10 Greatest Moments in Sports History Back to the Hall of Fame Back to the Best/Worst lists

1. New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup after 54 years--Only true Ranger fans can appreciate the unbelievable emotion associated with this event. 54 years of cursed play, in and out of the Garden, finally vindicated in one powerful moment, where grown men fell to their knees in tears, murmuring that this was the greatest day of their lives, including me.
2. The 1980 Miracle on Ice--Another hockey moment, and one that defined a decade of American sports optimism. Al Michael's famous call of "Do you believe in miracles---YEEEESSSS!!!!" will long be remembered as the finishing touch on one of the greatest upsets in any sports history: a group of unknown hockey players dethroned the might Soviet hockey machine, 4-3. Less known is the fact that the USA went on to beat Finland for the gold medal, which hardly seemed necessary after their first achievement.
3. Joe Namath predicting victory, and delivering--In 1969, no one gave the upstart Jets of the AFL much chance to beat the mighty Baltimore Colts, who went in 13 point favorites. Broadway Joe outdueled Earl Morrill and Johnny Unitas to win Super Bowl III, confounding sportswriters to this day.
4. Cal's victory lap--Seeing anyone else in #8 in Camden yards would be unthinkable. Since 1983, Cal Ripken, Jr. has played in EVERY game, and over 95% of the innings. Late in the summer of 1995, he stood posied to play in his 2131st game, thereby passing the mighty Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig, for all time number of games played. It was a time of baseball in turmoil, a strike recently over, fan apathy, and fan antipathy toward what they saw a coddled, non-performing stars of a child's game. After the top of the fifth, when the game became legal in the record books, urged on by his teammates, Cal Ripken started out of the dugout for a lap around the field. He high-fived fans, signed a few autographs, shook a lot of hands, and humbly accepted the tumultuous adulation of the baseball world. Here is a man who has played his entire career for ONE team, once a commonplace occurance, now a rarity. A man who always shows up to play, even in lousy, sixth place seasons where he wins the MVP. Signs that day proclaimed "Thanks for saving baseball, Cal." He might have.
5. Secretariat's win in the 1973 Belmont Stakes to win the Triple Crown--Horse racing is a tense business, with winners generally defined by less than ten feet, and sometimes by inches. but in New York in 1973, Secretariat stunned the world with a crushing, going away victory. The huge red stallion with ties to Man-o-War streaked down the backstretch, and opened a lead, and just kept going in the most dominating performance ever by a racehorse, winning by an astounding 31 lengths. Indeed, on replays, he seems alone on the track until, several seconds later, the rest of the pack crosses the finish line. No horse yet, or ever before, has equaled this astounding feat.
6. The shot heard round the world--The Yankees of the 1960 were a frightening bunch, with Maris and Mantle at the heart of their order. They were prohibitive favorites over the Pittsburgh Pirates, and crushed them by over 20 runs in the World Series. they posted double digit shutouts and pitched brilliantly. New York scored 56 runs in that series, but fell to one swing of the bat by Bill Mazeroski. In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, with the score tied 9-9, the smallish second baseman from Pittsburgh stepped up to the plate. He cracked a homer into the left field stands, completing an astounding Series win by Pittsburgh.
7. Nolan Ryan throws 7th no-hitter--The no-hitter...one of baseball's highest pinnacles of achievement. Few ever throw one in their careers, including Hall of Famers. some do it more than once, and Koufax even threw four of them. But on a cool night in Arlington, Texas, a 44 year old Nolan Ryan threw his SEVENTH no-hitter, striking out 16 Blue Jays and walking only 2 in a game where he was never challenged. Even more than Clemens's two 20 strikeout games, Ryan dominated the hitters like no one ever. In the second inning, he struck out the side--not with his fastball, but with a menacing breaking ball that confounded the hitters. His fastball, which was still clocked at or near 100 mph when he was 46 years old, was dubbed "The Ryan Express" by hitters, and Reggie Jackson once refused to bat against him, instead letting a pinch hitter experience Ryan's fury. Pete Rose once remarked that Ryan's fastball was sometimes only heard as it went by. Indeed, this was the case as Roberto Alomar swung through Ryan's Express (at 96 mph) to end the Magnificent Seventh, as it has become known. It was Alomar's third strikeout of the night.
8. Bannister's breaking of the 4-minute mile--In the 1940's and 50's, distance runners approached, but never quite achieved the mark of running a mile in 4 minutes. It was thought to be impossible, beyond the limits of human endurance, but a gangly schoolteacher from England proved them all wrong when he ran the mile in 3:59.6 in the rain, establishing a new era of track and field all by himself. He never did much in the sport after that, but this one event changed the face of distance running more than any other in the history of track and field.
9. Nadia's perfect 10 in Gymnastics competition--In 1976, gymnastics was hotly contested throughout the sports year. Olga Korbut established a new standard of excellence in 1972, and the world tried to keep pace with her in Montreal, but it was the diminutive star from Romania that shocked the world with a flawless routine. Up until that point, gymnasts had always faltered in one respect or another, never quite earning that mark of perfection so coveted by the athletes. Nadia soared through her uneven bars routine, and stuck a perfect landing. The judges did not know what to do since they could find NO fault with her performance. they conversed in hushed tones, and then flashed her score--10.0. It was the first of its kind, and electrified the world. The announcers could not even believe it themselves.
10. Germany's win against the "unbeatable" Hungarian team in the 1954 World Cup--In 1954, European opinion still thought of Germany as a collection of jackbooted thugs terrorizing the world, and so crowd favor rested with the powerful Hungarian squad, who had trounced the Germans 8-3 in the round robin competition of the early rounds. The Germans, coming off an emotional win, were not given much chance. They played disciplined football, and led by their captain, Fritz Walter, frustrated the Hungarians into mistakes, and pulled out a 3-2 victory.

10 Worst Moments in Sports History

1. The massacre of Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972--There is nothing in sports that comes close to the horror of this tragedy, which caused such emotions in Jim McKay that he could only remark: "They're all gone." A powerful moment for McKay, but a moment of mourning for the rest of the world.
2. Carl Mays hitting Ray Chapman and killing him--Ray Chapman was Cleveland's speedy, 29 year old shortstop when they came to New York in 1920. He had led the league in runs scored before, and stolen 50 bases several times. He was a slick fielder who was solid in the field at all times. Carl Mays was a submarining pitcher for the Yankees. Mays threw a wicked fastball that tailed up and in, and struck Chapman on the left temple. Chapman was killed. Mays was never convicted since it was not done on purpose, but Mays was never quite the same pitcher after that, playing well in 1921, but sporadically the rest of his career, which ended in 1929. One good thing came of this: it led to the introduction of batting helmets in baseball.
3. Jack Tatum's hit on Darrel Stingley--Jack Tatum had been described as Black Death, a marginally clean player who collected many bounties for the injuries he inflicted on the Raider's opponents. Darrell Stingly was a fast receiver from Purdue who had a good career with the Patriots. Stingley caught a pass, and was immediately hit in the neck by Tatum, who still maintains that Stingley's resulting quadroplegic paralysis was unintentional. Doubtful.
4. Greg Louganis competing with AIDS--Louganis is probably the best diver in history, but that still does not excuse his selfishness. He competed while secretly infected with the AIDS virus, which would never have been a problem had he not cracked his head on the board and bled profusely into the pool. He endangered not only himself, but others as well. that he competed is not the issue; his competing without anyone knowing is reprehensible, and irresponsible.
5. Georgia Tech vs. Cumberland College, 1916--John Heisman (for whom the fabled trophy is named) coached the powerhouse Georgia Tech football team at the time, which traveled to tiny Cumberland College for an away game in 1916. After knocking out Cumberland's Quarterback on the first play, Tech rolled over the hapless home team to build a 126-0 halftime lead. In the locker room during halftime, Coach Heisman said "We're ahead, but we don't know what they might have up their sleeves, don't let up." Tech scored 96 second half points to post a final of 222-0. It is this piece of barbarity that has given rise to the need for ranked teams to pummel weak opponents just to be viewed as a good team. Heisman's behavior was inexcusable, and I feel that his name should be removed from the trophy. He certainly does not deserve to be remembered well, or possibly even remembered at all.
6. Steve Howe is allowed to pitch--Howe has been convicted of cocaine possession nine times, and has repeatedly broken agreements with Major League Baseball to get help. If Howe is allowed to play, along with wife-beaters, tax evaders, and drug addicts like Dwight Gooden and Darly Strawberry, then why is Pete Rose not allowed to be in the Hall of Fame? Howe should be tossed out of baseball, and his salary given to the Betty Ford clinic. He is a disgrace to the sport, as are Gooden and Strawberry.,/font>
7. Alomar spitting in Hirschbeck's face--Roberto Alomar spat in the face of an umpire after a called third strike. Granted, the strike was nowhere near a strike, being some 3-4 feet outside, but that still does not countenance Alomar's actions. The league reprimanded him, and gave him a 5 game suspension, without pay, beginning next season. If I had my way, he'd be gone for the WHOLE season, with no pay. That would teach players a bit of respect. Then again, baseball doesn't have a commissioner, so you can't really hold this against baseball, per se, but rather against the owners.
8. While we're on the subject of baseball, The Strike--The baseball strike almost ruined the game. The players don't realize that it is their PRIVELEGE to play, not their right, and the fact that they are paid at all should be taken as a favor to them. They do, after all, play a child's game, and get paid millions for it. Their petulant attitude was revolting.
9. The Black Sox--Wow, three of the top 10 worst moments in sports occur in baseball...that's too bad. In 1919, the Chicago white Sox were to play the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series, and a group of gamblers decided to clean up by having the White Sox throw the games. This, they did, and Kenesaw Mountain Landis (the first commissioner appointed after the scandal), tossed them all from the game forever. If Landis were around today, Howe and the rest mentioned above would be GONE forever. N.B.--Joe Jackson didn't throw the games...he took the money, and played his heart out, making great plays in the field, and hitting 375 for the series, the only Chicago player to hit over 320 in the series.
10. Mario Lemieux faking a broken wrist--In the 1992 hockey playoffs, Mario Lemieux was struck on the wrist by Adam Graves's stick. Lemieux left the game with a "broken wrist", and Graves was given a misconduct, thereby depriving the Rangers of one of their best players. Lemieux sat out the rest of the Ranger's series, but was never seen to have worn a cast, and he played less than 10 days later. It seems to me that a man with a broken wrist would not be able to play hockey ten days after the fact, especially if he had not worn a cast. This fits in with Lemieux's "I'm not allowed to be touched" attitude, which has always turned my stomach. It was a disgrace, but then again, Lemieux has always been a diver.