Best Sporting Events of All-Time

[BlueintheFace]

This has been talked about on a few other threads, so I thought I might give it it's own thread. I think it is particular relevant on the heels of the final four and with the masters coming up.

Okay, I'm going to try my hand at this. First, one initial thought

- Big events with lots of neutral fans just don't cut it. EX: The olympics are awesome, but there just isn't enough atmosphere 99% of the time to make a top 10 list. Fan's make the events truly great. With that said, here we go...


10) Stanley Cup Game 7
9) British Open at St. Andrews or Masters at Augusta
8) NBA Finals Game 7
7) New Zealand (All Blacks) v Australia (Wallabies) Rugby
6) Barcelona- Real Madrid at Camp Nou or Rangers-Celtic
5) Michigan-Ohio St College Football
4) Il Palio Horserace in Siena
3) World Cup Final
2) Red Sox- Yankees Playoff Game 7
1) Duke-Carolina at Cameron Indoor

Notes-
Olympics- Great event, but not enough fervor around one particular event
No NFL??- The obvious choice here would be the superbowl, but there are just too many casual fans without unbridled passion for a team.
Two soccer matches?- It is just undeniable that soccer fans as a whole are crazier than any other sport's fan base. That's just the way of the world, and since this is about best sporting events with regard to atmosphere...
Il Palio??- The most fervent atmosphere in sports since everyone is packed in to one little piazza and everybody there has a horse that they would kill for. It's borderline terrifying (not joking).
Duke- Obviously I'm biased...
Where's the Final Four- Arena's are too big and if you aren't a fan of one of the teams it is good but not great

What are your thoughts

[Channing]

I'll add two:

(1) Daytona 500. Regardless of whether you like NASCAR or not, the atmosphere is electric. It is awesome.
(2) Glasgow Rangers v. Glasgow Celtic in soccer. The passion behind religious differences is channeled through to the soccer field, and the entire city is on edge.

[BlueintheFace]

(2) Glasgow Rangers v. Glasgow Celtic in soccer. The passion behind religious differences is channeled through to the soccer field, and the entire city is on edge.

It's in there... look again

[ugadevil]

I'd say Alabama/Auburn is as intense as Michigan/Ohio State. The schools aren't as big, but the hatred is as strong as anything. I honestly think the people from both schools genuinely look down on the other as inferior human beings. I think they'd make each other their slaves if they legally could.

[colchar]

I'd say Alabama/Auburn is as intense as Michigan/Ohio State. The schools aren't as big, but the hatred is as strong as anything. I honestly think the people from both schools genuinely look down on the other as inferior human beings. I think they'd make each other their slaves if they legally could.

Dude, we're talking about Alabama here. Don't give them any ideas.

[dukediv2013]

2007 Final Game between Cubs and Brewers at Wrigley Field where Alfonso Soriano hit the go ahead homer in the 8th inning!

Greatest game I have ever witnessed in person!

[calltheobvious]

I'd say Alabama/Auburn is as intense as Michigan/Ohio State. The schools aren't as big, but the hatred is as strong as anything. I honestly think the people from both schools genuinely look down on the other as inferior human beings. I think they'd make each other their slaves if they legally could.

There's no comparison between an intense inter-state rivalry and an intense intra-state one.

And having been to many of each, Auburn-Alabama football has to go ahead of Duke-UNC hoops simply because all of the emotion builds up to only one contest in football, whereas with Duke-UNC we know we're going to see them twice, and we all probably feel the chances are close to even that we'll see them a third time.

1995 UNC in Durham is my number one most devastated feeling leaving a sporting event. No other loss to UNC comes close, even though there have been some painful ones. A close Number Two on my list? Every time I've watched Auburn lose to Alabama (it's been a long while).

[ugadevil]

There's no comparison between an intense inter-state rivalry and an intense intra-state one.

And having been to many of each, Auburn-Alabama football has to go ahead of Duke-UNC hoops simply because all of the emotion builds up to only one contest in football, whereas with Duke-UNC we know we're going to see them twice, and we all probably feel the chances are close to even that we'll see them a third time.

Do you have a favorite memory from a particular Auburn/Alabama game? I have never been able to go, but it is one game that I'd really like to attend at some point (it makes me jealous that I'm marrying someone who has been). The past couple years, student tickets for that game have been between $200-$400! $400!!!!!!!! And you'd probably need to find a student id just to get in to the opposing team's student section.

[calltheobvious]

Do you have a favorite memory from a particular Auburn/Alabama game? I have never been able to go, but it is one game that I'd really like to attend at some point (it makes me jealous that I'm marrying someone who has been). The past couple years, student tickets for that game have been between $200-$400! $400!!!!!!!! And you'd probably need to find a student id just to get in to the opposing team's student section.

Definitely 2002 in Tuscaloosa. Alabama was cruising into the game around number six nationally, and Auburn was coming in off of a crushing defeat at the hands of your beloved Bulldogs (memories of that finish still evoke physical discomfort). After drilling Auburn at Auburn the year before, it looked like the ten-point favorite Tide would take their second in a row under Franchione and really wrest control of the rivalry. What made the build-up even richer was Franchione's refusal to even utter the word "Auburn" in public, instead referring to "that school down the road."

Well, Auburn dominated the game from the start and pulled off the biggest pointspread upset in the series in the last twenty-five years (and probably forty), winning 17-7. A couple of weeks later Franchione left for College Station, Alabama chose a woefully unqualified Mike Shula as his replacement, and the Tide are still stuck on one victory versus Auburn this decade.

Many contend that the state of both programs might be wildly different today had that game turned out differently. I count myself among that number.

[BlueintheFace]

The only thing I would say is missing from Auburn/Alabama is dominance of the program. Every team I put up on the list is partly there because when they play their rivals they are playing for more than just bragging rights (championships, playoffs, international cups/awards, etc...), and that makes the atmosphere that much more amped. Auburn/Alabama is spectacular, but these aren't teams that vie for championships year in and year out...

[ugadevil]

The only thing I would say is missing from Auburn/Alabama is dominance of the program. Every team I put up on the list is partly there because when they play their rivals they are playing for more than just bragging rights (championships, playoffs, international cups/awards, etc...), and that makes the atmosphere that much more amped. Auburn/Alabama is spectacular, but these aren't teams that vie for championships year in and year out...

Sorry...I wasn't really referring to your list. Our threads were merged about best sports events, but I was hoping to hear about stories from people about their favorite sporting events they've been to. Or I'd like to hear stories about why people want to go to a particular event that they've never been able to attend. Besides, anyone's top 10 list of best sporting events of all time is opinion. I could have the opening day of 10 of UGA's sports teams as my ten best sporting events, and it's perfectly valid if it's that important to me. <---I work with a guy who is actually like this.

However, I would argue that there is usually a good deal at stake when Auburn/Alabama play. Usually, one of the two is competing for a spot in the SEC Championship game, which leads to a BCS Bowl.

[mgtr]

Well, if we are talking history, how about the 1969 NBA Championship series between the Lakers and the Celtics. Man, you had Russell, Chamberlain, Havlicek, West, Baylor -- everybody. And it comes down to the last shot in the seventh game. And this was the only time that the MVP was from the losing team (West). I was in Virginia, and listened to it on the radio -- Thrilling, even on the radio.

[bfree]

It's in there... look again

The Old Firm match should definitely be in there, but if you're looking for another alternative you need to look to a different Spanish speaking country: Argentina. River Plate Boca Juniors is maybe the only rivalry that approaches Rangers Celtic in my opinion.

[Cameron]

My top five American sporting events:

5. The U.S. Open (Golf) - Arguably the greatest and deepest collection of golfers all together at once, vying for the one of the most distinguished honors in American sports. Winner take all

4. Ohio State-Michigan at Ohio Stadium - When Keith Jackson would roll out the ole "On the Olentangy River" you knew you were watching greatness. Ohio Stadium is one of the all-time sporting venues. Like Cameron, it breathes mystique

3. ACC Men's Basketball Tournament in Greensboro - There is nothing else quite like the Grand Daddy when it's being played in the birthplace of ACC Basketball, the state of North Carolina, in the legendary Coliseum. The city becomes the basketball capital of the world when the ACC moves into Greensboro

2. Duke-North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina - Best rivalry in sports, inside the most historic basketball gymnasium in the United States. Any game inside Cameron Indoor Stadium is an event, but, when Carolina comes to town, the gothic hoops cathedral becomes Heaven

1. Thursday and Friday, NCAA Tournament First Round - Nothing in American sports can come close to the drama and excitement of the NCAAs opening rounds. Nothing. Back to back days of 12 hour basketball on national television. From unforgettable names such as Valpo and Bryce Drew to everlasting performances such as "The Show's" 36 first rounders in '99, the NCAA opening round games are bigger than the Super Bowl. An event that literally brings a country together, these are the two best days in sports

Honorable-Mention: The Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs - As sappy as it may be, My Old Kentucky Home is about as touching a sports moment as there is. And the race itself is one of the most classic and tradition filled events in all of sports. A truly amazing gathering

[Lotus000]

5. The U.S. Open (Golf) - Arguably the greatest and deepest collection of golfers all together at once, vying for the one of the most distinguished honors in American sports. Winner take all

I agree that the U.S. Open is a great event, no doubt, but...if you're going to roll the golf route, I have seven words for you:

"The Masters, a tradition unlike any other."

[bfree]

I agree that the U.S. Open is a great event, no doubt, but...if you're going to roll the golf route, I have seven words for you:

"The Masters, a tradition unlike any other."

I think you're both wrong. The Ryder Cup trumps them both. There is something incredible about athletes representing more than just themselves. It can be peers (college sports), religions (The Old Firm), class (Boca/River is about rich/poor), or nations (Olympics, Ryder Cup, etc.). If you're looking for a common theme, in my opinion, that is it.

[BlueintheFace]

I thought about Boca v River Plate, and I almost put it down, but I left it off because the venues for Barca-Real and Rangers-Celtic are so much better than La Bombanera or El Monumental...

[Cameron]

I agree that the U.S. Open is a great event, no doubt, but...if you're going to roll the golf route, I have seven words for you:

"The Masters, a tradition unlike any other."

Words are overrated.

IMO, nothing comes close to the historic U.S. Open, the oldest golfing tournament in the United States. The event is an institution. Jim Nantz's little poem is nice, but I think the Masters' are a bit overhyped. I think the best golf is played at other events--The U.S. and British Opens, and the possibly even the Ryder Cup, as mentioned above.

Don't get me wrong, Augusta National is an amazing place, but I just happen to enjoy the U.S. Opens' "anyone can win" mystique the best.

[Lotus000]

Words are overrated.
I just happen to enjoy the U.S. Opens' "anyone can win" mystique the best.

OK, I'll accept this as a more-than-valid reason. The fact that it's an 'open' tourney and amateurs are there competing in hardcore fashion IS pretty dang awesome. I do really enjoy that aspect of it.

...ugh, I can't believe you guys are all talking about soccer. El gross.

[colchar]

...ugh, I can't believe you guys are all talking about soccer. El gross.

I agree. Soccer is the second most boring team sport in the world. Cricket is the worst. Baseball comes in third.