- Landon Donovan's Goal vs Algeria. Most of you know how this went down. Tied 0-0 late in the game with Algeria in the final game of the Group Stage, Tim Howard makes a save, throws the ball 35 yards to a running Landon Donovan. To Altidore. To Dempsey. Shot. Save. Rebound. Donovannnnn GOOOAL. I can honestly say I haven't yelled that much at a sporting event on tv in years. Postgame, I was thrilled to see so many Americans who up to that point hated soccer be proud of what the Nats did. Now hopefully that can translate to an uptick in the sports popularity here in the states.
- Sounders Win US Open Cup. This obviously doesn't have the mainstream appeal as some of the other on the list, but this was definitely a special night for me. It's not often that you have the opportunity to watch your team win a championship at home. The crowd was as electric as I have ever seen it and we went bonker-shit when Nyassi scored his two goals.
- US-Canada Ice Hockey Gold Medal game. Some may question this being so high since the US didn't win, but no hockey fan can argue that it wasn't the best way for it to end. I mean, Canada is hockey. Hockey is Canada. The US beating Canada in hockey in Vancouver would have been like Argentina beating the US in basketball in Atlanta. The best thing about the final, besides my boy Parise's goal with 24 seconds left in regulation, was the week leading up to it, where the country once again realized how cool a sport ice hockey is. As with the World Cup though, it remains to be seen if the excitement remains.
- Duke-Butler NCAA Final. I try not to buy into hyperbole, but we were two inches away from the most amazing college basketball moment in history. It was David vs Goliath as Duke faced tiny Butler in Indianapolis. Down two with 1.4 seconds left, Gordon Hayword threw up a prayer of a shot for a win and the title. It may have missed, but damn was it exciting.
- Clint Dempsey's Goal vs England. The opening game of the 2010 World Cup started off horribly when Steven Gerrard put England ahead in the 4th minute. I honestly thought there was no way we could come back. Then in the blink of an eye, England keeper Robert Green let us back into the game. Sure the goal was ultra-lucky, but sometimes teams need to create their own luck. This was the first in a long line of up and down moments for the US team in South Africa. It felt really good.
- Clint Dempsey's Goal vs Juventus. Some say it was luck. Clint says he meant to do it. Whatever the real story, this is the biggest (and prettiest??) goal an American-born player has ever scored in Europe. The goal capped Fulham's incredible comeback from down 2-0 in aggregate in their Europa League Semi-final, but in the grand scheme of things, the Europa League isn't quite the World Cup. Thus the reason for being one spot down.
- Armando Gallaraga. Most of you know this story by now. Tigers Pitcher Armando Galarraga was denied a perfect game when 1st Base Umpire Jim Joyce blew a seemingly easy call. There was a lot of public outrage over a simple mistake and it definitely was one of the lower points of the season. For me though, the lasting image was the sportsmanship displayed by Galarraga and the sorrow expressed by Joyce. They helped us realize that we are all imperfect creatures and that we can bitch when we are wronged, or we can forgive and move on. Definitely a rare moment of sportsmanship in professional sports.
- Mets Dominate Marlins on Opening Day. The Mets always win on opening day. In doing so, they always get our hopes up. 2010 was no different as Johan Santana went 6 strong, K-Rod got the save and David Wright erased all fears that he had lost his power with a first inning HR. It sadly was one of the few highlights of an otherwise forgettable year.
- UW beats USC Again. Hopes were high for UW football in 2010. After improving their win total by 5 games in 2009, the Huskies received great news when Heisman candidate Jake Locker decided to come back for another year. However, the season got off to a rough start thanks to a 1-2 record, which included a HUGE 56-21 loss to Nebraska. A trip to LA to take on a pissed off USC team surely was not what the doctor ordered. And yet somehow the Dawgs pulled off another amazing upset, once again setting up high expectations for the remainder of the season.
- Ok, I could only come up with 9 definite ones. There may be something I am missing (please let me know if there is), but for now here are the other possible candidates: Luis Suarez handball vs Ghana, South Africa's first WC Goal vs Mexico, UW Hoops beating Marquette, Stephen Strasburg's debut, Devils trading for Ilya Kovalchuk, Northampton Town FC beating Liverpool.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Top 10 Moments of 2010
With the holidays knocking on our door and our personal PC on the frits, I'm not sure how much I will be posting over the next week. If possible, I definitely want to talk about the firing of Devils Coach John MacLean and the rumors coming out of Columbus. If not possible, I did want to at the very least provide a list of my top 10 sports moments of the year.
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Here would be my top 10 of 2010:
ReplyDelete1. Spain winning world cup - final was a UFC match but the best footballing team in the world won the biggest prize. Justice was served.
2. New Orleans winning the Super Bowl. After all they've been through, finally landing the biggest prize in American sports was something to feel good for all the people down there.
3. Graeme McDowell winning the US Open/Ryder Cup for Europe. I know its a two parter but I cant justify 2 top ten spots for the same golfer :) The first European to win the US Open since 1971 and he's a Guinness drinking Irishman to boot.
4. Winter Olympics eh? Canada in overtime to beat the US in hockey and Shaun White landing a 1260, pity the first memory is of the poor Georgian sledder.
5. Inter Milan winning the Champions League. The Special One proves he's a dab hand at proving critics wrong in showing there's life in Serie A still.
6. Landon's last minute goal against Algeria, nuff said.
7. Ze Germans - their destruction of England and Argentina was poetry in motion, pity they ran out of steam against the best side in the world.
8. SF winning the 'world series'. Pity the Mariners didnt like Lincecum and his 70s mop.
9. Sounders winning the US Open cup again - the only light in a dark dark seattle sports year.
10. The longest tennis match in history at wimbledon (Isner/Mahut went to 70-68 in the 5th set) which took 11 hours and 6 minutes over the course of 3 days!
I think I would have ranked Spain high in my list, but the final left a poor taste in my mouth. Not that it was Spain's fault, but my lasting impression is of some pretty rough play -exactly what the sport didn't need on it's grandest stage. All in all though, the entire World Cup in my opinion was the sporting event of the year.
ReplyDeleteAgree that the Saints Super Bowl was a special moment. It should have probably been ranked higher for me, but was hurt by the fact that it was so long ago. I kind of forgot it's significance.
As for Graeme (is there an 'H' in there?) McDowell, I think it's only significant for another Guinness drinking Irishmen like someone I know.
The Wimbledon match was absolutely ridic. Just crazy.
Ouch dude! Only significant for guinness drinkers? Oh wait that's more than enough :) I think the ryder cup was huge though, it was such an exciting finish to the cup and the us open at pebble beach? That's still huge!
ReplyDeleteYeah,I guess I'm just not a huge golf guy. Especially when the final pairing doesn't include Phil or Tiger. And I really hate the Ryder Cup because of the pompousness of it all. I know, let's have the US take on Europe because only a continent could possibly compete with the mega-power that is the US. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as a Irishman you can't possibly have any connection to Miguel Angel Jimenez or Francesco Molinari?
ReplyDeleteWell we all have a European passport and can live in each others countries as easily as you can live in another state of the USA. Since the team plays under the banner of the European Union and has only included players from EU countries, its not 'exactly' the whole continent but I agree that part is a little different than other traditional sporting events, but thats what makes it unique. Its not pompous (certainly not from our side anyway) as it originally was a match up of the US and Great Britain, then expanded to include Ireland and then the rest of Europe as a result of the growth of the European tour (which runs the Euro team). I dont lose national identity supporting the Europeans, I am a citizen after all, but its a looser federal system than the US, so my Irishness always comes first. Some people in texas and the south feel the same way about the USA's federal system too :)
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, sorry for the long winded defence, but I have always enjoyed the friendly nature of the Ryder Cup (apart from a couple of isolated incidents) and feel that it is fully deserving of a mention on the list.