this is tough
i was at G7 of the angels/giants WS and when the last out was made - that was an amazing play only because of the magnitude of it.
for me, though, gotta go back to the early 80s for 1 and the 1990 for the other. sorry - i can't narrow it down to 1 - i gotta choose 2.
fullerton was hosting (then pcaa conference rival) fresnno state. back then, there was a 45 second clock - but it was turned OFF in the last 4 minutes. for those who recall boyd grant's teams - NO ONE EVER was as great as bleeding a clock as he was. if fresno got the ball with 4:30 left and led by 1 - they could bleed the ENTIRE 4:30 w/o turning it over - so games againts fresno were always 36 minute games - not 40 - for if you trailed after 36 minutes - you lost the game - no beating that (and railbird can attest to this).
even though it was 20+ years ago i can recall the play as if it happened 5 minutes ago. it was a typical fresno game - the score was around 41-40 late. fullerton got the ball with about 7 seconds at mid court. we got the ball to our best player, tony neal, who drove to the basket - but missed the shot. the fullerton players all crashed the boards for a rebound - and there was one. only porblem was - the rebound was somewhat long. as the ball was behind him, fullerton player kerry boagni reached back as far as his right arm would go, and somehow got his hand on it. he flicked the ball back towards the basket. as he flicked it back, the ENTIRE GYM (and this was when fullerton actually drew fans - there must have been close to a legit sellout that night for fresno brought a zillion people like they always did) got stone silent. i recall watching it and praying the ball would go in - but knowing it wouldn't. the ball got about 3 feet above the BACKBOARD. those who were there SWEAR the ball literall STOPPED and hung in the air for about a second. the ball then came down CLEAN thru the hoop to put fullerton up 1. i was on the other side of halfcourt and when the ball went thru i saw 1 second left on the clock. mitch arnold (for those who recall him - mitch was at fresno for about 20 years - sorta like anthony carter was at michigan for about that long, too) called for a timeout. i saw him calling it and though "oh f**k - if he gets it i and the team could be in big trouble. luckily he didn't get it and we won by 1.
the 2nd one was in 1990. we had lost 16 games over 6 years to unlv. we lost a close game @ unlv - and then played them again at fullerton. it was a tight game throughout. fullerton got a trey in the last seconds to tie the game and send it to OT. in OT, we trailed by 1 and had to foul UNLV. we took forever to do it - and finally fouled stacey augmon with 4 seconds left. we thought we were screwed. augmon made the first but missed the 2nd. we got lucky for he missed it short. if he missed it any other way we were dead. john sykes got the rebound and passed it up to freshman wayne williams who ran the ball up court. wayne got about 5 feet from the 3 point line - and was about 10 feet in front of my seat - not that i was sitting. he pulled up and let fly with a potential winning 3. again - the place got stone silent as the packed to beyond capacity crowd watched the ball - knowing the game rested on the shot. as the buzzer sounded - the ball hit nothing but net - cleanly swishing thru the net. the place went bonkers. wayne was around the FT line and cedric ceballos was there to mob him. i was the 1st fan there and was going nuts, too. sonic booms aren't as loud as titan gym was after that shot. in the celebration, there was a photog who took a picture that ended up in both the school paper and the OC Register. in BOTH pix - you can clearly see me just above the fold. in the Register - they put the pic on the VERY FRONT page - so people who bought the paper at the stands could see me in the paper.
i was at G7 of the angels/giants WS and when the last out was made - that was an amazing play only because of the magnitude of it.
for me, though, gotta go back to the early 80s for 1 and the 1990 for the other. sorry - i can't narrow it down to 1 - i gotta choose 2.
fullerton was hosting (then pcaa conference rival) fresnno state. back then, there was a 45 second clock - but it was turned OFF in the last 4 minutes. for those who recall boyd grant's teams - NO ONE EVER was as great as bleeding a clock as he was. if fresno got the ball with 4:30 left and led by 1 - they could bleed the ENTIRE 4:30 w/o turning it over - so games againts fresno were always 36 minute games - not 40 - for if you trailed after 36 minutes - you lost the game - no beating that (and railbird can attest to this).
even though it was 20+ years ago i can recall the play as if it happened 5 minutes ago. it was a typical fresno game - the score was around 41-40 late. fullerton got the ball with about 7 seconds at mid court. we got the ball to our best player, tony neal, who drove to the basket - but missed the shot. the fullerton players all crashed the boards for a rebound - and there was one. only porblem was - the rebound was somewhat long. as the ball was behind him, fullerton player kerry boagni reached back as far as his right arm would go, and somehow got his hand on it. he flicked the ball back towards the basket. as he flicked it back, the ENTIRE GYM (and this was when fullerton actually drew fans - there must have been close to a legit sellout that night for fresno brought a zillion people like they always did) got stone silent. i recall watching it and praying the ball would go in - but knowing it wouldn't. the ball got about 3 feet above the BACKBOARD. those who were there SWEAR the ball literall STOPPED and hung in the air for about a second. the ball then came down CLEAN thru the hoop to put fullerton up 1. i was on the other side of halfcourt and when the ball went thru i saw 1 second left on the clock. mitch arnold (for those who recall him - mitch was at fresno for about 20 years - sorta like anthony carter was at michigan for about that long, too) called for a timeout. i saw him calling it and though "oh f**k - if he gets it i and the team could be in big trouble. luckily he didn't get it and we won by 1.
the 2nd one was in 1990. we had lost 16 games over 6 years to unlv. we lost a close game @ unlv - and then played them again at fullerton. it was a tight game throughout. fullerton got a trey in the last seconds to tie the game and send it to OT. in OT, we trailed by 1 and had to foul UNLV. we took forever to do it - and finally fouled stacey augmon with 4 seconds left. we thought we were screwed. augmon made the first but missed the 2nd. we got lucky for he missed it short. if he missed it any other way we were dead. john sykes got the rebound and passed it up to freshman wayne williams who ran the ball up court. wayne got about 5 feet from the 3 point line - and was about 10 feet in front of my seat - not that i was sitting. he pulled up and let fly with a potential winning 3. again - the place got stone silent as the packed to beyond capacity crowd watched the ball - knowing the game rested on the shot. as the buzzer sounded - the ball hit nothing but net - cleanly swishing thru the net. the place went bonkers. wayne was around the FT line and cedric ceballos was there to mob him. i was the 1st fan there and was going nuts, too. sonic booms aren't as loud as titan gym was after that shot. in the celebration, there was a photog who took a picture that ended up in both the school paper and the OC Register. in BOTH pix - you can clearly see me just above the fold. in the Register - they put the pic on the VERY FRONT page - so people who bought the paper at the stands could see me in the paper.
after tinking things over some - i gotta change my mind.
my greatest play had to have been a TD pass by railbird for our alma mater during his freshman year. there weren't many great railbird moments - but the ones there were are right up there.
don't both me with lame stuff like kirk gibson's HR, christian lattner's shot to beat KY (Jelly) or even something as mundane as either of vinatieri's SB winning kicks. for me - railbird and his feats on the field are tops in my book.
if i ever have grandkids - they will be told about the greatness that is railbird.
my greatest play had to have been a TD pass by railbird for our alma mater during his freshman year. there weren't many great railbird moments - but the ones there were are right up there.
don't both me with lame stuff like kirk gibson's HR, christian lattner's shot to beat KY (Jelly) or even something as mundane as either of vinatieri's SB winning kicks. for me - railbird and his feats on the field are tops in my book.
if i ever have grandkids - they will be told about the greatness that is railbird.
Rob Deer after years of striking out in Milwaukee and Detroit among others came to spend a year with the Padres, '96. Anyway, went to a game vs the Braves and Maddux was pitching. Had pretty good seats between home dugout and home plate about 12 rows back, Deer comes up the first time and i bet my buddy that he won't make contact, I win as Maddux K's him without a sniff, second time up, my buddy (from Michigan btw and had always been a Tigers fan) wants double or nothing, same thing, Maddux sits him down without so much as a foul ball. So third time up, my buddy wants double or nothing again but this time he wants Maddux, figuring I don't really want to collect on him anyway, I agree. So I'm yelling my head off "c'mon Rob, foul one off at least, you can do it" and practically our whole section by this point has caught on to the fact that up to this point he has not touched a pitch from the master. Well, down 2 strikes and still swinging from the heels as ever, somehow Deer manages to barely make contact and foul one back to the screen, a huge cheer mixed with uproarious laughter goes up from our section and barely died down before the next pitch, a changeup which had Deer screwing himself into the dirt and on his way back to the pine.
That foul ball, the greatest play I ever witnessed.
edited to fix year, ws 96 not 97, also of note, Deer had 50 abs for the Pads that year and K'd 30 times.
[This message was edited by mjred on March 29, 2004 at 04:09 AM.]
That foul ball, the greatest play I ever witnessed.
edited to fix year, ws 96 not 97, also of note, Deer had 50 abs for the Pads that year and K'd 30 times.
[This message was edited by mjred on March 29, 2004 at 04:09 AM.]
Don't remember the year but remember seeing it. I was sitting in the left field upper deck. Roberto Clemente hit a home run in Wrigley Field which just missed hitting the center field scoreboard as it sailed out on to Waveland Avenue.
For many years this was talked about as probably the longest homer ever hit at Wrigley. Since I haven't really been there anymore for twenty plus years and with the juice and all it might not be anymore.
But it was and is the longest I have ever seen hit anywhere.
For many years this was talked about as probably the longest homer ever hit at Wrigley. Since I haven't really been there anymore for twenty plus years and with the juice and all it might not be anymore.
But it was and is the longest I have ever seen hit anywhere.
Tony Nathan's flea flicker touchdown to end the first half of the 1982 Miami/SanDiego playoff game....Miami was down 24-0 and that score made it 24-17.
The Orange Bowl rocked so loud and the crowd remained out of control throughout halftime! That game is a mainstay on ESPN Classics, and to have been there in person was "off the charts."
The Orange Bowl rocked so loud and the crowd remained out of control throughout halftime! That game is a mainstay on ESPN Classics, and to have been there in person was "off the charts."
Speaking of great Bears running backs, I've seen many of Gayle Sayers' great days. For some reason this stands out.
Something that was not at all great but perversely memorable. I was at the Bears/Vikings game at Wrigley Field in standing room only behind the lower left field grandstand when Gayle Sayers first hurt his knee. Saw him carried off...and I wondered. Well, he came back and for a time was a workmanlike running back with seemingly one leg shorter than the other.
The GREATNESS of Gayle Sayers was forever gone after that first knee injury against the Vikings at Wrigley though.
Something that was not at all great but perversely memorable. I was at the Bears/Vikings game at Wrigley Field in standing room only behind the lower left field grandstand when Gayle Sayers first hurt his knee. Saw him carried off...and I wondered. Well, he came back and for a time was a workmanlike running back with seemingly one leg shorter than the other.
The GREATNESS of Gayle Sayers was forever gone after that first knee injury against the Vikings at Wrigley though.
Pauley Pavillion, 02/21/04, STANFORD/UCLA. At the half they give a student a chance to win free tuition & books. This kid comes up calm as hell, sinks a free throw, hurries a three pointer, swish, races past mid court and let'r rip, swish. The place went nuts. The kid got a free education (one year) & books.....ScottyS
