OT - All-Time Best Games in Sports

[bcbgcbrcb]

Here are my top 3 in order (watched all three games in their entirety on TV):

1. USA vs. USSR (1980 Lake Placid Olympics Hockey Game) - When the USA team went ahead in the 3rd period with nearly 10 minutes to go, that had to be the longest 10 minutes of my life. The countdown seemed to go on forever, minute by minute..........

2. 1994 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals Game 7 (NY Rangers vs. NJ Devils) - The whole Rangers mystique of 1954 being their last Stanley Cup - holding a one goal lead as the clock ticked down under 10 seconds in the 3rd period, you just knew they would find a way to lose and, sure enough, the Devils scored with 8 seconds left sending the game into overtime. I recall the Devils having a breakaway in the first overtime and the shot on goal beat the Rangers goalie and hit the crossbar and bounced away from the net, again nearly a loss for the Rangers. Of course, we all know how it ended in the second overtime with the Matteau goal...........

3. 1985 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game (Georgetown vs. Villanova) - Georgetown was so dominant that year and so much better than Villanova that a miraculous shooting night by Villanova, 89% from the floor in the second half and 78% for the game was only good enough to squeak out a 2 point win and the National Championship over Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas.........

Anyway, those are my top three, how about yours?

[sycks22]

1991 World Series game 7. 1-0 final in the 10th, Morris CG shutout

[rats60]

1980 USA-USSR Hockey
1960 World Series Game 7
Super Bowl XLIII

[bbcard1]

Though Game 6 gets the pub, Game 7 of the 1975 World Series had a young BBCARD1 on pins and needles.

[EvilKing00]

1986 game 6 ws

[Stonepony]

Game 6 2011 WS. No question

[deadballfreaK]

That Lake Placid miracle would have to rank high. I was really into hockey at the time and subscribed to international hockey mags written in Swedish and Finnish so I knew it was inconceivable that we could beat that mighty Soviet team. Was at work when the game was underway and went home without hearing a word until almost home and heard some cheers from nearby and the thought crossed my mind that it could be our hockey team. I had a brand new VCR which was pretty cutting edge in 1980. Sat down and watched my tape. What a game! It was somewhat spoiled because it was always in the back of my mind that the cheers I heard were because we had already won. Still what a game! My heart was in my throat as Al Michaels counted it down and I cried.

[Beatles Guy]

1992 CBB Duke vs. North Carolina - Laettner's miracle shot
2011 World Series Game 6 - David Freese ties the game and wins the game

[Batter67up]

1988 World Series game 1 ( Kirk Gibson homer off of Eckersley and call by Vin Scully)

[chris6net]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Here are my top 3 in order (watched all three games in their entirety on TV):

1. USA vs. USSR (1980 Lake Placid Olympics Hockey Game) - When the USA team went ahead in the 3rd period with nearly 10 minutes to go, that had to be the longest 10 minutes of my life. The countdown seemed to go on forever, minute by minute..........

2. 1994 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals Game 7 (NY Rangers vs. NJ Devils) - The whole Rangers mystique of 1954 being their last Stanley Cup - holding a one goal lead as the clock ticked down under 10 seconds in the 3rd period, you just knew they would find a way to lose and, sure enough, the Devils scored with 8 seconds left sending the game into overtime. I recall the Devils having a breakaway in the first overtime and the shot on goal beat the Rangers goalie and hit the crossbar and bounced away from the net, again nearly a loss for the Rangers. Of course, we all know how it ended in the second overtime with the Matteau goal...........

3. 1985 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game (Georgetown vs. Villanova) - Georgetown was so dominant that year and so much better than Villanova that a miraculous shooting night by Villanova, 89% from the floor in the second half and 78% for the game was only good enough to squeak out a 2 point win and the National Championship over Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas.........

Anyway, those are my top three, how about yours?

I think you are on the same page as myself. I might put game 6 of the 86 WS and the Giants beating the undefeated Pats right up there
I guess those would be my personal top 5.

[quinnsryche]

2005 World Series
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by quinnsryche

2005 World Series
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4

I was one of the winners for the ticket lottery in Houston. I chose to buy tickets for Game 5.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Here are my top 3 in order (watched all three games in their entirety on TV):

1. USA vs. USSR (1980 Lake Placid Olympics Hockey Game) - When the USA team went ahead in the 3rd period with nearly 10 minutes to go, that had to be the longest 10 minutes of my life. The countdown seemed to go on forever, minute by minute..........

2. 1994 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals Game 7 (NY Rangers vs. NJ Devils) - The whole Rangers mystique of 1954 being their last Stanley Cup - holding a one goal lead as the clock ticked down under 10 seconds in the 3rd period, you just knew they would find a way to lose and, sure enough, the Devils scored with 8 seconds left sending the game into overtime. I recall the Devils having a breakaway in the first overtime and the shot on goal beat the Rangers goalie and hit the crossbar and bounced away from the net, again nearly a loss for the Rangers. Of course, we all know how it ended in the second overtime with the Matteau goal...........

3. 1985 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game (Georgetown vs. Villanova) - Georgetown was so dominant that year and so much better than Villanova that a miraculous shooting night by Villanova, 89% from the floor in the second half and 78% for the game was only good enough to squeak out a 2 point win and the National Championship over Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas.........

Anyway, those are my top three, how about yours?

Hey Phil, the last cup victory for the Rangers before 1994 was actually 1940. The Red Wings won it in 1954. It was the longest drought between cups for a team in the league, a dubious record now held by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who last drank champagne from Lord Stanley's mug in 1967. Interestingly, Winnipeg holds the record now for a current NHL city, as the last Stanley Cup won in the Peg was in 1902. Whew! That's a long time!

Maybe its because I'm Canadian, but the 1980 US victory has never meant much to me.
The summit series in 1972 between Canada and USSR, the first major meeting of eastern and western hockey powerhouses, was everything. Also, the famous 1975 new years eve clash at the Forum between the Habs and the Soviet Red Army is generally considered one of the greatest hockey games ever played. But to each his own.

As for baseball, the 2004 alcs between the Red Sox and Yankees is hard to beat!

[mart8081]

2005 Champions League final - AC Milan vs Liverpool

AC Milan led 3-0 at half-time. Liverpool respond with 3 goals in 6 minutes in the 2nd half. Milan have countless chances to win it including a point blank save of a Shevchenko shot by Dudek in the dying seconds of Extra Time. Liverpool complete the win on penalties.

[bcbgcbrcb]

You're right, Brent. I confused the 54 year drought with 1940, making it 1954. My mistake....

I'm with you on the baseball series too

[slidekellyslide]

While I am too young to remember it, this is regarded as the greatest college football game of all time by many...especially around here.

1971 Nebraska vs Oklahoma (The Game Of The Century)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtzRZxnVLU4

[vintagesportscollector]

1986 Masters. Jack's back nine on Sunday. I still get chills watching the replay.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

You're right, Brent. I confused the 54 year drought with 1940, making it 1954. My mistake....

I'm with you on the baseball series too

Hey Phil, honest mistake. Its easy to get those mixed up.

...and speaking of the '04 ALCS, it reminds me of Fever Pitch with Jimmy Fallon.
What a great baseball movie!

Regards,
Brent

[t206fix]

That Boise State bowl game against Oklahoma a few years back was pretty entertaining. Statue of Liberty play to a proposal to end the game. Good stuff!

[sbfinley]

Originally Posted by mart8081

2005 Champions League final - AC Milan vs Liverpool

AC Milan led 3-0 at half-time. Liverpool respond with 3 goals in 6 minutes in the 2nd half. Milan have countless chances to win it including a point blank save of a Shevchenko shot by Dudek in the dying seconds of Extra Time. Liverpool complete the win on penalties.

Good pick, although to me the final moments of Manchester City's 2012 Premier League clincher were second for second the most amazingly tense moments I've seen in the sport.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

Maybe its because I'm Canadian, but the 1980 US victory has never meant much to me.

If you're not American, you won't get it. That game was a combination of so many things for the US - a bad economy putting the whole country into a funk, the Iranian Hostage situation, the general feeling the US was losing its place as a superpower, anger at the Soviets over the invasion of Afghanistan, a lot of myth-making that the Soviet hockey team was (not necessarily wrongly) considered unbeatable, and so on. And most of that stuff simply isn't going to resonate with a Canadian. For Americans, though, that game was something incredibly special. Of course, most Americans still think it was for the gold medal...

[Hot Springs Bathers]

1980 Miracle on Ice
2011 Game six World Series
1969 Arkansas-Texas Big Shootout but I always turn the tape off with four minutes to go!

[itjclarke]

Lots of amazing games mentioned, and glad the '96 College WS final got some love. Warren Morris's HR is one of the most climactic ever... 2 outs, bottom of the 9th inning in a winner take all championship game, and LSU was trailing at the time of the HR. Very few, if any game ending HRs meet all those criteria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXtP385K9dE

I won't argue with any of the others listed- Game 6 '86 WS, Game 1 '88 WS, 1992 Duke v Kentucky, etc, but below are a couple amazing finishes that got a bit less exposure.

1994 Plano East v John Tyler for the Texas state title is still maybe the most ridiculous finish I've ever seen in any sport, on any level. I remember seeing highlights on Sportcenter when it happened.. I was a senior in high school, maybe a week or two after having played my final football game, and it left quite an impression on me at the time. I remember trying to explain what I'd seen to people, in the days before YouTube, and would guess 9 out of 10 thought I was exaggerating or just completely full of it. Was happy to see it get a little play on ESPN this past year due to it being its 20th anniversary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHkABO0VwCg

The other is just an awesome college hoops finish, Adam Spanich USC, 6 pts in 2.8 seconds vs Oregon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkWOxWX4GP0

[Tabe]

Oh man, great pick on the Plano East vs John Tyler game. Greatest finish ever.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Tabe

If you're not American, you won't get it. That game was a combination of so many things for the US - a bad economy putting the whole country into a funk, the Iranian Hostage situation, the general feeling the US was losing its place as a superpower, anger at the Soviets over the invasion of Afghanistan, a lot of myth-making that the Soviet hockey team was (not necessarily wrongly) considered unbeatable, and so on. And most of that stuff simply isn't going to resonate with a Canadian. For Americans, though, that game was something incredibly special. Of course, most Americans still think it was for the gold medal...

Chris, its just that in the grand scheme of hockey importance, its not up there for me, political ramifications aside.
And to be fair, for a lot of Americans, that's the ONLY hockey game they've ever seen.
You make a good point though, I'm sure the Summit Series and Paul Henderson's winning goal means nothing to you.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

Chris, its just that in the grand scheme of hockey importance, its not up there for me, political ramifications aside.
And to be fair, for a lot of Americans, that's the ONLY hockey game they've ever seen.
You make a good point though, I'm sure the Summit Series and Paul Henderson's winning goal means nothing to you.

Not quite nothing but, yeah, definitely not in the same realm for me. I might feel a bit different without Bobby Clarke's dirty play.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Not quite nothing but, yeah, definitely not in the same realm for me. I might feel a bit different without Bobby Clarke's dirty play.

Kudos! I'm surprised you're aware of the incident and that you know who Bobby Clarke was.... nice! I'm used to most Americans I meet not knowing too much about hockey history.
And the incident was a shameful display, especially for a country like Canada. By your own admission though you wouldn't "get it", or understand how important that series was to Canadians and hockey either way.
So let's just say we both have our favorites.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

Chris, its just that in the grand scheme of hockey importance, its not up there for me, political ramifications aside.
And to be fair, for a lot of Americans, that's the ONLY hockey game they've ever seen.
You make a good point though, I'm sure the Summit Series and Paul Henderson's winning goal means nothing to you.

There is more to the usa-ussr game. It was a true amateur team vs. a great pro team. The series you posted were NHL players vs. Soviet pros. It is the greatest upset in sports history.

[darwinbulldog]

That got me thinking and looking up some things. As far as I can tell, the biggest upset in sports history, or at least since Vegas started taking action, was this one:

10/6/2007 373 STANFORD +41 -110 o57 - 110 +7500
374 USC -41 -110 u57 - 110 -14900

All of which means that Stanford was given less than a 1% chance of winning that game. It was a less important game I guess, to the extent that the outcomes of sporting events can ever be truly important, but Stanford was on the order of ten times as big an underdog against USC as the USA was against the Soviets.

If Angola had beaten the Jordan/Magic/Bird Dream Team I guess that would have been a bigger upset, but there aren't many sporting events I can recall that included a favorite with >99% chance of winning.

I can't think of any in soccer or hockey.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by rats60

There is more to the usa-ussr game. It was a true amateur team vs. a great pro team. The series you posted were NHL players vs. Soviet pros. It is the greatest upset in sports history.

That's exactly my point. It was amateurs.
Was it an amazing display and exhibition of the best hockey skills in the world? Hardly.
The summit series on the other hand was the first major meeting between Canada and Russia, the two world hockey powers....
So its almost impossible to quantify its importance.
Can we call the '80 victory important to the US, especially at the time? Definitely.
If you started a thread asking for the biggest game with socio-political implications....you might have something. Or a thread asking for the biggest upset in sports...then we're in agreement. But to call it one of the GREATEST games period.... it doesn't register on my list.

[BicycleSpokes]

2007 Fiesta Bowl. I am a native Boisean, and have never enjoyed a televised sporting event more than that one... I can still vividly remember putting my raised fist through my buddy's ceiling fan in victory!


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