So I decided to turn my honorable mention into a "top
25" the not top 10 I reserved most commentary on unless I felt it was
truely needed.
Best Wins
Missed the top 10 cut
26. 1997 Stanley Cup Finals- Red Wings over Flyers 4-0-
First Stanley cup finals I remember
25. 2009 Confederations Cup- USA 2 Spain 0
24. 2008 Red Sox 7 Royals 0- Jon Lester’s no-hitter
23. 2008 Stanley Cup Finals- Red Wings over Penguins 4-2
22. 1999 Women’s World Cup Final- USA 0 China 0 USA wins
on PKs
21. 2004 NBA Finals- Pistons over Lakers 4-1- I had
become attached to this team early because I was expecting them to draft
Carmello beforehand.
20. 2004 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship- Syracuse 14
Navy 13- Mikey Powell, the Lebron of lacrosse did a front flip before scoring
the game winning goal with 2 minutes left
19. 2011 Women’s World Cup Quarterfinals- USA 2 Brazil 2
USA wins on PKs
18. 1998 Stanley Cup Finals- Red Wings over Capitals 4-0 won
in honor of one of their star players who was killed in a limo accident before
the season
17. 2007 Red Sox 10 Orioles 0- Clay Buchholz’s no-hitter;
was also the day after my first tailbone surgery
16. 2006 Big East Basketball Tournament- Gerry McNamara
hits 3 game winning 3’s wins five games in 5 days.
15. 2009 Big East Quarterfinals- Syracuse 127,
Connecticut 117 F(6OT)
14. 2008 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship- Syracuse 13
Johns Hopkins 10- Champion after missing the tournament for the first time in
30 years, and against the arch rival.
13. 2010 World Cup Final- Italy 1 France 1 Italy wins on
PKs
12. 2003 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship- Syracuse 81,
Kansas 78- Hard to leave this one out
I’m going to start detailed with 11 since one could argue
#2 and #3 overall could be merged.
11. 2007 World Series- Red Sox 4 Rockies 0- Was part of
the Boston year of dominance, but is probably the least meaningful to many
people of the 2000s Boston championships. It was a pretty 1 sided affair. It
gets bonus points though because game 4 was won on my birthday.
10. 2007 Patriots 38 Giants 35- You are right 16-0 means
a lot, but it still has that bitter taste. I think part of it is because the
clincher was against the Giants. I’m a little surprised you didn’t mention the
part where Brady got his 50th TD and Moss got his 22nd TD
on the same throw. End of the day though, I’d rather be 18-1 with a super bowl
than 18-1 without and that’s what pushes this down.
9. 2004 Super Bowl- Patriots 24 Eagles 21- This one just
didn’t have the flair for the dramatic as much as the other 2 did, but still
ended up being 3 points. It just didn’t have as much of a sense of
accomplishment as the other 2.
8. 2008 NBA Finals Celtics 4 Lakers 2- Going from 2nd
worst to best in a season. The start of the big 3/big 4 era. Paul Pierce’s
injury and coming back and swinging the game. Winning it on home court in
blowout fashion. And of course Kevin Garnett’s “Anything is possible!!!”
7. 2009 NCAA Lacrosse Championship- Syracuse 10 Cornell 9
F/OT Cornell had this game won. Gives up 3 goals in last 5 minutes including
one on a free for all with 4 seconds left started by their Player of the Year
committing a turnover. That forced overtime, Syracuse scored a brilliant goal
in OT after stopping Cornell. 2nd championship in a row. My favorite
of the 5 in the 2000s.
6. 2003 Super
Bowl- Patriots 32 Panthers 29- This was probably my favorite of the 3, but the
1st one had more impact. Your description of the game fit it quite
well so I won’t elaborate too much on that. It just had that good balance of a
little bit of everything, even a guy running onto the field!
5. 2010 World Cup Group Stage- USA 1 Algeria 0- The
greatest goal in USA Soccer history. My favorite goal on any level really. And
with the build up to it. 94th minute. Going home without a win.
Algeria just got a red card. Got screwed over in the last game. The most belief
in a USA team in a while, they had to advance. And there was no better person
to score it than Donovan with an assist by Dempsey and having everything started
by Howard. Arguably the 3 best players in USA history. I remember I jumped
across the room from sitting position when it happened. And then of course
after that flipping the channel and watching part 2 of Isner-Mahut wasn’t a bad
follow up.
4. 2011 Stanley Cup Finals- Bruins 4 Canucks 3- Growing
up as a Bruins and Red Wings fan I’ve watched tons of Stanley Cup Finals and
many of them have gone my way. But the only one that even comes anywhere close
to this one is the 98 one and someone had to die for that. Even from the
beginning, beating archrival Montreal in game 7 in double ot, sweeping the
Flyers after they pulled the down 3-0 sweep the year before. And then just all
the storylines of the finals. The finger biting, the hit on Nathan Horton (who still
a year later isn’t fully recovered), Bobby Orr coming out game 3 waving the
flag. Luongo being Luongo and the infamous “pumping tires” speech. The Sedin
Twins winning an Oscar for best actors in a flopping contest. Tim Thomas
standing on his head to make saves. Canada’s quest for a cup after 18 years.
All the rioting aftermath. I’m sure I’m forgetting some as well. These two had
so much bad blood between them, I can’t think of a finals in any sport recent
that has been as hotly contested. I mean I don’t like opponents, but I’ve come
to hate the Canucks just from that series, they’re probably in the top 5 of
teams I hate.
3. 2004 World Series- Red Sox 4 Cardinals 0- The end of
the curse. 86 years finally broken. The series was quite 1 sided just like 07.
This was such a lovable team though, they called themselves the idiot gang. Gameplay
wise this would be a lot farther down on the list, I’m still debating on if
this should be higher than the Bruins, #2 is what really brings this upward,
and the historical impact.
2. 2004 AL Championship Series- Red Sox 4 Yankees 3- The
series of all series. Every game was drama after drama. It got its own 30 for
30 documentary! Everything from David Ortiz’s late inning heroics to Curt
Schilling’s bloody sock, to Derek Lowe throwing an absolute gem in game 7 as
well as Johnny Damon and his bearded, long haired glory hitting that home run
and grand slam. Doing what’s never been done before in pulling off the down 3-0
sweep and to do it against the Yankees! Plus the historical values from above.
This was honestly probably more impactful than the actual word series which is
why unlike the others I’m giving it it’s own spot.
1. 2001 Super Bowl- Patriots 20 Rams 17- I don’t even
know where to start with this game. The Tom Brady story. The 9/11 factor. The
past of the Patriots history. The “We want to be introduced as a team.” The
Tuck Rule game leading up to it (which now that I’m thinking about it, probably
deserves its own entry, but like the rest we’ll go with it being included in
the playoff run.), the AFC championship leading up to it, with Bledsoe coming
in. Brady’s drive at the end when everyone thought he was just going to send it
to overtime. It set up everything to come. It was the true David vs. Goliath.
Watching Vinatieri kick that ball, nothing has been better.
Worst losses
25. WEC 41 Faber vs. Brown 2- Mike Wins via Unanimous
Decision- Yes, I put a mixed martial arts fight on here. Urijah Faber’s always
been my favorite fighter, and this was his rematch vs his archrival who stole
his title belt. Faber should’ve won, but he didn’t have enough pressure for a
chokehold because he was fighting with 2 broken hands.
24. Junior Seau’s death- just an all around bad loss. Loss
for the Patriots, loss for the fans, loss for the game. Especially if the
ramifications could lead to something affecting the NFL.
23. 2011 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals- Heat 4, Celtics
1- Poor Rondo and his noodle arm
22. 2005 NCAA Lacrosse Tournament 1st round-
Massachusetts 16, Syracuse 15- Snapped Syracuse’s 24 year Final Four streak and
sets up for events to be covered later. This is such a big deal that their
athletic site doesn’t even recognize the season existed.
21. 2010 NHL Eastern Conference Finals- Flyers 4, Bruins 3-
The reverse of the Red Sox-Yankees and why I hate the Flyers.
20. 2009-10 NFL Wild Card Playoffs- Ravens 33, Patriots 14
19. 2010-11 NFL Divisional Playoffs- Jets 28, Patriots 21
18. 2006 Duke Lacrosse team cancels season- That team
would’ve won the title, plus it was just a black eye for the sport.
17. 2007 NBA Draft- Ended up lower than I expected
16. 2011 Women’s World Cup Final- Japan 2, USA 2 Japan wins
on PKs- bad ending to the storybook.
15. 2009 Stanley Cup Finals- Penguins 4 Red Wings 3- year
before Red Wings beat the Penguins.
14. 2007 Syracuse Men’s lacrosse team- first team to miss
the tournament in I don’t even know how many years. But did act as the trigger
for the 08-09 championships, which triggered a later moment.
13. Micheal Jordan retiring- I was a huge MJ fan as a kid
and hadn’t really grasped the idea of retirement, I just kinda assumed he’d
play forever. I watched Space Jam 3 times that day.
12. 2010 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament 1st
round- Army 9, Syracuse 8- #15 over #2. Broke the quest for the 3-peat. The
first major loss for the “Syracuse 7” aka their 2008 freshman who won 2
national titles and revered as the best recruiting class ever. This game I was
really mad that it even happened in the first place since normal etiquette for
tournaments is to avoid rematches as much as possible. Yes due to limited
budgets geography plays a big factor, but Hofstra who was the 14 seed, is just
as close. This was one of those games where I got that sinking feeling pregame.
I knew the first game had been close and the pressure of 3-peating was so
great. The only bright side, and it’s a really small bright side, is that this
cleared a path for the Duke seniors to win their deserved title.
11. 2004 NFL Season- Steelers 34 Patriots 20- I’m telling
you Brady + Steelers + Halloween = bad. This was the first season that I had
even considered 16-0. But the big thing with it of course was snapping the 21
game streak. Probably the most underrated streak in pro sports, which is what
also pushes it down though. I was out trick-or-treating during the game with a
couple friends, and no joke every five houses or so we would ask the people
giving out candy if they knew what the score was. This one also gets lowered
for the fact that we still won the super bowl anyway. The Packers threatening
it this year made me realize again how cool the steak still was. Plus there’s a
cool exhibit of it at the Hall of Fame that I enjoy.
10. 2004-05 NFL Divisional playoffs- Broncos 27 Patriots 13-
Brady was no longer invincible. I was convinced we were going the be the first
to 3-peat. This one sucks too because I couldn’t watch it. I was at a robotics
tournament where we had just won a trip to Atlanta for the World tournament.
The ride was 4 hours and this was before having an awesome internet-enabled
game. When I got back I heard the news and practically forgot that I had won a
big award earlier.
9. 2009 Confederations Cup Final- Brazil 3 USA 2- Would’ve
been USA’s first intercontinental tournament win. We had already beaten Spain,
something that no one did in the 42 previous matches. And we were up 2-0 on
Brazil in the 2nd half. I still don’t know how we lost. I was in LA
for FBLA nationals during this game. Lesson of these stories. National-level
competitions for me = my teams losing.
8. 2002 World Cup Quarterfinals- Germany 2 USA 0- They
actually joked about this at the Euros today since the captain of that German
team is one of the studio analysts now with a couple ex-USA players. The one
thing everyone remembers from that match is Michael Ballack (the above noted
German) handballing a ball inside the box and getting away with it. Today one
of them told him he still thinks it was a handball and Ballack just laughed it
off. We controlled the whole first half too and had a goal taken away for offsides.
I don’t remember exactly why but I had to go to work with my mom that day (she
works at a local college). Luckily her work was in the equivalent of our
student center. So I snuck out to their game room where they had a giant TV
with the game on. All these college kids were watching with some 10 year old
and they were impressed by my knowledge even then.
7. 2005-06 AFC Championship- Colts 38, Patriots 34- Only
reason it’s lower is because I feel without the emotions from that game we
don’t go out and get Moss/Welker/Stallworth etc etc etc and 2007 never happens.
But yes, as you said this game was the super bowl. It’s not even hindsight
talking, even the I figured either us or the Colts would beat the Bears or the
Saints. I actually walked away from the game for a little while because I had
some homework to do that needed a computer. I had planned on putting it off
until after, but I walked away after Samuel’s pick-6 figuring the game was
over.
6. 2008-09 NFL Season- Patriots 17, Chiefs 10- Bernard. Karnell.
Pollard. (this was the vague one I was alluding to). This and the AFCCG are
close. The 2 seasons surrounding the 16-0 year. The big thing with this is
partly that I didn’t even get to see it. That meant I didn’t get to see Tom
Brady once that year. I was convinced going into the season that we were going
to actually finish the job this time, now that everyone had a year together.
After hearing Brady got hurt I spent the whole day convincing myself it was
only a sprain. I slightly froze when I finally saw he was out for the year.
Then I had to go to school and tell everyone I believed in Matt Cassel, that
was a challenge.
5. 2012 NBA Eastern Conference Finals- Heat 4, Celtics 3- A
decent part of it is the fact that we lost to the Heat for the 2nd
year in a row. And now seeing what the Heat did to the Thunder makes me wonder
what we could’ve done. I still believe we were the better team in the series.
Also I believe had we had Avery Bradley it would’ve made the difference. This
moment is actually still partially in limbo. Part of it is because of the
factor that the Heat so easily handled the Thunder that 1. We would’ve had a
fighting shot with the Thunder and 2. We were 1 4th quarter run in
about 3 different games away from beating the champs. It’s also in limbo
because the future effects of it are still unknown. If Ray and KG come back
this could get pushed down. That’s probably the bigger reason, the fact that
this could be the end of a great era of 5 years of basketball.
4. 2010 NBA Finals- Lakers 4, Celtics 3- If Kendrick Perkins
doesn’t get hurt game 6 I think we win. How did we blow a 17 point lead?
Especially when Kobe went 3 for 24. There’s no other game in NBA history that I
can remember someone’s shooting percentage, but I’ll always remember Game 7 and
the “3 for 24” game.
3. 2011 College football season- WVU 24, Marshall 21 F/OT-
This and #2 can really flip back and forth. It seriously changes day to day; I
don’t think there will ever be a definitive answer. Other than that not much to
really say that hasn’t been said many times over.
2. 2011-12 Super Bowl- Giants 21 Patriots 17- See #3. I
think the big difference is the get over it factor. I got over the MU game
pretty quickly. Even with the semi-preparedness from last time, this kinda
hurt. Mostly from the revenge factor, that while nothing short of a 19-0 run
(and even then I’m not sure) will make up for the other game, this was a pretty
good substitute. This one also had a tinge more of anger to it. I mean we
should’ve known by now what they were going to do. Opening the series with a
safety (albeit due to probably questionable playcalling) was a terrible start.
Then of course Welker’s “drop” (still think its not 100% his fault, but still
think it also cost him a contract a la Asante in the other), Gronk’s ankle
limiting him, Gronk unable to knock the ball away from a substitute teacher,
Gronk almost redeeming it all on the last play. It just felt like they tried to
use the same gameplan that has never worked for them and it finally hit a breaking
point with me. This one was more anger while the other was sad. The other thing
that bugged me is that for the 2 weeks leading up to it all anyone would talk
about it the 2008 version of these teams. You’d think they’d invented time
travel.
1. You know how scientists say you can lock away traumatic
memories sometimes. I’m pretty sure I did that with a lot of things relating to
this game. I remember the week leading up to it I was feeling pretty good. My
World History teacher always had this weird way of doing extra credit. Whenever
we had a test, a couple days before he would take some event that was coming up
and had us bet on the outcome. Like once he gave us an over/under on the number
of times there were breaks for applause in the State of the Union. Well we had
a test the week after the game so beforehand he made us pick the winner for
extra credit. Well this was an advanced class so of course it had all the smart
people, and of course a lot of these people had no idea who was in the super
bowl. Since I was the resident sports guy they all asked me. Of course I told
them we’d win. A lot of people were mad at me for their grade after that. As
for the game itself I did get a slight sinking feeling, but mostly shrugged it
off. I have never yelled at my TV as much as during that helmet catch. I just
kept telling myself we’d find a way to win like we always did. When that last
pass oversailed Moss by about 5 inches I stomped my food down so hard my whole
house shook. Within seconds my phone had blown up with texts which I chose not
to reply to. I actually begged my parents to let me stay home from school the
next day. Since that wasn’t happening I went straight to bed, probably the
earliest I’ve been to bed in a very long time. I just remember that whole week was
just downright miserable. I honestly see no scenario of any sort that will even
knock this down. It was such an emotional drain for a whole year. Even if it
somehow happened again, like this year there will always be that slight buffer
of for lack of better words “being used to it.” At the same time though, even
if we win I feel like there’s this tiny bit of unresistable feeling of “been
there, done that”
