When did sports transport you ... or crush you?

Yes, another spinoff.

The question here is: When did "the thrill of victory ... the agony of defeat" enter your own world? What were the moments when you've most felt transported by a sporting event?

I have one for each.

My senior year of high school, our basketball team was 26-0 entering the league championship game. Our school never really thought much about districts or states; we were sort of a small-school team playing in a medium-large school class, so they've always concentrated on winning league or division titles.

Anyway, we were playing one of the "expansion" schools in our league, New Oxford, near Gettysburg. I was in the middle of our student section, directly behind one basket. The game went to overtime, and we were up by one with five seconds left. That's when New Oxford ran one of those "picket-fence" plays where the shooter stepped back to the top of the key on an inbounds pass, and the other three guys tightened up to form the screen. And I watched this guy, Jim Triplett, rip out our hearts with a sweet 22-foot jumper to kill our dream. It sucked the air right out of me.

Two years later, most of my best friends were playing Legion baseball, and it was one of the best summers of my life. Most of our road games were near the Maryland border, where drinking age was 18 then. I kept the book and coached first base; I was beyond Legion age. So after a road game, five players would pile into my car, I'd buy the beer, and we'd turn a 45-minute drive home into a four-hour party. (Kids, don't try this at home.)

It was one hell of a team, too. Our star second baseman was later a first-round draft choice by the Orioles. Our shortstop was drafted later the same year by the Dodgers. Three guys on our pitching staff had good college careers.

Well, we won the county title and went to the regional in York. We were the only team to stay in a hotel, and we stayed up playing cards and drinking beer until 2 a.m. every night. In the regional final, we were down 9-6 entering the bottom of the ninth when my best friend at the time launched a pitch 410 feet to left-center to send us to states. I don't think I'd ever been so happy in my life.

 

Two words: Drive. Fumble.
Two more: Fucking Elway.

 

Easy.

84 Cubs.

I'm going to go cry now, again.

 

Your sig is so cool, Killick.

Ten years into my professional career, I found myself actually stifling a tear or two in the office as my hometown scored the winning run in the U.S. Little League final.

 

Bartman.


The '84 Cubs crushed my spirits, too, but somehow I remember rationalizing they probably weren't going to get past the Tigers anyway and that it would have been much more depressing to lose in the World Series. I strongly believed the 2003 Cubs were capable of winning the World Series if they got there, hence my frustration and complete disbelief about the events that immediately followed that incident.

Personally, it was tossing a one-hitter in Little League and losing 1-0. Yes, it was a home run. Tried to throw a knuckleball past my best friend, forgetting for a moment that we weren't playing Wiffle Ball in his driveway and the left field fence was lower than the roof of his garage. Bastard.

 

I was transported last night (this morning) watching Federer play the best tennis I've ever seen. Other than being a Federer fan I had no vested interest in the outcome, but it was an awe-inspiring performance.

Never been crushed.

 

1986: Game 5 of the ALCS - Angels vs. Red Sox.
Fucking Dave Henderson ... and Gene Mauch. (I don't blame Donnie Moore. He never should've been in the game due to his bad shoulder.)

2002: Game 7 of the World Series - Angels 4, San Francisco 1
I was in the outfield seats watching my beloved Halos celebrate their first world championship. I thought about all the old players who had endured heartbreak, attending games as a child with my grandparents, and thought of my grandfather who was home watching on television. I was so thankful he was alive to see the Angels win the World Series. I soaked it all in ... and I cried. The only time a sporting event has moved me to tears.

 

What she said. :'(

 

Game 7, Leafs vs Kings.

Fucking Kerry Fraser.

 

It should be interesting to see who has "national" moments and who has "hometown" moments. I think that might help form your later outlook on sports.

 

transport me moment: knicks win it all, 1970, willis out of the tunnel, etc.

crush-me moment: the next year, knicks lose in seven games to bullets, when bill bradley -- my fave on that team -- has his baseline jumper partially blocked by wes unseld, i believe, my dad gets up from his recliner and says, "well, you can't win every year."

and i think, "why the heck not?" ??? ??? ???

 

1995 ALDS, Yankees. Fucking Edgar Martinez.