Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Moments of Glory


There are so many things about sports that make them great. How they unite us under one cause, or how they give us an escape from our everyday lives. There is no greater thrill in the world of sports for a player or a fan than those moments, where everything is on the line. And when the stakes are so high, there is bound to be a hero with his moment of glory that shall never be forgotten and forever revered by fans everywhere.

Recently, I'd been looking back at some great moments that stick with me, and it got me to thinking... What is my favorite sport's memory. What moment will forever stick with me no matter how old I become. Every sports fan has that moment they will never forget (except for Cub fans, well they don't have good moments anyways) so why not take a look at some...

My first great sports memory and one of my favorites of all time is without a doubt, this one: Darren McCarty's magical goal in Game 4 of the 1997 Stanley Cup finals.


I'll never forget this goal. I may have been just a tike, but I will never forget this. I was uncontrollably excited. I knew what the goal did. One of the greatest moments in Red Wing History.

Staying with the Wings... This is something that made me cry. I will never forget this, and it will stick with me forever. He was my favorite player. Vladimir Konstantinov getting the cup.


I'll never forget this one... I used to be a Tiger nut (admittedly my passion for them as gone down out of sheer disappointment) but back then I watched every game that I could. And when my Tiger walked up to the plate, I said to my friends "This one's over. Home Run, chalk it"

We then ran around the neighborhood with brooms yelling "SWEEP SWEEP, WORLD SERIES BOUND, THE TIGERS ARE WORLD SERIES BOUND"

Of all these moments, this one may be my favorite, it was definitely the most emotional. The United States World Cup victory over Algeria
I had to stream this game at work on my computer. We (I, my brother, and Jam {coworker}) have our own little room that's no where near anyone else and was closed off. Jam and I were huddled up to my computer, both of us hoping for that game winning goal.
It was stoppage time, and the US needed a goal. I felt like someone had ripped my heart out and stomped on it. I knew the odds were against us getting that essential goal. We had one called off that was CRUCIAL. I felt completely deflated. Then Tim Howard made an easy save, and made an excellent throw to midfield to Landon Donavon who had space. As the build up grew, so did my feeling of hope and anxiety. I watched... Donavon went wide to Jozy Altidore, who played a ball in, Dempsey denied at the door step. I felt like someone punched me in the gut... Then I saw a streaking Donavon making a run at the ball. And here's how it went down...


When Donavon burried that goal I wanted to jump and run around screaming and celebrating, but remembering I was at work, I didn't. But you guys know me, I had to do something... I high-fived and hugged Jam, I jumped up and down, quietly going "YESSSS GOAL GOAL GOOOOAL" and did a little shimmy to cap it off. I was so ecstatic, I couldn't believe it.

And for those of you that want to make fun of me for being that invested in soccer, watch this video. It gives me chills and tears me up every time. If only there had been a camera in my office, I could have been in it. Oh well.


So now, I ask you, the readers, I tweeted earlier that this was going to be a fun one and I want you to participate. So here's your chance. In the comment section, I want you to write in your favorite sports moment. Was it one of the ones I included? or was it some other moment. Tell me, what were you doing, where were you, all that fun jazz. Maybe your favorite sports moment has nothing to do with a championship but just the people you were with, that's cool. But I encourage you to leave a comment telling me your "Moment of Glory" story and have some fun with this.