Sporting fan triumphs

[Slayer 0]

Probably won't be near as interesting as the painful sports memories threads though

 

It's your highest time as a sports fan... when did you get to see your sports team walk away in the end with their respective championship trophy?

 

And I personally only want to hear about teams of which you are a direct fan of, not when you rooted for another team because of other reasons, such as Yankee-haters cheering on Arizona in the '01 WS, or Bruins fans rooting for Colorado in '01 (not to hate on you Boston, I love you, really)

 

Mine:

 

MLB - Cincy, led by Jose Rijo and Chris Sabo, pulls off the major upset in the '90 WS.

 

NHL - Devils pull off major upset bits against favored Detroit in '95 and defending champ Dallas in '00 and barely escape upset bid by Anaheim this year

 

College Basketball - Glen Rice plays like a monster in the '89 tourney and leads Michigan to the Final Four title

 

College Football - Brian Griese and Charles Woodson lead Michigan to a share of the '97 national title (sparing the conspiracy theories about Nebraska not deserving their share)

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

The first thing that came to mind was the second Stanley Cup that the Pens were in. After trailing by several goals I went to bed. The next day I was talking to a kid at our bus stop and made a crack about how bad the Pens looked last night -- he told me they won.

 

I went "huh?"

 

Three games later the Pens had their second straight Cup...

[Ripper 0]

Lets put it like this.

 

I am a Suns fan in the NBA, a Bills fan in the NFL and a Braves fan in MLB.

 

So basically...I have had precious little to cheer about.

[starvenger 0]

MLB - 1992-1993, when the Jays won the World Series. One year later there was a strike and Toronto ceased to care about baseball.

 

NHL - oh, wait, the Leafs last won 6 years before I was born...

 

Olympics - double gold in hockey at the 2002 Winter Games. A very big deal in Canada, as you might imagine.

 

NBA - No major triumphs, but as a sporting event, Vince Carter in the slam dunk contest. They shoulda put the event back into the closet after that.

 

And while it's not direct, I cheered each and every time Buffalo lost the Super Bowl, and when the Sabres lost to the Stars (and a bad call).

[Slayer 0]

and a Braves fan in MLB

So you did get to see a championship win, right?

 

Let me ask this then, how do you think it would have been if the Braves won that WS and then dropped in the basement never to be heard of again? Would it have been seen as a triumphant closing to a team that finally won it after two failed tries? Would it have been better if it had stopped there than going on to two more WS and losing those?

 

Not to get on you, but it seems like Braves fans let everything that have happened since the WS win erase the memory that, yes, you did win a championship

[bob_barron 0]

I'm a Braves fan and I have NEVER forgotten about that late October day in 1995.

 

Best. day. ever.

 

I'll post more later

[alfdogg 0]

When the Pacers FINALLY overcame Stern's insane bias towards Ewing's Knicks and whooped some ass to get into the finals.

 

Of course, it would be all for naught against the Lakers, but we finally got there at least.

 

Also the Reds' sweep of the A's in the 1990 Series.

 

EDIT: spelling

Edited October 21, 2003 by alfdogg

[Guest FrigidSoul]

The Pats SB win

 

everything else in Boston sports happened when I was too young or not alive

[treble 0]

-The Jays winning the '92 and '93 World Series, even though I was kind of young and didn't appreciate it like I probably should have.

 

-Both the men's and women's hockey teams winning the hockey gold at the 2002 Olympics. The women in the face of some of the worst officiating ever seen.

 

-As for the Leafs, well, I guess them sweeping the Sens in '01 was nice, if only because NO ONE gave them any chance at all, as they played like shit for the last few months of the season, coupled with the fact that the Sens swept the season series from them.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

The Browns stuffing Atlanta on the goaline to go to 9-7 and after a few games stun the sports world by getting into the playoffs.

 

Tim Couch completing a hail mary to Kevin Johnson to get the new Browns their first win over the Saints.

 

The first Browns win over the Ravens.

[Ripper 0]

and a Braves fan in MLB

So you did get to see a championship win, right?

 

Let me ask this then, how do you think it would have been if the Braves won that WS and then dropped in the basement never to be heard of again? Would it have been seen as a triumphant closing to a team that finally won it after two failed tries? Would it have been better if it had stopped there than going on to two more WS and losing those?

 

Not to get on you, but it seems like Braves fans let everything that have happened since the WS win erase the memory that, yes, you did win a championship

Yeah, they won a champion ship, true. But 12 straight division titles and continually losing to lesser teams, that will knaw at you.

 

Don't get me wrong, I was happy when they won the series, and I am not close to the fake ass fair weather Braves fans (the ones that cheer them when they are winning and say "I knew they would blow it" when they lose), but bottomline, that was 8 years ago they won the championship, and there SHOULD have been at least one more since then.

[Slingshot Suplex 0]

Darren McCarty gliding past Janne Niinimma and Ron Hextall and scoring what proved to be the Wings 1997 Cup winning goal.

 

Along with that..getting to see Steve Yzerman hoist the Cup for the first time in his career.

 

And the next year when it was presented to Vladimir Konstantinov.

[bob_barron 0]

and a Braves fan in MLB

So you did get to see a championship win, right?

 

Let me ask this then, how do you think it would have been if the Braves won that WS and then dropped in the basement never to be heard of again? Would it have been seen as a triumphant closing to a team that finally won it after two failed tries? Would it have been better if it had stopped there than going on to two more WS and losing those?

 

Not to get on you, but it seems like Braves fans let everything that have happened since the WS win erase the memory that, yes, you did win a championship

Yeah, they won a champion ship, true. But 12 straight division titles and continually losing to lesser teams, that will knaw at you.

 

Don't get me wrong, I was happy when they won the series, and I am not close to the fake ass fair weather Braves fans (the ones that cheer them when they are winning and say "I knew they would blow it" when they lose), but bottomline, that was 8 years ago they won the championship, and there SHOULD have been at least one more since then.

Who cares? The Braves gave their fans one title- Good enough for me.

[Bored 0]

MLB:

 

-I guess I should say the A's winning it all in '89 but the earthquake took the the fun away from it and plus figured they'd win another next year. Whoops.

 

-A's winning the division on my birthday in 2000 and I was at the game. Just a brilliant performance by Tim Hudson as they won 3-0 over the Rangers. So great to see them as winners again when the franchise seemed doomed just a few years earlier.

 

NFL:

 

-Obvious ones are 49ers Super Bowl wins although only have memories of watching the last three and the last two everyone knew would be easy going in. Of course the finish to Super Bowl XXIII was great.

 

-'94 NFC Championship Game win over the Cowboys. That was the real Super Bowl that year and everyone knew and the 49ers had been bounced in the title game the previous two years. I cried I was so happy they finally beat them.

 

-'98 NFC Wild Card Game, the Terrell Owens touchdown catch with three seconds left. Again like the Cowboy win it was made extra special because they'd been dominated by the Packers in previous years in the playoffs and finally beat them.

 

-Random regular season ones: 30-27 come from behind win over the Rams in '89 on MNF where John Taylor had two 90+ yard touchdowns; Jerry Rice breaking Jim Brown's career touchdown record on MNF in '94 in a complete slaughter of the Raiders; '95 regular season blow out win of the Cowboys in Dallas. The 49ers went in only 6-5 after the Super Bowl win the previous year. Everyone was down on them and Steve Young was injured so Elvis Grbac started. They were 10+ point underdogs but they just went in there kicked the shit out of them 38-20 and it wasn't even that close.

 

College Basketball

 

-Stanford's come from behind in the last minute win over Rhode Island in '98 to advance to the Final Four for the first time in over 50 years. Point guard Arthur Lee had one of the most amazing minute's of basketball you will ever see.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

and a Braves fan in MLB

So you did get to see a championship win, right?

 

Let me ask this then, how do you think it would have been if the Braves won that WS and then dropped in the basement never to be heard of again? Would it have been seen as a triumphant closing to a team that finally won it after two failed tries? Would it have been better if it had stopped there than going on to two more WS and losing those?

 

Not to get on you, but it seems like Braves fans let everything that have happened since the WS win erase the memory that, yes, you did win a championship

Yeah, they won a champion ship, true. But 12 straight division titles and continually losing to lesser teams, that will knaw at you.

 

Don't get me wrong, I was happy when they won the series, and I am not close to the fake ass fair weather Braves fans (the ones that cheer them when they are winning and say "I knew they would blow it" when they lose), but bottomline, that was 8 years ago they won the championship, and there SHOULD have been at least one more since then.

As a Red Sox fan I'll take what your Braves have accomplished any day of the week

[Guest Joe_G]

Patriots superbowl win. It was just insane, with Bledsoe going down and Brady stepping in out of nowhere.

 

I remember towards the end of the season, for the Pats to get a first round bye, a whole laundry list of things had to happen, like Buffalo going into New York and beating the Jets, then the Jets turning around and beating the Raiders in LA the next week. And it all happened. I still remember watching the Buffalo/Jets game, and at the game's end Jets were driving with no timeouts, and seemed poised to score, until they inexplicably threw a pass to the middle of the field, Bills made the tackle, and time ran out.

 

Then the playoffs: the Snow game ('nuff said), AFC Championship at Pittsburgh (Drew's heroic comeback), and the Superbowl when no one gave them a chance.

 

I still have the newspaper from the next day (with Adam Vinateri jumping after making the game-winning kick) posted in my cubicle, and I always smile when I think about it.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Definitely the Super Bowl 2001 win, just neat

 

Great games including the AFC Championship and Superbowl itsself relying on Vin's kicks

 

NBA - Celtics making the playoffs and managing to get by the Pacers and making it to the Eastern Conference Finals

 

NHL - Ray Bourque finally winning the Stanley Cup with Colorado, just a cool moment for Bourque and we're glad to have him win it

 

MLB - Our sendoff to Clemens, sure we all hate him for going to the Yanks and handing the Sox their ass but we also respect the hell out of what he meant to the Red Sox and the great years he put in for us as fans

[the pinjockey 0]

Kevin Harvick wins Atlanta spring 2001, three races after Earnhardt's death.

 

As a fan of Flyers, Phillies, and Eagles for 22 years I haven't been provided much else.

 

And there is no excuse for a Braves fan complaining about being shortchanged in this thread.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

MLB - (Phillies fan) - ummm, 1993 was fun (up until Joe Carter).

 

NHL - (Flyers fan) - err.....

 

NBA - (76ers) - hmmmm, 2001 was fun, up until the Finals

 

NFL - (Dolphins fan) - beating the Bears in '85 was nice (would have *loved* to see a rematch in the SB that year), sprinkle in some playoff wins here & there. Marino was great, though.

[NYU 0]

Yeah, being that I'm pretty much only a NY Mets and NY Jets fan, I haven't had too much to celebrate when it comes to championships (didn't see the 86 World Series). But it was awesome in 2000 to watch the Mets win the NL championship....then of course, lose to the Yankees soon enough. The Mets winning the league would be my MLB highlight and as for the NFL.....well, I guess when the Jets got to the AFC Championship game.....then lost to the Broncos. Last year was pretty good too, with everything falling into place for the Jets in the last week of the season, opening up a playoff spot for them despite a 2-5 start.

 

But still dammit, no World Championships I've been able to witness for either team yet!

 

Let's see.....Mets fan.....Jets fan.....RVD fan.....god damn, I just can't make winning easy for myself, huh?

[razazteca 0]

Steve Kerr earning his championship rings winning the game late in the 4th quarter.

[Guest Bricks]

I actually was more happy when the Lakers beat the Blazers in Game 7 than they did when they won the actual NBA Championship in 2000. And even more happier when they beat the Kings in Game 7 than when they beat the Nets for the title.

 

It's probably because both times they were on the brink of elimination, but they pulled through at the end. That, and the Eastern Conference sucks.

[Ed Wood Caulfield 0]

MLB:

 

-The New York Yankees winning the World Series in 1996 for the first time since 1978 and returning to glory. They came back from 0-2 and it was great seeing the Yanks return to dominace.

 

-The Yankees World Series wins in 1998, 1999, and 2000 were great, but the one I love the most is their win in 2000 when they defeated the Mets in the World Series and settled the age old argument of who would win the World Series: The Mets or the Yankees? I got a kick out of seeing the Yanks beat the Mets in 5 games and winning the Championship in Shea Stadium none the less. Hell, that whole Subway Series was great for me and I'll never ever forget it. 2nd best week of my life. (The 1st being the week I went on vacation in Orlando, Florida back in 2002.)

 

-David Wells and David Cones' perfect games.

 

-Roger Clemens 300th win.

 

-The Yankees 125-14 season in 1998. Considered the BEST EVER by many.

 

-Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series. Yankees. Red Sox. 11th inning. Aaron Boone.

 

NBA:

 

-The New York Knicks making it to the 1994 NBA Finals.

 

-The New York Knicks defeating the Indiana Pacers in the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals to make it to the NBA Finals. I saw Game 6 in it's entirety and I was on my feet for the entire game. I was never more excited for a NBA game then I was for that game. Great times, man, great times.

 

-The New Jersey Nets making it to the 2002 and 2003 NBA Finals.

 

Hmmm. That's it.

[the max 0]

NHL-

 

Bourque getting the Cup. One of the greatest stories and playoff runs that I can remember. One of my favorite players, and the player that I idolized when I played.

 

Even though it ended in heartbreak, Ottawa's run in 2002-3. Showed that they were improving and maturing.

 

MLB-

 

(red sox fan)...

 

...

 

no comment

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

MLB - 1992-1993 WS. In both cases I though the Jays were going to blow it. 1993 was more memorable simply because it came out of nowhere. When Carter hit that homerun off of Wild Thing, I was estatic. I don't think anything I ever see in sports will compare to that again.

 

NFL - Super Bowl XXXI. Reggie White gets his Super Bowl. After the disaster of a year before with bad officiating determining pretty much every game of the playoffs (the 1996 NFC Championship remains one of my most painful sports memories) we get Green Bay's first/only championship since the merger. It was also the first Super Bowl since 1991 that didn't suck too.

 

NHL - 1993 Western Conference Finals. If you didn't know it, I fucking hate the Leafs. I was worried here, but the Kings pulled it out.

 

NBA - Nothing but bad memories here. I was a Jazz fan for years before the Raptors came into the league. Had Toronto won that series against Philly a few years back, I would have said that, but unfortunately they couldn't come through.

[DerangedHermit 0]

MLB - 2000 Mets up until the Yanks won. 2001 Mets until Franco and Benitez started choking on it. The Grand "single" in the 1999 NLCS. Al Leiter's awesome game vs. the Reds in the 1 game playoff and Bobby Jones' great game vs. the Giants in the NLDS.

 

NHL - 1994 season. Nuff said.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

The Browns stuffing Atlanta on the goaline to go to 9-7 and after a few games stun the sports world by getting into the playoffs.

 

Tim Couch completing a hail mary to Kevin Johnson to get the new Browns their first win over the Saints.

 

The first Browns win over the Ravens.

(Applauds) Good stuff indeed.

 

However, my favorite Browns moment came in the 1989 Div Playoffs when Cleveland was to host the AFC East Champions Buffalo Bills. Surprisingly, it wasn't THAT cold, but the turf was terrible (it was mostly painted dirt).

 

It was an epic game with two evenly matched teams.

 

Buffalo struck first in the 1st quarter with a Kelly 72yd TD pass to Andre Reed. Cleveland answered with a FG. 7-3 Buf at the end of the first.

 

In the second quarter, Kosar threw a 53yd TD pass to Webster Slaughter to give Cleveland their first lead at 10-7. Jim Kelly wouldn't take that lying down, as he had to scatter from the pass rush to throw a long TD pass (50ish yds) to James Lofton who beat Felix Wright to get in the end zone. 14-10 Bills. Kosar and RB Kevin Mack willed their way down the field late in the half. A short lob into the endzone by Kosar ended up in the hands of TE Ron Middleton. 17-14 Browns. The Bills had one more shot to score before the half when a potentially tragic play occured . . .

 

Jim Kelly took the snap and threw the ball to Don Beebe at midfield. The pass was high, so Bebee jumped straight up to catch the ball. However, while he was in midair, Cleveland's Felix Wright came up from behind and flipped him backwards. Bebee fell onto the turf directly on the top of his head and partially on his hand, pogo'ing himself and causing the ball to fly up in the air. Wright picked off the ball before it ever hit the ground while Bebee was down. Thanks to the good conditioning of Bebee and the relatively soft turf of Cleveland Stadium, Bebee walked away mere minutes after the hit to a nice ovation. Bebee would even return to the game. Somehow, the play was ruled incomplete. I never understood that. Unbelievable visual though!

 

The Bills would lose the ball on downs and the score would remain Cleveland 17 - Buffalo 14 at the half.

 

Cleveland struck first in the 2nd half when a Mark Harper INT set up another long TD pass from Kosar to Slaughter to extend the Cleveland lead to 24-14. Buffalo came back with a 6yd TD pass from Kelly to Thurman Thomas to bring the Bills within 3 at 24-21. The tide would turn once again on the ensuing kickoff when rookie Eric Metcalf took the kick 90 yards for a TD after barely being touched to make it a 10 point game at 31-21. However, with Thurman Thomas at 111 total yards for the game so far, his dominance of Cleveland's defense was about to continue.

 

The 4th quarter saw Norwood eek an early 30 yd FG into the uprights to make it 31-24. Cleveland running backs Kevin Mack and Barry Redden pounded the ball on their ensuing drive to eat up six minutes and result in a 2nd Cleveland FG to keep Buffalo at bay 34-24. With under six minutes left in the game, Cleveland was done scoring. It was up to the defense to hold the marginally comfortable lead.

 

With each easy pass Kelly would complete to Thomas, Cleveland head coach Bud Carson grew increasingly frusturated topping off by throwing his headset off for the rest of the game. With 4 minutes left in the game, Thomas caught another TD pass to bring Buffalo w/in 4 points. However, as stated earlier, the Cleveland turf was a bitch! Norwood found that out when he slipped a bit and missed the XP which would keep them trailing by 4. Now, Buffalo needs a TD to win and OT was not an option!

 

After a 3 and out by Cleveland, the Billies got the ball back with just 2:41 left to go from their own 25yd line. The fans at the Stadium could see visions of The Drive as Kelly took control of his team. Buffalo converted on a 4th and 10 and a 4th and 1 to eventually find their way to the 12yd line with :14 left. The Bills had two shots to get in the endzone.

 

The first came when Kelly found an open Ronnie Harmon in the corner of the endzone, BUT as quickly as the ball went into Harmon's hands, it jumped right back out and hit the turf.

 

:09 to go and no TOs for Buffalo. Kelly knew to win this game, he's GOT to get that ball to Thurman Thomas who had 177 total yards and 2 TDs for a victory. Kelly took the snap, went back and fired it to Thomas at the goal line . . . . . . . . BUT LB Clay Matthews stepped in front of the pass to INT it at the 1 to send Clevelanders home happy!!! The announcers didn't even try to talk over the celebration. Kosar took the final snap, drove forward, and with that, Cleveland escaped with a 34-30 victory and earned the chance to go the AFC Championship Game.

 

Sure, they were murdered by Denver the next week, but for that one January afternoon, it was Cleveland's day in the sun. And may I say, I am one happy camper I still have this game on tape.

Edited October 22, 2003 by MillenniumMan831

[Gert T 0]

I'm a Braves fan and I have NEVER forgotten about that late October day in 1995.

 

Best. day. ever.

Hogan-Giant & monster trucks was pretty unforgetable.

 

Sadly my favorite Bengals moment was in 2001. The Bengals were 1-0 after beating the Patriots and after taking the week off for 9/11 the Bengals hosted the Super Bowl Champs Ravens. The Bengals went to 2-0 and I've never seen a crowd atmosphere quite like that the whole day.

 

Honorable mention to the game this past Sunday. For the non-sellout crowd that was there, we were shocked to see the Bengals put up 34, and the crowd went NUTS on Chad Johnson's TD catch.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Add in the "Music City Miracle" (Bills misery = happy me), as well as FSU's "Wide Right" 1, 2, & 3, and "Wide Left" last year

[Guest Bobby Cox is God]

MLB- Game 7 1992 NLCS.....the comeback aganist the Cardinals in 1996 after being down 3-1....and of course, Game 6 of the 1995 WS.

 

NFL- 1998 NFC championship game