Honorable Mentions - Category Four - Nitpicking

 Nitpicking

Super Bowl LI : Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots

The Warriors blew a 3-1 lead, and after this game, those signs stopped showing up at sports games.  It was irrelevant.  With the whole world watching (and the viewership of the Super Bowl greatly surpasses the NBA Finals) the Falcons told the Warriors to hold their beer.  The gold standard of a choke job, in a way that seems to still be defining the Falcons to this day, was gift-wrapped and handed to the Patriots.

A comeback for the ages is left off the list?  How? Why?

There are two sides to a great comeback.  Sometimes, the team coming back just puts things together at the end, and manages to play the game better in short spurts.  Sometimes, the team ahead starts playing terrible and invites the other team back into the game.  This game falls into the latter category. 

The Patriots game plan looked exactly the same after the 3:12 mark of the third quarter as it did before it.  The Falcons fell apart.  Was the moment too big for them?  A team that wasn’t tough enough to put it together for four quarters?  Pick your narrative but in either case, if the Falcons manage to play merely average football in the fourth quarter, the game is an afterthought in Super Bowl history. 

2018 Rose Bowl Game: Oklahoma Sooners vs. Georgia Bulldogs

See above, but replace Falcons with Sooner and Patriots with Bulldogs.  A bit less chokey but certainly worse defensive play throughout. 

Stanford at Notre Dame 10/13/2012

This is the game that made me a Notre Dame fan.  In 2012, I was deep in my Enneagram five mode, deep diving into college football history, and learning every single thing I could possibly absorb.  This had caused me to feel a blossom of love for the Fighting Irish develop.  So much history, so much tradition, and the best helmet in the sport.  Still, there hadn’t been a moment, and to be a real bought-in fan, you need a moment. 

There was no big comeback, no massive upset, and no wild shootout.  Two teams that were trying as hard as possible to keep 1960’s football alive with a commitment to three yards and a cloud of dust mentality.  A slugfest without either team ever claiming a lead of over seven points.  They threw haymakers for four quarters and then decided to throw a few more. 

After an Irish touchdown in overtime, the Cardinal had to respond in kind to force a second bonus period.   They crawled down to the goal line and tried to enforce their will, to play football on their terms.  Between the tackles, short handoff, push for the end zone.  And they went 0-4.  A turnover on downs, with three replay reviews to boot, and the Irish stayed unbeaten.  As great as the moment was, and as epic as the stand still rings, three booth replays is a long time to stretch out a special moment.

UCLA Bruins at Washington State Cougars 09/21/2019

By 2019, Washington State had found themselves in an uncommon place, with expectations.  The Cougars under pirate/head coach Mike Leach had proven a consistent player in the PAC 12 north race, entering the contest with a number 19 ranking nationally.  The Bruins, who had mostly spent the last decade doing a Washington State impression with impressive streaks of futility, were under first year head coach Chip Kelly, a recent washout from the NFL, and generally assumed to have let the game pass him by.  The 0-3 Bruins had done nothing so far that season to indicate the narrative was ill-suited. 

With 6:52 remaining in the third quarter, the home team Cougars had stretched out to a 49-17 lead, and UCLA had shown as many signs of life as a Los Angeles storm cloud, 0-4 was a statistical certainty.  Then the Cougs had the meltdown of all meltdowns.  By the end of the game, UCLA was kneeling out the clock for a win.  They picked up the game winning touchdown with over a minute to spare.  And no, not barely squeaking out a lead because the defense turned rock solid.  They still gave up another 14 points.

After that 49-17 lead was established, the Bruins scored 4 touchdowns in under five minutes ALL ON OFFENSE!  Four second half fumbles, all lost, broke the Cougars.  In a losing effort, Cougar quarterback Anthony Gordon threw for 9 touchdown passes!  He lost!  67-63 final and the Cougars fans stumbled home in the dark about 1 AM local time with as painful a loss as one can imagine.  

Honorable Mentions - Category Three: You Remember a Great Game Because There was a Great Moment

 You Remember a Great Game Because There was a Great Moment

Michigan State Spartans at Michigan Wolverines 10/17/2015

Of the games in this section, no moment holds a candle to this one.  The Michigan Wolverines had been the big brother in this rivalry for 40 years until Spartan coach Mike Dantonio arrived in East Lansing.  For the past ten years, the programs had spiraled in opposite directions.  The Wolverines had been a shell of their former power, and the Spartans were annual conference title contenders.  The winds had seemingly changed this season, as Michigan alum, and highly successful NFL coach, Jim Harbaugh had taken the helm at the Wolverine program, and had been overwhelming teams with their defense for the past month when the Spartans came to Ann Arbor.  They were heavy favorites, and for three plus quarters, lived up to the billing.  The Spartans scratched some points together in the fourth quarter to bring the game within three, but the Wolverines felt strongly in control.  With less than ten seconds on the clock and facing a fourth down, the Wolverines intended to punt the ball, and all that was needed to retain their crown for the state was to not let the returner streak to the end zone as the clock hit zero. 

Then chaos.

The snap was dropped.  The punter scrambled to recover it, and then while being hit by the rushers, attempting to kick the ball anyways.  It was easily snatched up by Jalen Watts-Jackson, who weaved through a crowded convoy of blockers and Wolverines, to land on his back in the endzone as the clock hit zero to provide the Spartans a miracle win.  Watts-Jackson lay there for a while absorbing the celebration of his surrounding teammates and the despairing quiet of Michigan Stadium around him, waiting for team doctors to tend to the hip he had broken while being tackled on the score.  As it was called, the lead broadcasters voice gave out and cracked like a pubescent boy while exclaiming “he scores on the last play of the game!”  The game was honestly pretty ugly before that, but the moment at the end was truly unforgettable. 

2013 NFL Divisional Playoffs: Baltimore Ravens at Denver Broncos

Another non-classic, classic that will forever be etched in the memories of those that follow either team.  The game is revered by many as one of the classics of the decade, it did after all, have two special teams touchdowns, and a defensive touchdown.  The game is the last one to go into double overtime in NFL history as well.  And still, despite offering all that, it’s hard for me to create a notch in the top ten for a game that I mostly just remember for being stunned at how bad the coverage was on one play.  “The Mile High Miracle” is mostly infamous for none of the things I mentioned above but for the 70 yard bomb hauled in by Jacoby Jones to force Denver into overtime.  A bomb, which in modern professional football, is the worst attempt to defend a deep ball in an obvious hail Mary situation I’ve seen over the past twenty years.  A game, no matter how great, can only achieve so much when being remembered for what was terrible. 

2016 NBA Finals Game 7: Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden State Warriors

This one stings.  For most of my sports fandom life, I had not found any sense of real fan loyalty in the NBA.  I had bounced around over the years just following certain players I liked, most recently, the Steve Nash led Phoenix Suns, but hadn’t really paid much attention over the past 7-8 years to much of anything in the sport.  Bored and fed up with Spurs/Celtics/Lakers fatigue and the fact that no other teams frequently mattered, I just checked out.  But things changed in 2015-16 for me.  My nephew, an avid NBA follower, started living with me and got me interested in watching a bit again.  At the same time, a certain young buck named Steph Curry was revolutionizing the game with his fearless sharpshooting outside.  I was hooked, and happened to be in the neighborhood of the Warriors in May 2016 visiting a friend.  I decided to take the dive, shelled out about $300 for the worst seats in the house, and be a part of the historic 73 win season for the Warriors by attending a Western Conference Finals game. 

I bought in.  The price of tickets, a jersey, and a few other pieces of gear, and my fanhood was no longer for sale.  I was a Warriors fan, and a Warriors fan I have remained. 

The worst part about this game is that thirty days earlier it probably wouldn’t have hurt to watch.  With a 3-1 series lead and a 73 win regular season under their belt, the Warriors gagged at the finish line.  If you are a big fan of Cleveland sports of Lebron, this is your peak moment, and it’s a great one.  The ultimate comeback in a series against a titan of the sport, with the added flavor of the King finally bringing a title home.  The moment is a great postgame, and the chase down block on Iguodala pictured above was a great moment in game.  In all the history made, it can be easy to forget that it’s kind of a crappy game. 

These teams had truly battled to the end in this epic series, and it showed.  Curry had battled injuries all postseason and was clearly well below full strength, as were many players on both teams.  Kyrie Irving hit a three point field goal with 53 seconds remaining for what would be the eventual game winner, between that and Lebron’s block, you have two lasting highlights at the end.  They are also the only things that could possibly qualify as highlights at the end.  The game winner by Irving was the only shot made from the field by either team in the final five minutes, and the clocked ticked towards zero after a Lebron James missed free throw and an air ball by the Warriors with a wishful heave from three point land.  The moment is top ten for the decade, but we’re grading games, and this one doesn’t crack it.

2015 NFC Championship Game: Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks

If you are a Seahawks fan, you’re likely bothered to see this on the best of the rest section, and would prefer a top five slot.  We’ll be back to your guys later, you’ll have a spot in the top ten.  This game though, maybe the most stunned I’ve ever been by a playoff game result, just can’t crack the list.  Across a decade of sports games to choose from, I’m looking for games that stand out not just for an ending, but for a well fought contest for the entirety of the contest, and for three and a half quarters, Seattle was outright terrible in this game.  The comeback was impressive, but just like the exclusion of Baltimore/Denver seems to hinge on someone being awful at his job, this one is most memorable for a botched onside kick recovery.  A fun end to the game to be sure, but it still doesn’t really feel like the better team won.

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins 12/09/2018

I, just like you, don’t remember any part of this game, except the Miami Miracle on the last play, which is the only time in the past twenty years I can remember seeing the million lateral attempts play work in the NFL.  It can be summarized in three words: Gronk tackle LOLZ.

More on the way tomorrow.  

The Top Ten Games of the Decade

 

The Top Ten Games of the Decade

I decided to push one of these out at the end of 2010 and it became one of my most popular blogs ever.  I probably watched more sports this decade, and figured since it has been about five years since I’d last wrote about sports, I’d give it another try.

2020 was certainly a low mark for sports.  Neutered and reorganized seasons, empty stadiums removing a lot from the aesthetic, and seasons with breaks so large the playoffs feel like they’re a different season.  Now more than ever, it feels like a great time to look backwards and enjoy the nostalgia of sports past.  All sports may apply, and with the same disclaimer as last time, there is likely to be a bias to the sports I spend the most time watching (stop reading now if you want to see soccer).  First, let’s get to specific categories of games that didn’t make the cut. 

Supposedly great games I never saw.

Super Bowl LII: Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots

Yes, I opted out of this Super Bowl.  At the back half of the decade, I decided that I was watching too many sports and needed to have a healthier relationship with them.  Part of that decision was eliminating hate watching.  No more watching games that I only had an investment in for cheering against one team, without any real interest in the team I “cheered for.”  The end result?  I haven’t seen a Patriots game since 2016.  The result was as surprised by a sports alert I’ve ever been, the Nick Foles led Eagles coming away with a shootout win 41-33. 

2016 NCAA Men’s National Championship Game: Villanova Wildcats vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

An apparent classic, for which I had a prior commitment, causing me to avoid this viewing pleasure.  The last thirty seconds are as good as I’ve ever seen in a basketball game.  Sadly, I can’t attest to the greatness of the rest. 

2015 Divisional Series: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Texas Rangers Game 5

I didn’t get to watch this game, which took place during my workday, but it got a healthy dose of game tracking on my phone.  After starting the series down 2-0, Toronto pushed back to a decisive game 5 back at the Skydome.  They started game 5 the same way they started the series, with ice cold bats.  It seemed lost after only one run through 5 innings, and then the bats came to life.  In the bottom of the seventh, with two men on, Jose Bautista launched a bomb out of the park to gain a lead that the Jays never surrendered.  Even more memorable than the home run, is the bat flip that followed.  With anger and seeming disdain, Bautista tosses the bat in a way that seemed representative of the ferocious shedding of 20 years of Blue Jay suffering. 

2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament – Final Four: Virginia Cavaliers vs. Auburn Tigers

In transparency, I initially had this game at number six on my list.  I want it in my top ten, the end is in my top ten, but if I’m honest, I haven’t seen enough of it to put it in my top ten.  I had other sports priorities that day.  I watched the overtime period and final five minutes from a barstool at Sushi Confidential in San Jose, California, enjoying the two hour gap between a doubleheader between the AHL Barracuda and a nightcap of Sharks/Avalanche with a “healthy” Erik Karlsson finally retaking the ice to play the last regular season game and warm me up for a postseason we’ll hear more about later. 

We'll be back with a new category of honorable mentions tomorrow.