron Heilman starting. The Cubs had won five in a row and led the wild card race by 1.5 games. And they appeared to be cruising to their 14th victory in 17 games behind 7.2 strong innings from Mark Prior and a two-run homer by Todd Walker. They scored another run in the 8th on a bases loaded walk. Right after that, walk Sammy Sosa struck out for the fourth time in as many at bats that day and Nomar grounded out. In the 9th, Ryan Dempster retired Todd Zeile before walking Eric Valent and Jason Phillips. In comes the infamous Latroy Hawkins. (Every Cub fan who read this just vomited!) He gets Keppinger out and up comes Victor Diaz. A rookie, who was also a lifelong Cubs fan. And he strokes a 2-2 pitch into the Mets' bullpen for a game-tying three-run home run. One more Sosa note. He grounded into a inning ending double play in the 10th with two on. And facing Kent Merker in the bottom of the 11th, the immortal Craig Brazell led off with his first and only major league home run, giving the Mets a 4-3 victory.

This beat the two grand slams in one inning at Wrigley last year and even the five run rally we had against the Cubs in the bottom of the 9th this year. My only disappointment? Ron Santo wasn't broadcasting that day.