ESPN's Top 100 Moments of past 25 years

[cabbageboy 0]

Ugh, I have the horrible feeling that Laettner is going to be top 5 on the list.

 

The sad thing is that Sean Woods made a shot more incredible than Laettner's right before it, but due to the Laettner shot few outside of Kentucky remember it.

[Brett Favre 0]

Sort of like the Fisher 0.4. Duncan made an amazing shot over Shaq.

[Bored 0]

Okay we're already 0 for 1 trying to guess the Top 20.

 

#20: Nicklaus birdies 17, wins Masters at 46

Rick Weinberg

Special to ESPN.com

 

The legend was in the midst of playing the worst golf of his entire career. He was 46 years old in 1986. His body ached. His swing was way off. So was his chipping and putting.

 

The whispers were turning into screams. Everyone thought the legend's career was over, that he should retire with some semblance of dignity, that he'd never win another tournament.

 

They were saying Jack Nicklaus was too busy designing golf courses instead of playing them. Besides, he had already made his mark on the game, with a record 17 Major championships.

 

But he hadn't won a tournament in six years -- since August, 1980, when he captured the PGA Championship. He had missed the cut in three tournaments and was 160th on the money list.

 

As the 1986 Masters approached, a journalist wrote that Nicklaus was finished and shouldn't even show up for the tournament. The article was taped to the refrigerator of the house that Nicklaus rented for his family and friends for the week.

 

In Thursday's opening round, Nicklaus shot a 2-over 74, leaving him aix shots off the lead. He scored a 71 on Friday, still leaving him six shots behind the second-round leader, Seve Ballesteros. On Saturday, Nicklaus shot 69 -- and now he was only four shots behind the new leader, Greg Norman. One round remained.

 

THE MOMENT

It's Sunday morning when Nicklaus receives a phone call from his second-oldest son, 23-year-old Steve, who says, ''So dad, what do you think you need to shoot today to win?" Nicklaus replies, "Probably 65." To which Steve quickly replies, "That's what I had in mind too. So go out shoot it!"

 

Nicklaus struggles on the greens early on, missing putts of 20, 18, 5, 22 and 10 feet. By the time he reaches the ninth green, his frustration is off the charts. He is now five shots behind the leaders with just 10 holes to play. "If I'm going to do anything, I better start doing it now," Nicklaus says to his caddie, son Jack Jr.

 

At No. 9, Nicklaus hits a wedge into the steep green, leaving him 11 feet shy of a birdie putt. He glances at Jack Jr., his caddie, looking for advice. "Looks like the left edge," Jack Jr. says. Jack Sr. looks at the shot, pauses, looks at his son, and says, "How about one inch out on the right." They both smile at one another. Nicklaus then plays the shot to the top of the cup. The ball drops right in the hole. "That got me started," Nicklaus would say later to the media. "I got loose ... because we were having fun.''

 

Nicklaus catches a break on No. 10, when his drive hits a spectator and bounces into the fairway. He birdies the hole and then sinks a second straight 25-footer for another birdie on No. 11 as the crowd goes wild. Nicklaus bogeys No. 12. "After that, I knew I had to be aggressive the rest of the way, and I was so pumped up that I was taking one club less that I normally would," he would later tell the press.

 

Turning Augusta National into his own personal theater, Nicklaus birdies No. 13 and then pars No. 14, starting a ruckus that results in grown men climbing trees, children riding on the shoulders of adults, and concession-stand operators abandoning their posts, all to see a bit of history.

 

On the 500-yard 15, Nicklaus nails his drive and hits a 4-iron second shot 200 yards over the water. The ball lands 12 feet from the hole, leaving Nicklaus to stare at an eagle putt. Coincidentally, this is the same exact putt Nicklaus misread in the 1975 Masters. "It's not what it looks like," he says, turning to Jack Jr. He then rolls the ball right into the heart of the cup, putting him 7-under and within a shot of the lead held by Ballesteros and Kite.

 

On the par-3 16th, Nicklaus' shot just misses holing out and stops three feet away. The crowd explodes once again, and as Nicklaus Sr. and Jr. walk up the fairway together, tears begin to form in Nicklaus' eyes. But he quickly shakes himself. "Hey, stop being so emotional," he says to himself. "You've still got some golf to play.'"

 

On the 16th green, Nicklaus gazes at a short putt for birdie. "You'll get this ... Just keep your head still," Jr. tells dad. Nicklaus sinks the putt for a birdie 2. The crowd roars again.

 

Nicklaus is tied as he stands on the tee of the 400-yard par-4, which has a difficult pin placement near a crown in the green. After an errant tee shot, facing a tough wedge shot of 125 yards under a tree limb and up to a raised green, Nicklaus executes like the Nicklaus of old. He somehow gets the ball out and up and it stops within 11 feet left of the pin -- and the lead.

 

"This putt is impossible to read," Nicklaus tells Jack Jr. He stares at a birdie putt that will put him atop the board. He surveys ... sets himself ... keeps his head on the ball ... taps the ball ... it wriggles left .. then goes right ... and then falls right into the heart of the cup.

 

The crowd bursts as they're given one of most memorable trips ever down memory lane. "This may be as fine a round of golf as I ever played, particularly those last 10 holes," Nicklaus would say to the media. "I'm not as good as I was 15 years ago. Just occasionally I want to be as good as I once was, and I was that today."

 

With a one-shot lead, Nicklaus two-putts from 40 feet for par on 18th. As the ball disappears into the cup, Nicklaus raises his arms, then walks over to give Jackie a big, emotional hug. They walk off the green embracing, the father burying his head in his oldest son's shoulder, savoring the moment and his 7-under-par 65, which includes a record back nine 30, and 9-under-par total of 279. Over the final 10 holes, Nicklaus posts six birdies and an eagle, shoots seven strokes under par, and finishes with a flourish -- eagle-birdie-birdie-par.

 

But victory is still in doubt. Nicklaus returns to the cabin to watch Kite and Norman. Kite misses a 10-foot birdie putt and finishes one shot back. Norman reaches 18, riding a string of four straight birdies and a chance to force a playoff with par. But when Norman's approach shot flies into the crowd, and he iwinds up with a bogey, Nicklaus is crowned king, becoming the oldest player to win the Masters, turning the sacred tournament into the most memorable one ever.

 

"Unforgettable," Nicklaus would say, his eyes moistening, shaking his head. Unforgettable.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Damn. We clearly should have guessed that.

[Guest Jar_of_Dirt]

 

Other than probably "Henderson has scored for Canada!!!!" by the late great Foster Hewitt, "Maybe......YES SIR!!!" is probably my favourite sports call of all time.

[Red Baron 0]

I think that's nearly any Canadian favourite moment in sports history, next to the 2002 Double Gold, 87 Canada Cup, Carter's Home run (placed 43....idiots.) and Bailey's 100m record at 96 games.

 

Hey, has Maurice Green record been mentioned yet?

[Bored 0]

I can't believe I forgot it but the Stanford band play from the 1982 Stanford/Cal game obviously will be there.

 

Edit: Another one we forgot...Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig's consective game record.

 

Okay here the 17 likely locks we've put together, again in no particular order:

 

-Miracle on Ice

-Bill Buckner play

-"The Catch"

-Doug Flutie's hail mary

-Kirk Gibson's homerun

-Vinatari's winning field goal against the Rams

-N.C. State's upset of Houston, 1983 NCAA final (dunk to win)

-Laettner's winning shot vs. Kentucky

-McGwire breaking homerun record

-Bonds breaking homerun record

-Francisco Cabrera's game winning hit, '92 NLCS

-Magic Johnson announcing he's HIV positive

-O.J. chase and/or verdict

-Bills 32 point comeback against the Oilers

-Greg Norman's '96 Masters collapse

-Stanford band play

-Ripken breaking Gehrig's record

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The 1994 Strike and WS Cancellation has to be on there.

[Bored 0]

You'd think so but then two moments just popped in my head that there is no way at all they won't be on the list:

 

-Mike Tyson convicted of rape

-Pete Rose banned from baseball

 

Now I don't know how the '94 strike can't be on the list so something in the other 17 can't be on there. Maybe Norman's collapse or Cabrera's hit although both belong somewhere on the list. Anyways no surprise something major is going to get snubbed. The only argument against the '94 strike would be since again they are focusing on singular moments so maybe there wasn't a singular moment that stood out. I would think the day the strike happened and the events it kicked off would stand out.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Looking over the list, I doubt they'll include Cabrera's hit. There's no justification for putting it so much higher than Carter's HR. I'll also say I doubt Greg Norman's Masters Collapse will make the cut.

[Bored 0]

#19: Adam Vinatieri's kick wins Super Bowl for Patriots

Special to ESPN.com

 

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, after completing his fifth pass on a last-minute drive in Super Bowl XXXVI, spikes the ball, setting the stage for the final play of regulation. The Patriots and St. Louis Rams are tied 17-17, as Adam Vinatieri races onto the Superdome field to attempt a 48-yard field. The clock reads 0:06.

 

THE MOMENT

New Orleans, February 3, 2002. The Patriots are cruising toward a lopsided upset of the 14-point favorite Rams, having built a 17-3 lead heading into the final quarter. With the Rams on the threshold of a touchdown at the Patriots' 9, St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner scrambles to his right, but is met by a crushing hit from linebacker Roman Phifer.

 

The ball pops loose. Patriots safety Tebucky Jones picks it up at the 3, and as he bolts toward the other end zone 97 yards away, Patriots fans realize the Super Bowl title will be theirs.

 

But before Jones' celebration is complete, the little yellow flag at the other end of the field proves once again that nothing comes easy for New England sports fan. It's always something. Jones' TD is called back because of holding against linebacker Willie McGinest.

 

With the ball back in Warner's hands, he dashes into the end zone to make it 17-10. With 1:30 left in the game, the Patriots' defense is still protecting a slim lead, but Warner orchestrates a magnificent drive that ends with a 26-yard TD pass to Ricky Proehl with 1:30 left, and suddenly the game is tied at 17. A sure win was suddenly a tie game.

 

Coach Bill Belichick contemplates running the clock out and regrouping for overtime, but he turns to assistant Charlie Weis and says, "Let's do it." Weis then turns to Brady, the daring and unflappable quarterback, and gives him a nod. Brady races back onto the field, like a young, wild colt.

 

Starting from his own 17, with 1:21 showing on the clock, Brady goes to work, throwing completions of 5, 8 and 11 yards to scatback J.R. Redmond, who drags a Ram past the first-down marker on the third pass play then cleverly sneaks out of bounds at the New England 41.

 

After avoiding a blitz by throwing away a first-down pass, Brady finds Troy Brown in a seam underneath the zone for a huge 23-yard gain to the St. Louis 36, then completes a 6-yarder to tight end Jermaine Wiggins. He then spikes the ball and hands the baton to Vinatieri, who charges onto the field, determination and fiery resolve in is eyes, heart and leg, 48 yards away from giving the Patriots their first Super Bowl championship.

 

The first thought on everyone's mind is Scott Norwood, the guy who missed a 47-yard last-second field goal that would have given the Bills a victory over the Giants in Super Bowl XXV, the guy who gave new meaning to the phrase "wide right."

 

But the look in Vinatieri's eyes confirm that this game is over, that there's no way this man with the unbreakable confidence is going to miss, that there's no way he's going to join New England's Hall of Shame.

 

As the snap is made, cameras flash throughout the stadium. Vinatieri quickly moves toward the ball, swings his leg, and connects perfectly and cleanly. His arms immediately go up. He knows it's over, that he had won the Super Bowl. Bedlam erupts throughout different pockets of America, 42 years of Patriots frustration gone.

[Vern Gagne 0]

The Boston College/Miami Hail Mary is so overrated. Michigan/Colorado and LSU/Kentucky are better.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

I can't believe that field goal is ahead of Tennessee coming 1 yard short. It's so dman overrated.

[Guest Smues]

I can't believe that field goal is ahead of Tennessee coming 1 yard short. It's so dman overrated.

Amen

[Bored 0]

#18: Cal's five-lateral kickoff return shocks Stanford

Rick Weinberg

Special to ESPN.com

 

Every November, as "The Game" nears, the conversation, debate, arguments and banter grow minute by minute, day by day. There is laughter. There are fights. There are warm memories. And bitter ones.

 

The world of sports has seen the weird, the bizarre, the odd, the comical and the shocking. But what transpired at Memorial Stadium in 1982 at the Stanford-Cal college football showdown stands out in a class all its own.

 

When Stanford University quarterback John Elway connected with receiver Emile Harry on a 29-yard pass on 4th-and-17 from his own 13-yard line with 53 seconds left to set up Mark Harmon's 35-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to give Stanford a 20-19 lead, all the Cardinal had to do was survive the kickoff to win another thrilling episode in this bitter rivalry.

 

THE MOMENT

It's November 20, 1982, Memorial Stadium, University of California-Berkeley campus.

 

Cal senior tight end Kevin Moen is so irate over Harmon's apparent game-winning field goal that he isn't even in the huddle before the kickoff. So he misses teammate Richard Rodgers' plea to his teammates "to keep pitching the ball back and forth, to keep the play alive ... no matter what."

 

Stanford coach Paul Wiggin instructs Harmon to execute a short squib kick. Moen, meanwhile, rushes onto the field, just making it in time to get in position for the kickoff. Rodgers yells instructions over to Moen to "keep the play alive ..."

 

Harmon's short squib kick bounces and rolls to the Cal 43-yard line, where Moen fields it. He immediately looks toward the sideline, to Rodgers, an agile defensive back. Moen throws an overhand pass -- Lateral Number 1 -- to Rodgers, who begins to weave and jut his way upfield, in and around Stanford defenders. He stops and ...

 

... pitches the ball to freshman running back Dwight Garner for Lateral Number 2. Garner quickly cuts to his left, toward Cal's sideline. As he approaches midfield, four Stanford players are heading right at him from two directions, straight on and from the left.

 

Just as Garner is about to get hammered, he turns his body away from the defenders and away from the nearest officials. He begins falling toward the turf. His right knee appears to skim the grass, replays later reveal. Official Jack Langley is positioned near Cal's sideline, a few feet from Garner, but does not blow his whistle. His view is blocked by several Stanford players. As he reaches for his whistle, to possibly call the play dead ...

 

... the ball comes flying out from the pile of players surrounding Garner for Lateral Number 3, as Garner somehow twists backward to get rid of the ball at the last possible moment, tossing it to Rodgers.

 

"I didn't see Garner get tackled, and I didn't see his knee hit the ground," Langley would say, years later. "All I saw was the ball come flying out."

 

With the play still miraculously alive, Rodgers circles back toward the middle of the field, where he alludes several Stanford players. He runs past midfield, and heads toward a wide-open field on the right side. Meanwhile, Mariet Ford, Cal's diminutive and agile wide receiver, runs along Rodgers' outside shoulder, just a few yards away, and ...

 

... Rodgers tosses Lateral Number 4 at the Stanford 45-yard line to Ford, who breaks into the open field and speeds toward the end zone. The crowd is in a wild frenzy as Ford races 17 yards past and around Stanford players, all the way to down to the 28, with Moen trailing right behind. As a pair of Stanford players closes in on Ford he jumps and crashes into them and ...

 

... flings the ball blindly over his right shoulder at the 27-yard line for Lateral Number 5, the most remarkable of all the laterals, but one Stanford fans are convinced is an illegal forward pass. The ball hangs magically in the air for a moment, the football gods toying with the outcome. The ball then drops neatly into the hands of Moen, who had initially set the whole wild and chaotic play in motion.

 

"I don't know how I knew Kevin was there, I just knew he was there," Ford would say later. "My goal was to take out the Stanford guys in front of me and hope my pitch stayed in the air long enough for Kevin."

 

As Moen pulls the ball in at the Cal 25-yard line, he see that the Stanford band is beginning to flood the field, thinking the game is over and that Stanford has won. But Moen says to himself, "Just put your head down and go to the end zone."

 

Moen, who had never scored a touchdown in four seasons, dodges several Stanford band members at the 5 then rams his way into the end zone, where he jubilantly leaps into the air, holds on to the ball tightly. He then crashes into Stanford trombone player Gary Tyrrell, knocking him to the ground.

 

No one on the Cal side of the field, no one on the Stanford side, actually knows if the final score is 20-19 Stanford or 25-20 Cal. The stadium falls silent as the referees huddle on the far sideline. Did Garner's knee touch the ground? They're not sure. Was Ford's behind-the-shoulder, no-look fling to Moen an illegal forward pass? They don't know.

 

A scruffy Cal fan maneuvers his way past security and to the edge of the referees' huddle; it is this unknown fan who first emerges from the crowd and throws his hands skyward, indicating that the wild play is being ruled a touchdown.

 

As referee raises his arms, indicating a touchdown and a 25-20 Bears victory, Cal radio announcer Joe Starkey gasps and blares one final exultation: "The Bears have won! Oh my God! The most amazing, sensational, dramatic, heart-rending, exciting, thrilling finish in the history of college football!"

[The Czech Republic 0]

The importance of this field goal, or any field goal, befuddles me. How this beats The Longest Yard is beyond all logic. But hey I'm glad we're giving so much love and attention to Boston's D-Team.

[Bored 0]

#17: Laettner's buzzer-beater sinks Kentucky

Rick Weinberg

Special to ESPN.com

 

Every once in a while, they pop in the video tape, just to see it again, just to make sure it actually happened, that it wasn't a dream, as it was to the victors, or a nightmare, as it was to the victims. Every once in a while, the urge becomes too overpowering, too overwhelming. They must see it, they have to see to, they have to relive the moment.

 

THE MOMENT

March 28, 1992. Philadelphia Spectrum, NCAA East Regional Finals. Duke vs. Kentucky, two universities encrusted with rich basketball tradition, battling for a chance to go to the Final Four. Mike Krzyzewski vs. Rick Pitino. Defending NCAA champion Duke vs. a proud Kentucky team having returned to power after the embarrassment of NCAA probation just three years earlier.

 

In the second half, Kentucky stages a furious rally from 12 points down to tie the game with 33.6 seconds left, and when Duke's Bobby Hurley misses at the buzzer, the game goes into overtime.

 

During the final 31.5 seconds of overtime, the ball changes hands five times, with each possession resulting in a lead change. The final half minute drips of everything that is great about competition. With the score deadlocked at 98, Duke's Christian Laettner receives the ball in the post with the shot clocking winding down. As he spins around, Kentucky's Jamal Mashburn knocks the ball loose, but Laettner regains control of the ball and flings a low line drive that deflects off the backboard and drops into the basket.

 

"A miraculous shot," Krzyzewski would say afterwards. Pitino, realizing Laettner has not missed a shot the entire evening, turns to his assistants and says, "That sucker's never going to miss."

 

Mashburn then slips in along the baseline for a layup and is fouled. He sinks the free throw that pushes Kentucky back into the lead, 101-100. "I thought that was it, that'd we won," Mashburn says.

 

At the other end, Duke gets the ball inside again to Laettner, who's fouled by Mashburn, Kentucky's star, who is now fouled out. Laettner sinks both free throws, giving the lead back to Duke, 102-101, with 7.8 seconds left.

 

Pitino calls time out and sets up a play for Sean Woods to drive to the hole and kick the ball out to the wing if Duke collapses in on him. As Duke breaks its huddle, the ever-alert Hurley reminds his teammates to call time if Kentucky scores. "I couldn't believe it. I forgot to remind the guys of that," Krzyzewski would admit later.

 

Woods takes the inbounds pass, freezes Hurley with a head fake, accelerates to the hoop and flips up an ugly one-handed push shot that has just enough of an arc to clear the outstretched arm of Laettner, who had raced to the middle of the lane to help. The ball glances off the backboard and falls through the hoop, giving the 'Cats a 103-102 lead. Duke immediately calls timeout. The clock shows 2.1 seconds.

 

As Duke's players walk toward their bench, Krzyzewski immediately says, "We're gonna win." He reminds his team that the clock won't start until the ball is touched inbounds, that a pass could travel 70, 80, even 90 feet without the clock moving. Krzyzewski devises the play: Grant Hill to throw the ball in, three-quarters of the way upcourt, to Laettner, who would station himself on the foul line.

 

Meanwhile, in the Kentucky huddle, Pitino and his staff debate whether they should put a defender on the inbounds passer. Six years earlier, when Pitino was head coach at Providence, he failed to defend an inbounds pass, lost the game, and vowed to never again fail to put a man on the ball.

 

However, against Duke, it is a different set of circumstances: the 6-8 Mashburn, Pitino's first choice to defend the inbounds pass, had fouled out. So had 6-8 Gimel Martinez. Kentucky's two tallest players -- 6-9 Aminu Timberlake and Andre Riddick -- are freshmen and not experienced enough for Pitino. The only options left are 6-7 Deron Feldhaus and 6-7 John Pelphrey, but Pitino knows that if he puts Pelphrey or Feldhaus on the ball, the other has to play the 6-11 Laettner one-on-one, and he fears Laettner catching the pass and simply bulling his way to the basket. So Pitino decides to put Feldhaus on Laettner, have Pelphrey play center field and hope he deflects the pass.

 

As Hill walks to the baseline and and sees that his pass won't be defended and his view downcourt will not be obstructed, he breathes a sigh of relief. The teams line up. The soldout crowd stands, as one. Hill unleashes a pass downcourt. While the ball spins in the air, Laettner turns and races to the free-throw line, beating Feldhaus, who steps in behind Laettner, conscience not to get too close, fearing a foul. Pelphrey watches the flight of the ball, and sees it heading right to him. He envisions catching the ball and heaving it upwards to the heavens. "There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I was going to catch it," he would say later. "I could almost smell the leather."

 

The ball somehow eludes Pelphrey's fingers and hands and lands iin the hands of Laettner, who turns, takes one dribble, fakes right to create some distance from Feldhaus, spins left, rises and shoots a majestic fallaway. Feldhaus rises with Laettner, but for fear of fouling, he is too far away to come close to touching the shot.

 

"Everything was in slow motion, like one of those classic scenes from 'Hoosiers' and 'The Natural,'" Hill would say afterwards. The eyes of the basketball world intently watch as the ball descends ... swish. Ballgame.

 

As an overjoyed Laettner hoists his arms in the air and races toward midcourt, wide-eyed and hysterical, absolute disbelief, joy and horror engulfs the arena all at once. Pandemonium ensues as one side of the arena celebrates while the other collapses on the floor in dismay as it attempts to comprehend what has just transpired. Tears flow. Tears of joy, tears of pain.

[Alro 0]

And there it is.

 

Even though it was the most heartbreaking moment in UK basketball history, it did produce one of the best sports headlines ever... Fundamental Christian Crucifies Kentucky. It also produced two of the most hated people in Lexington, Coach K and Laettner. The only person hated more is Eddie Sutton.

 

1998 helped UK fans get over 1992. Then there were those two regular season losses. UK could beat Duke by 50 points 100 times in a row and we still won't get over '92.

 

Despite the outcome, damn if that wasn't one of, if not the greatest basketball game to ever be played.

[therealworldschampion 0]

I can just see Dick Vitale complaining that Laettner's shot isn't in the top 5.

[Bored 0]

#16: Bonds hits No. 71 to set single-season HR record

Rick Weinberg

Special to ESPN.com

 

Nobody would pitch to him. Nobody wanted to pitch to him. They knew what would happen.

 

Just look at what happened in Houston, where Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants were playing the Astros. The Giants led 8-1 in the third game of the season's next-to-the-last-series when Bonds, with 69 home runs, came to the plate. And that's when Astros manager Larry Dierker gave the signal that everyone dreaded. The four fingers. An intentional walk.

 

The move enraged fans and even the players. Bonds was one home run away from tying Mark McGwire's single-season record of 70, set three years before. But the Astros refused to challenge him. Bonds was walked intentionally eight times in his first 14 plate appearances. And when Dierker flashed those four fingers while trailing by seven runs, everyone had seen enough.

 

"A disgrace," Giants first baseman J.T. Snow would say. "Challenge him. Be men." But, in the ninth inning of that game, with San Francisco now leading 9-2, rookie left-hander Wilfredo Rodriguez finally challenged Bonds with a 93-mph fastball. Bonds pounded it. As the ball exploded off his bat and sailed deep into orbit, he tossed away his piece of black maple timber, raised both arms to the heavens and set off on his slow trot around the bases for the 70th time, tying McGwire's mark.

 

The Giants then flew to San Francisco, to wrap up the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and to see if Bonds could become baseball's all-time single-season home run king.

 

THE MOMENT

Pac Bell Park is electric on Friday night, October 5, 2001. Not only is Bonds going for the record, but the Giants are still alive for a division title. There is that great buzz around the ballpark, that distinctive buzz prevalent in October, when the game reaches a new level of meaning.

 

That buzz bursts, however, as the Dodgers score five runs in the top of the first inning. When Bonds walks to the plate in the bottom of the first to face Chan Ho Park, Pac Bell is eerily subdued. The score has everything to do with the tempered emotions. Up 5-0, Dodgers manager Jim Tracy isn't going to pull a Dierker and throw up four fingers. Park will challenge Bonds. Go right after him.

 

Park unleashes his first pitch, a ball, down and away. The next pitch is over the plate, a little in, and Bonds whips his black maple weapon with dizzying speed and connects. The crowd rises. This is a no-doubt-about it jack, a 445-foot bomb. The fans look toward the right-field bleachers in awe. Bonds throws his bat aside and sprints around the bases as the new all-time home run king.

 

It's a surreal, electric moment as Bonds rounds third for the 71st time, and is greeted at home plate by his 11-year-old son, Nikolai, and a crowd of teammates. He hoists his son into the air and points skyward.

 

Banners proclaiming Bonds' 71st home run are unfurled on the light posts above center field. Fireworks go off over the boats gathered in McCovey Cove. Beneath the roar from those in the stands, the sound of horns emanate from the cove beyond right field. It's a lovefest, a celebration of a uniquely talented player in an unprecedented zone.

 

After touching home plate, Bonds maneuvers his way through the crowd of bodies and moves toward the seats behind home plate to kiss his wife and mother. Bonds takes a curtain call, blowing kisses to the fans.

 

Bonds surpasses McGwire's record during a very difficult time in his life. He is mourning the death of a close friend, Franklin Bradley, who had passed away just a few days earlier from complications during abdominal surgery. Bonds is also under more pressure than any Giant, saddled with the responsibility of carrying the club to the playoffs. At the same time, he's trying to surpass baseball's home-run record while looking at one or two hittable pitches per game. On top of that, he is also dealing with a swarm of media, 350 strong.

 

As Bonds emerges from the dugout in the third inning for his second at-bat against Park, the crowd rises as one and loudly applauds the new home run king. By now, the Giants trail, 8-4. Park delivers a 1-1 pitch, Bonds swings and boom -- there it goes again, amazingly, outrageously. The crowds erupts as Bonds' laser launch disappears over the center-field wall. He jubilantly rounds the bases in a scene that mirrors the one that took place just two innings before.

 

The Giants lose a heartbreaker, 11-10, in the longest nine-inning affair in history, four hours and 27 minutes, and are eliminated from the title race. Bonds sits on the dugout steps, staring into space, his eyes moist, his shoulders slumped. He has the home run record. He also experiences another World Series-less season. He bows his head. And he cries.

[Bored 0]

#15: N.C. State dunks Houston in NCAA final

Rick Weinberg

Special to ESPN.com

 

The 1983 Houston Cougars were perhaps the most electrifying team in college basketball history, taking exhilaration to a new level. Clyde Drexler, Akeem Olajuwon and Co. run the floor like race cars and dunk with such frightening authority and spectacular awe that they were known as Phi Slamma Jamma..

 

They crush opponents by an average of 18 points per game with a barrage of thunderous dunks that make heads spin. They are 31-2, the undisputed No. 1 team in the land. They trounced Louisville, the No. 2 team, in the NCAA semifinals with a second-half onslaught of dunks. The Cougars finished with 14 dunks against Louisville, including a staggering eight in a row in a second-half run that turned the game into a laugher.

 

Next up for the Cougars in the NCAA title game is North Carolina State, a team that barely made it into the tournament. The Wolfpack lost 10 games. No team had ever won an NCAA championship with as many losses. The Wolfpack were lucky to be here, beating Pepperdine, UNLV and Virginia after those opponents missed free throws down the stretch.

 

So here it is -- invincible Houston vs. the mother of all Cinderella teams, North Carolina State.

 

THE MOMENT

April 3, 1983, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Not surprisingly, the game opens with a dunk. The only difference is that the dunk comes from N.C. State's Thurl Bailey. It's the first shock on a night of stunners.

 

As the game unfolds, it's the Wolfpack that look more like the Cougars, running the floor, grabbing control of the game. With the ball in the hands of Sidney Lowe and Dereck Whittenburg -- teammates since their high school days in Washington, D.C. -- N.C. State runs when it sees the opening and patiently works its halfcourt offense. The Wolfpack leads 33-25 at halftime.

 

Lewis sensed trouble in the pre-title game practice. His Cougars acted so overconfident that they practiced terribly, their most lethargic of the season. So he ordered the players to go back to the hotel. Then he imposed his only curfew of the season.

 

Midway through the second half, Houston begins acting like the real Cougars, the scary Cougars. They go on a 17-2 run that includes their first dunk of the night to take a 42-35 edge. But then Lewis does the inexplicable and slows down the game. Just when the Pha Slamma Jamma Show is about to bust out, Lewis pulls in the reins. Moments later, Whittenburg and Lowe get red shot, drilling 20-foot bombs, seven in all, and as the game winds down to the final minutes, N.C. State starts fouling the Cougars, who do what they did all season -- miss free throws.

 

With 1:08 to go, and the score tied 52-52, coach Jim Valvano orders Whittenburg to foul Alvin Franklin, Houston's freshman point guard. Franklin misses the front end of a one-and-one and N.C. State grabs the rebound.

 

With 44 seconds left, it's tied, 52-all. The Wolfpack run the clock down to 44 seconds then call timeout to set up a final play. Valvano tells Lowe to run the clock down to eight seconds, penetrate and kick the ball out to Whittenburg, or take the shot himself.

 

Back on the court, Lowe and Whittenburg work the ball around -- N.C. State makes 17 passes in all during the possession -- but the play breaks down when Whittenburg swings the ball to Bailey in the corner.

 

There is four seconds left when Bailey passes it back out toward the top of the key to Whittenburg. Suddenly, Houston's Benny Anders quickly steps in and tips the ball, nearly intercepting it and racing in alone for an uncontested, title-winning dunk. Houston's players, meanwhile, all take a step upcourt, thinking fastbreak.

 

But Whittenburg beats Anders to the ball, retrieves it and with the clock showing 0:02 he heaves a 35-foot desperation shot. Keen eyes see that the ball is short and that the game is heading into overtime. Keener eyes see something else developing ...

 

When Whittenburg throws up his prayer, teammate Lorenzo Charles slips down the lane uncovered and uncontested. Seconds earlier, when Anders tips Bailey's pass and Houston's players go into their offensive mode, none of the Cougars, specifically Olajuwon, are in position to box out Charles.

 

"I thought Benny stole the ball," Olajuwon would say years later. "I was about to take off upcourt and then I skidded to a stop. By that time, it was too late to recover and box out."

 

Charles, reading the shot all the way, leaps, snatches the ball from the air and slams the ball into the net with a second left. A beat later, bedlam erupts on one side of the court, disbelief on the other.

 

Bailey falls to the floor sobbing, Lowe races into the stands to hug his mother, and Valvano runs every which way on the court, not knowing what to do, desperately searching for someone to hug and kiss.

 

"I actually didn't see the ball until it was in the air," Charles would later say after the game. "I was trying to get in position for an offensive putback. I ended up under the basket, and I could see Dereck's shot wasn't going to make it. So instinctively, I just grabbed it and put it in. I didn't know how much time was left, whether there was two or three seconds left. But when I came down, I looked up and saw two seconds turned to one and boom -- we had done it. We won it all. Just thinking about it gives me chills."

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Was Ali's win over George Foreman or Ali Vs. Frazier been included yet?

 

Because clearly you guys are forgetting those.

 

Those moments are easily Top 20.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Those moments happened over 25 years ago, outside of the range of consideration.

[bob_barron 0]

You would think people would figure that out by now

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

My bad....

 

George Foreman's title win at the age of 44 has to be on the list though, if it's only 25 years.

 

How about Hagler/Leonard, that is easily one of the most important fights in boxing history.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Here's the complete list thus far.

 

15. N.C. State dunks Houston in NCAA final

 

16. Bonds hits No. 71 to set single-season HR record

17. Laettner's buzzer-beater sinks Kentucky

18. Cal's five-lateral kickoff return shocks Stanford

19. Adam Vinatieri's kick wins Super Bowl for Patriots

20. Nicklaus birdies 17, wins Masters at 46

 

21. NLCS turns when fan interferes with foul ball

22. Villanova shocks Georgetown to win hoops title

23. Armstrong wins first Tour de France

24. Jordan's jumper secures 6th NBA title

25. Tom Watson holes in birdie chip at U.S. Open

 

26. World Series halted by Bay Area earthquake

27. Montana-to-Taylor caps Super Bowl-winning drive

28. Douglas knocks out Tyson, shocks world

29. Harding's associates attack Kerrigan

30. Tyson disqualified after biting Holyfield's ear

 

31. Walter Payton passes Jim Brown on all-time rushing list

32. Brandi Chastain's penalty kick wins World Cup

33. Sammy Sosa gets caught with corked bat

34. Len Bias dies of cocaine overdose

35. Rams win Super Bowl with game-ending tackle

 

36. Tiger Woods hugs dad after record Masters win

37. At age 44, Nolan Ryan hurls record 7th no-hitter

38. Messier leads Rangers to first Cup win in 54 years

39. Aaron Boone's home runs wins 2003 ALCS

40. Borg beats McEnroe in epic Wimbledon final

 

41. Giants win Super Bowl on Scott Norwood's miss

42. Serena Williams wins 1999 U.S. Open

43. Joe Carter's bottom-of-ninth homer wins it for Blue Jays

44. Annika Sorenstam takes on the men in a PGA event

45. Derek Jeter's backhand saves 1-0 playoff win for Yanks

 

46. Baseball's All-Stars pay tribute to Ted Williams

47. Titans stun Bills with disputed fantastic finish

48. Patriots win OT thriller thanks to controversial 'Tuck' play

49. Michael Jordan hits title-winning shot for Carolina

50. Jim Valvano delivers memorable speech at ESPYs

 

51. Kerri Strug overcomes severe pain to win gold for U.S.

52. Wayne Gretzky becomes NHL's scoring leader

53. Ben Johnson flunks drug test, loses gold medal

54. Elway drives Denver 98 yards to force OT in AFC Championship

55. Bird's steal and assist give Celtics playoff win

 

56. Cal Ripken homers in final All-Star Game

57. Larry Mize chips in from 140 feet to win the 1987 Masters

58. Mickey Mantle, nearing death, laments a "wasted" life

59. Chris Webber's timeout costs Michigan chance at title

60. Keith Smart's jump shots lifts Indiana over Syracuse

 

61. Gonzalez's single in bottom of 9th of Game 7 wins 2001 World Series

62. Hank Gathers collapses during a game, later dies

63. Magic replaces Kareem, leads Lakers to title

64. Justin Leonard's 45-foot putt completes stunning U.S. comeback

65. Magic Johnson's "baby" sky hook beats Celtics in Game 4 of '87 Finals

 

66. Roberto Duran cries "No Mas" to Sugar Ray Leonard in their title fight

67. George Brett goes nuts when his home run is disallowed

68. John Elway's gutsy, clutch run inspires Denver to Super Bowl win

69. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar becomes the NBA's all-time leading scorer

70. Mary Lou Retton captures all-around gymnastics gold

 

71. Snakebitten Dan Jansen finally wins Olympic gold

72. Mary Decker collides with Zola Budd at '84 Olympics

73. Michael Johnson blazes to world record at 1996 Olympics

74. Van de Velde blows British Open with triple-bogey on last hole

75. LT's tackle on Joe Theismann results in gruesome broken leg

 

76. Kellen Winslow carried off the field after amazing playoff game

77. Greg Louganis gashes head, goes on to win gold

78. Scandal on ice: Canadians voted silver medal

79. Jordan overcomes flu, scores 38 to beat Jazz

80. Emmitt Smith tops Payton's career rushing mark

 

81. Jordan's playoff buzzer-beater beats Cavs

82. The Dominator finally wins Daytona 500

83. Bryant says he didn't commit rape

84. Dean Smith sets record with 877th win

85. Hoosier coach loses cool

 

86. Happy Retirement: Bourque finally wins Stanley Cup

87. Dan Jansen falls after learning of sister's death

88. New York, New York: More 9th-Inning magic

89. Rulon Gardner wins Greco-Roman gold

90. Reggie Miller stuns Knicks with 11-second barrage

 

91. Michael Jordan retires at the age of 30

92. Eric Heiden skates into Olympic history

93. No team will ever issue Jackie Robinson's No. 42

94. Dad helps injured Olympian cross the finish line

95. Bizzare incident shakes up Subway Series

 

96. Dave Henderson homers in the 1986 ALCS

97. William Perry scores a TD for the Bears

98. Jack Buck helps us start over

99. Erving makes unbelievable shot vs. Lakers

100. Dan Gladden scores winning run in Game 7 of 1991 World Series

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I gotta say boxing is getting royally shafted here. What about Leonard-Duran I? Leonard-Hearns I? Pryor-Arguello I? Tyson-Spinks? Foreman-Moorer? Hearns-Hagler? Benn-McClelland?

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I gotta say boxing is getting royally shafted here. What about Leonard-Duran I? Leonard-Hearns I? Pryor-Arguello I? Tyson-Spinks? Foreman-Moorer? Hearns-Hagler? Benn-McClelland?

I would understand Benn/McClellen and Pryor/Argulleo not being mention.

 

But all the other fights should be mention.

 

ESPN is also the place that respects boxing the most out of any other sports stations.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Benn/McClellan is significant because its the fight where McClellan suffered brain damage, ending his career, and damaging his life irreparably. Pryor/Arguello is simply the most action packed 14 round fight I have ever seen.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Benn/McClellan is significant because its the fight where McClellan suffered brain damage, ending his career, and damaging his life irreparably. Pryor/Arguello is simply the most action packed 14 round fight I have ever seen.

I'm not denieling they were top boxing moments, but even I problay wouldn't have put them in the Top 100 Sports moments in the last 25 years.

 

Espically not over the Bowe/Holyfield fights, espically the 2nd one with the infamous "Fan Man"