Thread: Name your favorite moments of your teams

In an effort to keep things positive for the holidays, please post something about your team that, while not everyone else would consider the defining moment of the franchise, is something that points out why you love your team.

It can be a championship, but certainly doesn't have to be. Cases in point...

1. Rangers - I was a young and at the game, the Rangers are killing a power play, and under siege the entire two minutes. Mike Richter is making some incredible saves, and the crowd is going crazy for him. The noise is deafening, Darren Turcotte comes out of the penalty box right when the Rangers finally clear the zone, and he's off on a breakaway. Dekes to his backhand and roofs it home, and I thought the explosion of noise would literally blow the roof off the building and send it into outer space. I don't even remember how that particular team finished the season, but I remember thinking at the time, even at the age of 11 or 12 or whatever I was...wow, THIS is my team.

2. Yankees - The Aaron Boone homerun in 2003 was amazing, and so is the Roll Call at the start of every game, but the Derek Jeter catch where his momentum from chasing the ball down, diving into the stands, crashing into a railing with his face and holding onto the ball in a regular season game, still sends a chill down my spine when I see it.

3. Ohio State - There is nothing better than beating Michigan, but I still remember an ABC on-field interview with Troy Smith, after the Buckeyes beat Texas in Austin, where Troy had played a major part in the victory. The announcer asked him if it was revenge for the loss up in Columbus to Vince Young and Texas the year before, and Troy said...'it's not about that. This victory is for the coaches, who spend endless, endless hours studying film and preparing the team to play each week. ' I got a chill from that comment too. What a great kid.

4. New York Knicks - 'The Dunk.' The John Starks dunk over Michael Jordan. Still can't believe it happened. John Starks was one of those players who made the most out of the talent he had, and when the little guy drove right and jumped over two Bulls, one of which was Michael Jordan, and dunked with his left hand. Wow.

5. New York Jets - Unfortunately with the Jets the first things that come to my mind are losses, but it does give you a shiver when you're in the stadium and Fireman Ed starts the J-E-T-S chants. Even though there has been so much disappointment, even though you basically don't have a home stadium...Jet fans are nothing if not resilient. Watch out if this team ever gets over that hump...

6. St. John's - Since Chris Mullin was nearly God-like in the house I grew up in (although I wasn't old enough to remember seeing him play for them), the thing I remember most is how excited everyone was in our house when they went to the final four.

Even though my mom still jokes that when I came out of the womb I immediately asked how the Rangers did that night, the final four year was perhaps my first exposure to how sports can change how everyone feels...even though at that age I cared more about my stuffed animals than any game.


Sandra

Red Sox:

#3 Jose Tartabul throwing out Ken Berry at the plate in a regular season game with two out in the ninth. Berry committed early and needlessly to a fade-away slide and wound up grabbing Elston Howard's ankle instead of home plate.

#2 Carl Yastrzemski throwing Bobby Allison out at second in game 162 versus the Twins. There was no camera coverage of the left field corner back in those days, so we saw Allison's batted ball go in, then we saw Yaz go in after it, then we saw the ball come zinging back out.

#1 Dave Roberts steal of second.

Carlton Fisk doesn't make my top three.


New England Patriots:

#3 The work release guy plowing off the spot from which John Smith kicked the winning field goal.

#2. The time some 300+ pound guy piled on top of Steve Grogan and Grogan shoved him off and started beating the shit out of him. Grogan makes my all-tough guy list.

#1. The time Irving Fryer said he chased the guy who had robbed him for three blocks but couldn't catch him. That would seem to have narrowed the suspect list down to about ten people in the whole world.

Briuns:

When Terry O'Reily went into the stands against the Rangers, pulled a fan's shoe off, beat him over the head with it, and then threw it at him.

Celtics.

The first time I ever saw a Celtics game live, I watched Dave Cowens run up and down the court for forty minutes like a madman, knocking over anyone and everyone in his path. In that same game, the Cav's Bob McAdoo, who typically posted more impressive numbers than Cowens, could have benefitted from pockets stitched to his shorts, so he'd have had a place to put his hands when he didn't have the ball.

UConn:

A toughie. There is a fine line between when we "broke through" (89-90, especially Tate George's shot vs Clemson in Sweet 16), and when we "REALLY broke through" (99 Final vs dook).

Edge to the dook game, for a few reasons, but the 89-90 season will always be special.

Mets:

Too many.

Dykstra's GW HR in Game 3 of the 86 NLCS.
86 WS Games 6 and 7.
Endy Chavez's astounding catch in Game 6 of NLCS in 06 (probably the biggest "swing" I can remember as a fan - remember thinking that the season was over RIGHT THERE)

Devs - easy one here. From "Mickey Mouse Franchise" to the Stanley Cup.

Whenever the Chiefs beat the Raiders or Broncos.

I went to school in AZ for a year to get my associates in multimedia from the awful Art Institute of Phoenix, and the Cardinals making the playoffs that year with a kick as time expired was pretty memorable.

st louis rams: steven jackson. team stinks defense keys on him and he still gets his yards. has not praticed for the last three weeks because of a bad back, had flu this week and still gets his yards. he is a STUD!!!

Red Sox

1. FINALLY winning the World Series in 2004 (my all-time high moment as a sports fan!!!!)

2. Winning the '04 pennant against their archrivals after trailing the ALCS 3 games to 0

3. Winning the 2007 World Series

Patriots

1. Defeating the heavily favored Rams in SB XXXVI (I nearly broke my hand celebrating with friends when Vinatieri's kick split the uprights )

2. FINALLY beating the Dolphins in the Orange Bowl after 20 long years.....and more importantly it put the Pats in their first Super Bowl (but I won't bring up what happened after that )

3. Drew Bledsoe comes in for an injured Tom Brady and leads the Pats to the AFC Championship in Pittsburgh (the blocked FG for a touchdown is one of the most memorable plays in Pats history)

Bruins

I was only 6 when the B's won their last Stanley Cup , so..............

1. FINALLY beating the Canadiens in a playoff series in 1988

2. All the tough Bruins players (Terry O'Reilly, Stan Jonathan, John Wensink, Cam Neely, Lyndon Byers, etc.) It was soooooooo much fun going to a big, bad Bruins game in the old Garden)!

3. winning game 7 of a playoff series against Buffalo in OT on a Brad Park goal


Celtics

So many to mention, but here's my top 3 (believe it or not, #1 is not one of the many Celtics championships)

1. Winning game #7 of the INCREDIBLE 1981 ECF against the archrival Sixers. That series was one for the ages!

2. Defeating the Lakers in an epic 1984 Finals.......winning game 7 in the sauna that was Boston Garden

3. The 2008 return to glory for one of the most successful franchises in American sports



It has been quite a decade for Boston sports, headlined by the first Red Sox championship in 86 years, and of course, 6 championship parades through the streets of Boston!


GREAT TOPIC, SANDRA!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Originally Posted by BillD1984

Patriots

1. Defeating the heavily favored Rams in SB XXXVI (I nearly broke my hand celebrating with friends when Vinatieri's kick split the uprights )

My favorite related memory was during the first preseason game of the following year, when the Patriots had the ball deep in their own territory with less than two minutes to go in the first half, and Madden says, "Tom Brady has enough time to move his team into field goal range. I know that for sure!"

3. Drew Bledsoe comes in for an injured Tom Brady and leads the Pats to the AFC Championship in Pittsburgh (the blocked FG for a touchdown is one of the most memorable plays in Pats history)

I should have put that one on my list. And Bledsoe didn't do any crying after the game, about how he might now deserve his starting job back.

Bruins
2. All the tough Bruins players (Terry O'Reilly, Stan Jonathan, John Wensink, Cam Neely, Lyndon Byers, etc.) It was soooooooo much fun going to a big, bad Bruins game in the old Garden)!

The best part about following the Bruins in those years is that they all had cool haircuts. The mandatory helmet rule was grandfathered, and since so many Bruins played into their mid 30s, they were often the team with the hair playing against the team with the helmets.

Celtics

So many to mention...

I could have included 1987 Finals Game 1, when Greg Kite made a hook shot over Kareem.

I've seen Scott Wedman make eleven shots in a row before, but when Greg Kite goes three for five with a hook shot, you know it isn't your day.

- Pat Riley

The game that clinched my team's first ever Super Bowl:

Buffalo Bills 51, L.A. Raiders 3

Two Favorite Moments (off the top of my head):

1. October 25, 1986:
Sitting there as a 9 year old praying that the Mets, down by 2 with 2 outs in the 10th inning, would pull off a huge miracle. As if God heard the prayers of Mets fans or already knowing our future fate as losers along with his allegiance to the Yankees, he would throw us a bone as Vin Scully could be heard screaming "it gets by the bag and through Buckner's legs!"

2. September 21, 2001:
Entering Shea there was an awkward and almost eery feeling that night. Ten days before we were under attack and even on this evening, no one knew if we were safe or not. Baseball became something greater that night for me; it became my solace, my healer, my counselor, even though as planes roared overhead, I twinged a little. As the game progressed and we as fans felt closer than ever, we shifted our focus, if just for those brief 3 hours, from our attackers to our arch nemesis, the Atlanta Braves. Entering the 8th, it was inevitable that the Mets would not let us down nor their city. Mike Piazza launched a shot deep into the Center Field night that not only would win the game for us but also be a fitting tribute to those who gave their lives that unforgettable morning ten days earlier.