My Top Five Most Memorable Sports-Fan Moments

Great sports memories don’t always come with great games¹: sometimes we remember where we were and who we were with better than we remember what happened. Maybe you don’t even know the rules to rugby², but you might remember that time on vacation in Australia that you sat down with a bunch of folks who did, and for an hour, you were a fan.  So here are my top five most memorable sports-watching moments... what are yours?

#5: ‘06 Rose Bowl (Jan 4, 2006)

What happened: Texas 41, USC 28

Where I was: Harrah’s Casino in Tahoe

I really wasn’t into college football in 2006. I mean, football is football, and I need my fix, but even the Rose Bowl clocked in somewhere between the AFL and the CFL. But my grad-student friends and I weren’t exactly staying at the finest facility Tahoe has to offer (I believe we were at the Econolodge, which I’ve heard boasts “the dirtiest hot tub in Tahoe”), so it wasn’t like I was going to hit the hotel gym. So four of us — including one die-hard Longhorns fan — trudged down a snowy Route 50 because someone heard from someone that Harrah’s would have the game on.

We were in Nevada, so why there were enough Texas and USC fans to fill a huge room is still a mystery, as is how they figured out that Harrah’s was The Right Place To Watch The Game. However they got there, it was packed, and it was on. Add in the general good vibes of people on vacation, and the wintery spirit of knowing you’re warm while it’s f*$@’ing freezing outside, and you get a crowd that any sports fan would put on his fave-five.

Also, it doesn’t hurt that this was easily the greatest college football game played during my lifetime. USC goes up by four with two minutes left, Texas converts a third-and-twelve to keep a two-minute drive alive, then on fourth down in the red zone, Vince Young finds the corner of the endzone on a broken-play scramble, both sealing the Rose Bowl and tricking us all into thinking that he would be a phenomenal NFL quarterback. With eight seconds left, though, everyone believed the seemingly-indestructible Trojans could still make something happen, and the boisterous Harrah’s went silent, only to explode into Hook ‘em Horns when the clock ran out.

#4: NHL Western Conference Semis (May 2, 2007)

What happened: Redwings 3, Sharks 2 (OT)

Where I was: At the game (HP Pavilion in San Jose)

I live in Seattle, and while centers of cold-weather, nordic culture like Nashville and Dallas have NHL teams, Seattle does not. But I was in San Jose for a conference, and I had just gotten back into hockey after not caring for 20 years. It was playoff season, and San Jose has a rep around the NHL for being one of the most energetic places to see a hockey game, so I figured if I was going to go to one hockey game for the decade, why not go all in? So I sought out a fellow conference-goer who was Canadian (and therefore into hockey, obviously) to join me on the adventure of buying scalped tickets on the street. So the first highlight of the evening was the magic moment when I realized that I had just given some dude on the street a somewhat-obscene amount of cash for a piece of paper that might or might not have been created in Photoshop.

Fortunately, the ticket was legit, as was the notion that a Sharks home playoff game should be a good time. As a relatively objective observer, I was able to enjoy the fact that the Red Wings scored with 34 seconds (!) left to tie the game and send it to OT, despite the immediate deflation of the arena. I.e., I got my money’s worth.

I should point out that although the Pavilion was indeed alive and well for the Sharks, this was only the second-most intense I’ve seen this arena: I went to a Sabercats playoff game the previous year, and the place was totally out of control. For those who don’t remember or are reading this in 2025 when arena football is a distant memory, the Sabercats dominated the AFL for a few years and brought out the best fans in the nation who will pay $7 for a playoff ticket.

#3: World Cup Group Stage (June 23, 2010)

What happened: US 1, Algeria 0

Where I was: Home with my six-month-old son

Yes, I know, paternity leave isn’t really for staring at the TV or encouraging your child to stare at the TV. And really, I was well-behaved about this. But... the World Cup... once every four years... the U.S. needing a win to advance... and I happen to be home to watch it? Too good to pass up.

So Avery and I grabbed a spot on the couch, toys in hand, and I narrated an entire soccer game to him. Keep in mind, that’s 90 minutes of talking, where the penalty for not talking is guilt about paying more attention to soccer than to Avery. So I talked. And talked. Stoppage time? Still talking.

And Avery nodded and gurgled away, generally enjoying himself and occasionally taking breaks to hit the play gym, which had been moved to an optimal location in the living room. But the moment both of us remember best is the same moment the rest of the sports-viewing world remembers: all other games basically sealed so it was score-or-go-home, the clock into stoppage time, and Landon Donovan scores a goal that would set the cameras flashing and make U.S. soccer relevant (for another few days). I’m not even a soccer fan, but I couldn’t help whooping and yelling a bit... and although he was pretty unclear on why we were so excited, Avery rejoiced in the moment because Dad was pumped about the tiny dudes kicking a ball inside our crappy TV. Not to get too sentimental, but it was definitely a moment where you fast forward a little to a time when he *does* get it, and all the games (football of course, not soccer) you’ll whoop and yell about down the road. Okay, done with sappy.

#2: NHL Western Conference Semis (May 4, 2008)

What happened: Stars 2, Sharks 1 (OT)

Where I was: On my exercise bike, in my garage

If you’re reading this, the statistics say you’re probably not Canadian (there just aren’t very many of them), so you probably don’t care about hockey very much. Fellow Americans: it’s what they do with your basketball arena in the winter. But for hockey fans — nay, for sports fans who take the time to check it out — there is simply nothing as intense in all of sports as the NHL playoffs. I’m so amp’d up after two minutes of playoff hockey that I’m literally shaking. The closest thing in sports for me is the first snap of the first game of the NFL season... but it’s not that close.

And one relevant fact about me before we get back to hockey: I like to watch TV while I exercise. Actually, no, I need to watch TV while I exercise, and I’m serious about it. I lock my exercise routine to game events: keep the bike at level 14 until the drive is over, keep these calf raises going until the period ends, etc. I recommend this for all sports fans who want a way to add a little extra adrenaline to your workouts and a little extra immersiveness to your sports.

The goal for May 4, 2008, was simple: if they’re skating as hard as they f&*(’ing can, I’m riding as hard as I f&(*’ing can. I’m done when they’re done. The DVR was set for five hours of recording. That should be plenty, right?

Hockey fans likely remember this game as well as any conference semifinal game: it played out as the eighth-longest game in NHL history at five hours and thirteen minutes, and four overtimes. Four! The biggest moments probably weren’t Morrow’s game-winning goal, but the profoundly ridiculous saves Nabokov made in all four overtimes to keep the game at 1-1 for over five hours.

So back to my evening: if you convince yourself that you’re not allowed to watch the game unless you’re pedaling, you’ll keep pedaling. Football fans, if I convinced you that you needed to put your hands behind your back or you weren’t allowed to watch the AFC Championship, you’d put your hands behind your back, right? To be fair, I fast-forward commercials and time between periods, so I was staring down something closer to two hours, but still, two hours of trying to pump all my adrenaline into an exercise bike instead of screaming about every save and waking up my wife was probably the best indoor workout I’ve ever gotten, and the ultimate anti-social, sports-in-the-man-cave experience.

And of course, I completely lost my mind when the DVR ran out after five hours and I thought I’d lost the ending. My world was set straight again when I realized that — implausible though it seemed at 11pm PST — we were still live. Lesson learned: if there’s playoff hockey on, you don’t really need that 15th episode of the Colbert Report on your DVR... set your recording for as long as your brain can possibly handle the adrenaline.

#1: Super Bowl XLII, Feb 3, 2008

What happened: Giants 17, Pats 14

Where I was: Running in Bellevue 

Building on the theme of #2, I have a deep belief that being distracted by sports because sports are awesome can motivate even the laziest sports-lover to extreme physical activity of the otherwise-boring variety. Running, for example. Not my thing in 2008. I always wanted to know why runners are so into it, and I wanted to be “running fit” , but I didn’t get it. However, I recognized that the one thing that might get me out on the road for more than a few minutes is playoff football, the annual peak of on-the-radio sports. So what better time to see what I can and can’t do than the Super Bowl? Basically, I figured that if I can’t run during the Super Bowl, I’m not ever going to “get” running.

While I may have had to give readers a refresher on notable playoff hockey moments, any sports-loving reader needs little reminder about the best NFL game played during my lifetime. Hands-down, no question, the best NFL game played during my lifetime. It was the Super Bowl. It was David and Goliath. It was the upset. It was Tyree’s head. It was New York vs. Boston. It was the comeback that was then wasn’t then was. It was “is little Manning stuck under his brother’s shadow?” It was “can Brady do it one more time?”. It was “are they the best team ever?”.

Needless to say, this is what I was looking for. On a perfect day for running — fifty degrees and calm — I had so much adrenaline going by the time the game started that I flew out of a random parking lot in Bellevue like a bull out of that bull-keeping vault where they keep bulls at rodeos. Aided by occasional hills that interrupted reception (which I pushed to double-time, because f(*& if I was going to miss a snap), I proudly ran an ass-slow half-marathon, with just enough steam in my totally-locked-up legs to get back to my car, drive to the grocery store after the third quarter, drink about a gallon of Gatorade, and drive home in time to see the Tyree catch and the Pats’ last gasp on my shitty TV. Huzzah!

FWIW, even after this A+ sports-fan experience, I still didn’t “get” running (or even go running a single time) until over a year later when (a) I f’d up my neck so running was my only exercise option and (b) I discovered the life-altering Adam Carolla podcast. Now I get it.

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Honorable Mention

HM1: Feb 1, 2004 — Super Bowl XXXVIII — Pats 32, Panthers 29

Where I was: A diner in Jackson, CA, coming home from Tahoe

My grad-student friends and I had just spent the weekend at Kirkwood, because it was hella cheap for grad students, and that put us driving back on Route 88, through Jackson. At the end of every trip, we stopped at the same unremarkable diner (Perko’s), where we each ate around 3000 calories and enjoyed a few minutes out of the car.

Of course, all football fans remember the game: Vinatieri solidified his reputation as the greatest clutch kicker of our generation with a last-second winner, and Patriots moved up to “modern dynasty” status. Unlike 99% of the time I watch football, however, I wasn’t amp’d up out of my mind, yelling and swearing, etc. Instead I was enjoying an intense Super Bowl in the ultimate chilled-out environment, relaxing with other tired friends who were fine with waiting until the game was over before getting back on the road.

HM2: March 19th, 2009 — Seattle Sounders FC’s first MLS Game — Sounder 3, Red Bulls 0

Where I was: At the game (Qwest Field)

I know, it’s MLS, but Seattle waited a long time for this, and sappy though it sounds, there was a vibe that the sellout crowd wasn’t just a few desperate soccer fans, it was the whole city rallying around this new piece of Seattle culture. The last three years of MLS play have basically backed this up: Seattle is still the best-attended MLS franchise in the league. The fear of an anticlimactic, soccer-esque 0-0 tie was alleviated quickly that day, and the go-Seattle atmosphere was bolstered by a crushing 3-0 victory.

HM3: The entire 2006 World Cup

Where I was: Grad school in engineering, America’s real melting pot

One stereotype about grad students in engineering at American universities is largely true: most are not American. Consequently, most do care about soccer. This makes for quite the festive atmosphere when the World Cup rolls around, and there’s probably no place that goes from “where is everyone?” to “standing room only” so dramatically as the biggest TV available to computer scientists and electrical engineers when the World Cup rolls around. The grad student campus bar opened at a crisp 5:30am every day for the 6am start times; seats were gone by 5:31, and the fire code was violated by 5:45. And someone cared about every game. An absolutely fantastic way to enjoy the World cup, especially for non-soccer fans like myself who need a little extra immersion.

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¹These were all absurdly exciting games, so actually I started this post out with a lie.

²Seriously, are there rules in rubgy?  They just beat the crap out of each other, and sometimes there’s a ball, right?