Your Favorite Moment in Sports

Brian Wilson strikes out Nelson Cruz to end 2010 World Series. After getting so close in 2002, I thought I would not see the Giants win the WS in my lifetime.

 

Awesome story.

 

Outing alert: Lugnuts' father is Gene Mauch.

 

Anyhoo, about all I have for personal sports moments is my three fumble recoveries for the sophomore football team in high school, and my goal for my intramural soccer team in college.

 

I pitched a one-hitter in slow-pitch softball. Really. I had all my stuff that day.

 

My most recent fav was this summer when I birdied the last three holes to shoot 74; lowest round of my life at 49.

 

The moment that comes to mind for me is a favorite not only because of its significance, but also because of who I was with.

I watched Super Bowl XLIII with a fellow Steelers fan who has been a close friend since childhood. He had gone through a divorce in 2008 and he stayed in their house, but his ex-wife took the furniture and the TV that had been in their basement. As a divorce present to himself, he bought a kick-ass plasma TV to put in the basement, but by the time of the Super Bowl he hadn't gotten around to replacing the furniture down there. So the two of us and his two kids watched the game sitting in folding mesh beach chairs.

When James Harrison was in the midst of the interception return at the end of the first half, my friend and I started trying to stand up to cheer, but we had a hell of a time doing it. Neither of us is in the best of shape, and we were sunk down into those damn beach chairs. In my mind's eye, every time I see the replay of that interception return, I'm reminded of two pudgy guys struggling to get up out of those chairs. We managed to make it to our feet before the play was over, screaming and high-fiving each other. I'll never forget that.

No such problems for the Santonio Holmes catch at the end ... we were on our feet long before that play.

 

1. "Chalmers for the tie ... GOT IT!!!" I was 11 when Kansas last won the national championship. After years of choking and other heartbreak, seeing my alma mater win the big one at last resulted in one of those nights where I remember every detail, including drinking a bottle of champagne in about 10 minutes after the game and then wondering why I had a hard time typing.

2. Being at Arrowhead when Joe Montana led the Chiefs to a wild-card win against Pittsburgh. My favorite team and my favorite athlete of all time pulling out a wild and improbable win. That win marked 33 percent of the Chiefs' playoff wins in my lifetime.

3. Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup. Damn near started crying.

Really have nothing on a personal level, although I did knock in four straight 3-pointers for the company 3 on 3 basketball team about 10 years ago. I literally felt the so-called "zone" you often hear about. The Shootin' Manatees won the title that night.

 

Personally:

Threw a no-hitter in the county summer league championship game -- but lost.

Won a state championship with an undefeated season.

 

81-yard TD run on the last play of the first half in sixth-grade football.

2,000 reps (swings) with a 20-pound sledgehammer (hitting a tractor tire) in 60 minutes when I was in my mid-20s.

Now, I sit on the couch watching Law & Order and eating Chuckles while surfing the Internet.

 

Sergio Romo striking out Miguel Cabrera to win the World Series.