Most Exciting Play

Which play is more exciting in your opinion - a penalty shot in hockey or a steal of home in baseball?

Is there another play in another sport that is more exciting than either of these?

 

The version of the penalty shot that is known as the shootout is so commonplace that the play no longer has magic to it. The steal of home is such a rare shock that it would have to be more exciting. In reality, corner kicks and free kicks in scoring range may be the most exciting of all.

 

If it's a straight steal, then that's more exciting to me. There's more on the line. If the guy's out, his team's worse off than they were before. If a guy misses a penalty shot, his team's still where it was before the attempt.

 

A triple in baseball.
A half-court shot in basketball at the buzzer (that Butler attempt really was the 2010 year in sports in a nutshell - could have been great but it clanged of the rim)
A pick-six in football - total reversal of fortune (that NFL ad showing home videos of reactions to the Saints Super Bowl is one of the best sports ads I've seen - ever).

 

A steal of home is exciting, but it happens so fast you really don't know what's going on until it's over. Especially on TV, you wonder why the hell the catcher is jumping out of his stance, the guy slides, then it's like, "Wow, he just stole home. That was cool."
For baseball, a triple or inside-the-park home run is a lot better. There's some build-up, and with the homer you can see that goofy bounce that's required and automatically start thinking the guy might have a shot.

I think the most exciting is a kick return in football. You can kind of sense what's about to happen, see it unfold and then get fired up those last 30 or 40 yards as the guy breaks into the clear. There's even that last bit of tension as you wait to see whether there's a flag somewhere way away from the play.
Plus it's common enough that you know it might happen, yet rare enough that you're never really expecting it, and it can totally turn a game around.

 

Batman beat me to it. A kick return in football is great because you know there's always a small chance, then you maybe see he's got a hole, then suddenly he's on his way.

For "out-of-the-blue" moments, a good bowled-out in cricket is awesome. The bowler flails his arms and the batsman defends like he always does, but suddenly the stumps go flying everywhere. Great visual.

Any OT playoff hockey goal, Kane's Cup-winner notwithstanding.

 

I echo those who have mentioned kickoff returns and buzzers beaters.