5 Of My Favorite Sports Moments

Every sports fan has them…the moment where their favorite team/athlete (or least favorite team/athlete) makes a play or is part of a game or an event that you remember and relive over and over again. I’ve had several sports moments that I look fondly upon – some include me as a participant. In no particular order, here are five sports-related events that have occurred in my lifetime that always give me that warm, fuzzy feeling:

Derek Fisher and The Shot: With 0.4 seconds left on the clock, Derek Fisher makes the impossible 3-point shot to push the Lakers to victory over the Spurs. I kept a picture of this at my lab bench in grad school as well as a shot of the very frustrated Manu Ginobli immediately afterward. When Fish left for Utah it was a sad day but was quickly forgotten when he came back. Derek Fisher will always be “The Man” as far as I’m concerned.

Phil Jackson Returns: When the whole Shaq-Kobe fiasco was boiling over we also lost Phil as the coach for a bit. It was a sad time indeed. I was fortunate to be at the pre-season game when Phil made his return as the head coach. It was Chick Hearn night and the Zen Master got a very long standing ovation.

Dodgers Return To Coliseum: Have you ever been in a place where there were over 100,000 people? It’s absolutely nuts! This was a truly breathtaking event as the pre-game and in game guest pitchers and presenters were various figures in Los Angeles sports and pop culture royalty. At the beginning, Vin Scully was given a plaque to forever hang inside the famed stadium. When his standing ovation lasted for what seemed an eternity he humbly said something to the effect of, “It’s only me”. The crowd roared even louder.

Opening Day 2008: A few days after the exceptional return to the Coliseum was the Dodgers' 50th anniversary in Los Angeles Opening Day of the regular season. We were waiting for the pre-game when the stadium went quiet. A lone gentleman walked out from center field…it was Duke Snyder! No words at all, just more players from the team’s past accompanied by a name on the scoreboard. We got to see the likes of Steve Garvey, Rick Monday, and Steve Sax. The crowd totally lost it for Fernando Valenzuela, Sandy Kofax, and Tommy Lasorda.

Grade School Athleticism: As corny as that sounds…I was always taller than everyone else in school except for maybe one of the boys. Needless to say, this was a bit awkward but sure came in handy for sports. During this time we had fitness tests at my local school and I received ribbon after ribbon for first place in track and field events. I was even able to play football with the boys for a bit. This was the time in my life that I was fortunate to be ahead of my peers and I really enjoyed it. I’m still athletic, just quite a bit older…and slower…and more injury prone…

There’s more…The Raiders win a Super Bowl in Los Angeles, the Dodgers win a World Series (with the famous Kirk Gibson run), the Lakers win the Championship …again…and again…and again…and again…the first time I caught a really sweet wave, when I learned how to do a double axel on roller skates and later in life on ice skates, when I first was able to drive a golf ball over 200 yards…I could go on and on and on…

What are some of your most delightful sports memories?