OT - All-Time Best Games in Sports

[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.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

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.

I'm from Detroit - hockey is in my heritage

For me, it also helps that I'm old enough to remember 1980 but not for the Summit. I get why it's so important to Canadians - it just doesn't resonate for me. Like I said, for Americans, the Miracle game is about waaaaaaay more than just the game itself.

[Peter_Spaeth]

1994 Canada Sweden Olympic Hockey gold medal game, ending in a shootout won by Sweden, was incredibly intense and physical.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Tabe

I'm from Detroit - hockey is in my heritage

For me, it also helps that I'm old enough to remember 1980 but not for the Summit. I get why it's so important to Canadians - it just doesn't resonate for me. Like I said, for Americans, the Miracle game is about waaaaaaay more than just the game itself.

A Motown boy! So are we a big Red Wings fan? 😃

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

A Motown boy! So are we a big Red Wings fan?

OF COURSE.

I finally made the plunge and subscribed to Gamecenter Live this year so I can get every Wings game. I live in Spokane, WA now and got rid of cable. Was going to suffer some serious hockey withdrawal without the subscription. Have been a fan since the late 70s but got more into it when Yzerman - my all-time favorite athlete in any sport - got drafted.

[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.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

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.

Sure, you're not an American, why would it mean anything to you? The game you mention between Canada and the Soviets means exactly nothing to me...neither does any of the soccer matches listed above. Everything is relative. IMO though a game doesn't have to showcase the best skills in the world to be among the greatest games of all time. I'll take a rag tag group of amateurs shutting down some of the most skilled players in the world if only for one game. It was probably a one in a million happening (hyperbole? eh, whatever), that's why it was great, no one gave the US a chance. No one.

[chris6net]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

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.

If you took a poll of Americans today I think the Miracle on Ice game in 1980 would win in a landslide as the greatest game ever. It was not the Gold Medal game but based on all the factors involved especially the Cold War this game was the greatest game ever.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

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.

This is a forum for collecting cards of America's pastime. You should not be surprised America centric answers. Upsets are a part of American culture going back to defeating the English at Yorktown.

At least the usa-user hockey game had meaning, both teams were trying to win an Olympic gold medal. The summit series was just an exhibition. It doesn't even register on our radar. I don't recall the game even being on TV. The only reason I've even heard of it was an article in SI after the fact.

Preseason, regular season or exhibition games aren't even on my radar. Championships are what matter. Olympics, World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Finals, NCAA Championships, ect. Great upsets make for great games. Underdogs raising their level of play makes great games. We're just going to have to agree to disagree.

[jbhofmann]

1996 Indiana High School Basketball Regional- New Castle vs Batesville

Nearly 10,000 people packed the worlds largest high school gymnasium to see David and Goliath. Batesville was the last hope of Hoosier diehards. The last chance that a small rural school could win the fabled Indiana High School Tournament. No team had done it since Milan in 1954.

I've been to World Series Games, NCAA Finals for basketball, and played football games at Clemson, The Swamp and Auburn. Nothing has compared to the electricity that was in that massive high school gym that day. The home team was outnumbered. Every non-New Castle resident was cheering hard for the 5'10" Michael Menser led Bulldogs of Batesville. He was absolutely magic that day but in the end, New Castle flung a half court shot at the buzzer and ended Cinderella's run.

I had goosebumps just writing that.

Picture of this "cathedral".