Best sporting events

(WARNING:  This post contains graphic sports crappola content and its viewing may be harmful to some readers)

February 22, 1980, is, as far as I'm concerned, the greatest day in American sports history.  Thirty-three years ago, truly amateur American hockey players beat the questionably at best amateur hockey players from the Soviet Union to whom, a mere ten days before, they'd lost 10-3.  The humiliation of that game hardly portended the result that would be obtained in Lake Placid.

Remarkably, there's no commerically available copy of the game of which I'm aware.  I bought a copy of the game that someone transferred from the television telecast, and it's got an eerie quality to it as a result, but I try to watch it every year on the anniversary.  And when I do, it brings tears to my eyes.

That got me thinking about other memorable events in American sports that I've witnessed.  I wasn't around for Jesse Owens, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Jim Thorpe, Mickey Mantle and the like, so my sports experiences really only date from the late 1960's.  But I've seen, either in person or on television, some pretty remarkable games.  Here, then, is my personal list of the greatest American sports moments from roughly 1969 to the present day:

1.  Miracle on Ice, Lake Placid, 1980:  Rarely have I gotten this emotional over a sporting event.  Even though it happened thirty-three years ago, I still cry when I watch that game.  I can't skate, but I love hockey.  I even have a replica jersey from this team.

2.  Illinois beats Arizona in regional finals of NCAA tournament, 2005:  I saw this one in person.  Illinois came from fifteen points down with less than five minutes to go to take the game into overtime, where it defeated a very good and well-coached Arizona team.  That it didn't win the national title still hurts.  That was one great team with hardly any superstar players.  It was if I went to a baseball game and a no-hitter was thrown.

3.  USA beats Cuba to win gold medal in baseball at Sydney Olympics, 2000:  Although we invented the sport, we're no longer the best country playing it.  The team that went to Sydney had no stars whatsoever but was coached by the irrepressible Tommy Lasorda who made the team believe it could win.  Sure, the Cubans probably took us for granted, but that's why they don't play the games on paper.

4.  The Bears' run to the Super Bowl, 1986:  I'm not much of a pro football fan, but I have to admit that the sheer dominance of the Bears' run was exciting.  They shut out both their opponents in the conference playoffs, then only allowed ten points in the Super Bowl.  That means they only gave up 3.3 points per game to the best teams in the league.

5.  Greg LeMond wins the Tour de France by eight seconds, 1989:  I'd gotten hooked on the Tour while I lived in Spain.  When LeMond came back from fifty-eight seconds down to defeat Laurent Fignon in the last day's time trial, I was ecstatic.

6.  The Cubs make the playoffs in 1984:  Ultimately it spoiled faster than a rotten egg on a sidewalk, but for the first time in my lifetime, the Cubs made the playoffs.  I'll never forgive Peter Uebberoth for what he did my Cubs.  As an orphan of '69, I feel we deserved better. 

7.  Blackhawks win Stanley Cup in 2010:  The 'hawks hadn't won the Cup since the year I was born.  In the early 70's, they'd played the Canadiens' teams tough but lost each time in the Cup finals.  That the team played so well throughout the season made them a joy to watch.

8.  USA beats Canada to win hockey World Cup in 1996:  We win so little in international hockey that to win this admittedly minor tournament was gratifying, all the moreso because we beat the Canadians on their ice to win it.  They invented the sport, after all, and to defeat them was a feat unto itself.

9.  Frank Shorter wins Olympic marathon, 1972:  That he won the gold medal is all the more surprising since we've never had a winner before or since.  Given the backdrop of the murders of Israeli athletes in Munich and the fact that Shorter himself is Jewish, his achievement is all the more remarkable.

10.  USA beats Spain in semis of Confederation Cup, 2009:  That we were even in the competition was a joke, that we advanced as far as the semis a minor miracle and that we beat the best team in the world in many decades -- perhaps ever -- is nothing short of the biggest miracle this side of the one on ice.  Spain was and has been so dominant since that time that I still can't believe we beat them.

(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles