USA Today's Top 25 Sports Moments

[BCGroup]

To celebrate their 25th birthday, USA Today has been running a series of "Top 25s". This one--top 25 sports moments, includes number 16:
Christian Laettner jumper sends Duke into ’92 NCAA Final Four
Grant Hill throws the ball three-quarters of the way upcourt. Laettner, at the free throw line, makes the catch, pivots, takes one dribble, fakes right to clear his defender, spins left and shoots the fadeaway — all in less than 2.1 seconds to beat the final buzzer. The 17-foot jumper caps an overtime thriller as Duke beats Kentucky 104-103 in the East Regional final and goes on to successfully defend its ’91 NCAA title.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-sportsmoments.htm

[OZZIE4DUKE]

To celebrate their 25th birthday, USA Today has been running a series of "Top 25s". This one--top 25 sports moments, includes number 16:
Christian Laettner jumper sends Duke into ’92 NCAA Final Four

#16 to USA Today, but #1 in our hearts!

[JasonEvans]

Predictible response from a Dukie but...

"The shot" should be several spots higher. I am not saying it should be #1, but it probably falls right around #10.

Balco at #5?!?!? What "moment" are they talking about there?

I personally don't think Tiger winning his first Masters was all that much of a "moment." Sure, it was important, but #3 of the past 25 years? No way.

The 1998 homerun chase-- yawn. It was significant, but again, what is the "moment" there? Was it when McGuire hit #63?

I applaud them for picking Magic retiring with HIV. That was a big, big deal. his news conference is etched in my mind, for sure. But Pete Rose being banned? Sorry, but I think they are really reaching there.

There are others I could quibble with, for sure, but these are the most glaring examples of bad choices ahead of the Duke shot. It is almost like this list is trying not to be about sports. Lame!! About half of the great "moments" are not moments at all but just trends or interesting stories about sports-related scandal.

-Jason "hasn't this ideal been done to death anyway?" Evans

[JasonEvans]

Oh great-- I just saw that this is not supposed to be a list of "moments" but of "stories." Well, that makes the list make a lot more sense. I still think many of these are stories that are well below the top-25 of the past 25 years, but I now understand it better.

Sorry, blame BCGroup. He said it was "moments."

-Jason " :D " Evans

[Tom B.]

Actually, the article isn't about the Top 25 sports "moments" of the last 25 years -- it's about the Top 25 sports "stories." In that sense, it makes sense to include things like Pete Rose being banned, steroids in baseball, the 1998 home run chase (which actually can be linked to the steroids story), etc.

I think ESPN put together a list a couple of years ago that focused more on specific on-the-field plays rather than "stories" that might have covered extended periods of time or off-the-field events. I remember Laettner's shot was #4 on that list, surpassed only by the Doug-Flutie-to-Gerard-Phelan Hail Mary against Miami in 1984; "The Catch" (Joe Montana to Dwight Clark for a TD to beat the Cowboys in the 1982 NFC Championship); and Kirk Gibson's game-winning homer off Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.

[BCGroup]

Oh great-- I just saw that this is not supposed to be a list of "moments" but of "stories." Well, that makes the list make a lot more sense. I still think many of these are stories that are well below the top-25 of the past 25 years, but I now understand it better.

Sorry, blame BCGroup. He said it was "moments."

-Jason " :D " Evans

Sorry Jason, I was in a hurry and thought it was moments. Barbara

[CameronBlue]

Shouldn't there be an enduring quality to the moment (or story)? The 98 home run chase was grand theater at the time; I'll admit to checking the daily boxscores to see if Big Mac had launched another bomb into the record books. But in the wake of the steroid abuse scandal, the season's "greatness" lies in the ruse he perpetuated upon the fans.

[throatybeard]

Ranking sports stories is my 17th most disdained form of pointless American ranking activities.

[JasonEvans]

Ranking sports stories is my 17th most disdained form of pointless American ranking activities.

POTD!!!

-Jason "adding a sig because merely saying 'POTD' is not long enough to count as a real post" Evans

[RepoMan]

While rankings certainly are different than statistics, this discussion reminds me of a great song by Todd Snider, Statistician's Blues

http://www.eighteenminutes.com/Lyrics/StatisticiansBlues.html

[yum dukie]

Mike made his own list precisely as a reaction to the USA Today list.

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=221082

He doesn't describe his as moments or stories, but developments.

cool that nothing from UNC made the list.

[BCGroup]

OK, I decided to figure out what I did. On the main page, http://www.usatoday.com/, about halfway down is the link, and there is says moments! I guess they couldn't decide either.

[Tom B.]

From DeCourcy's list:


8. The Fab Five. Don't you just hate that I included them on this list? Aren't you tired of hearing about them, even 15 years later? And yet you remember them. None of us really has a choice. They changed college basketball's style and its expectations for young players.

I'm hard-pressed to think of a group of players who received, and continue to receive, as much notoriety despite never winning anything of consequence. Zero conference championships. Zero national championships. They reached a couple of Final Fours and made some interesting "style" statements along the way. Big whoop -- so did Guy Lewis. They're the Anna Kournikovas of men's college basketball.

My favorite Fab Five stat -- not one of them ever experienced a win against Duke. Michigan was 0-5 against Duke during the seasons that the team included any members of the Fab Five. Even in 1994-95, Duke's Season From Hell, we still managed to beat Michigan.

[Wander]

It's a terrible list. It's ridiculous focus on baseball and omission of George Mason is a joke.

[mapei]

George Mason????????? A feel-good story for a couple of weeks and nothing more. The cinderella flavor of the year, but not all that different from the other flavors in the other years.

Man, this Hoya fan is sick of hearing about that Nova game over and over! :(

One of the commenters suggested the '95 UConn women's team. I agree.

Baseball is a game, not a sport. ;)

[Wander]

George Mason????????? A feel-good story for a couple of weeks and nothing more. The cinderella flavor of the year, but not all that different from the other flavors in the other years.


George Mason was much, much different than the "cinderella flavor of the year." People will always ask "Who is this year's George Mason," but you'll never hear someone say "Who is this year's UW-Milwaukee?"

We'll never know the full effects of George Mason's run, but it's entirely possible that without them, UConn would now be "the" college basketball school, and Duke would still be the last repeat national champions.

[mapei]

Well, Mason is tied with LSU as the lowest seed (#11) to make the final four. But LSU did it, too, in 1986. And, although no number 10 has made it, there is precedent for every other seed advancing to the final four. What Mason did was unusual but not unique.

And, before Mason, I did hear people say, "Who is this year's (Gonzaga/Valpo/UNC-Charlotte/whatever)?" I think Mason's run was very impressive, but more as a matter of degree than of the kind of shocking breakthrough that will be talked about for decades. Big upsets are always the NCAAs' big stories, but they happen with some frequency. Mason's was bigger than most.