Your 5 biggest sports memories 2004

[JamesCraven]

In ramdom order:

• My first time at Citizens Bank Park. I just loved every time I went there.
  
• Eric Milton nearly getting a no-hitter July 25th vs. Cubs.
  
• The Olde Towne Team FINALLY breaking the Curse of the Bambino.
  
• The Flyers long run in the playoffs before falling to Tampa Bay.
  
• Terrell Owens...before breaking his ankle.
  

[Discrim]

5-UW football blows shot at Rose Bowl by getting blown out by Michigan State and Iowa

4-Cubs blow easy shot at wildcard after getting swept by Reds and losing 2 of 3 to Atlanta

3-Locked Out...they won't let me in

2-Favre gets concussion vs Giants, comes back in a few plays later (still woozy) and launches a TD. Pack then lets Giants take the win

1-Cubs win World Ser...wait. see #4 for why i'm still waiting.

real 1-Irish fire Ty, suffer Urban rejection, resort to Weis.

so, in summary, this year sorta sucked.

edit: i think i'll throw in a #6-my alma mater, Case HS, went 4-5 why am I smiling? cus teh best record we'd been able to muster since 1999 was 1-8. to top things off, we beat Horlick

[Gary]

here are my top 5:

5. The Phoenix Suns off to their best stop in franchise history.

4. Michigan making it to the Rose Bowl for the second consecutive year.

3. Detroit Tigers signing Ivan Rodriguez

2. Randy Johnson's Perfect game: I was their and man I will say it was sweet to watch a perfect game. This is something you can tell your grandkids.

1. DETROIT PISTONS 2003-2004 NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS. With a 4-1 series victory over the los angeles lakers

[Alphabet Man]

5) Cardinals sign Matt Morris

hey i got signed! but to St Louis? i don't want to go there, they lost to the Red Socks...that's like impossible- especially in a World Series- ha too complacent

My top 5 Best Memories

1- Greece winning Euro 2004 in Soccer

2- Australia climbing over the final frontier, winning in India for the first time since 1969-70 in Cricket

3- St Kilda v Brisbane Lions (Round 5) especially Schwarters goal to give us the win in AFL (had to have something Aussie Rules in it)

4- Port Adelaide knocking of the Brisbane Lions in the Grand Final

5- Muralitheran being under suspicion for chucking (Cricket)

My top 5 Worst Memories

1- Losing to Port Adelaide in the Preliminary Final at Moron Park

2- Losing to England in the ICC Champions Trophy in England

3, 4 & 5- i can't think of any

MY top 5 'emotional' (but not too emotional) memories

1- Keith Miller's death

2- Steve Waugh retiring

3- Robert Harvey playing 300 games for the Saints

4- Andrew Gaze nearing 600 NBL games for the Melbourne Tigers

5- Robert Harvey's 300th game...

[PatriotX03]

1. Red Sox Win the World Series

2. Red Sox Defeate Yankees 4 Games to 3 in the ALCS

3. Patriots Win Superbowl XXXVIII

4. Patriots Trade for Corey Dillion

5. Michigan going to the Rose Bowl

[Saintsfan]

Ok here is my list, from an entirely personal perspective

1 England beating the West Indies at Lords, with yours truly present for both the last two days. In particular, Ashley Giles bowling Brian Lara through the gate on the last day.

2 England beating Australia in the ICC champions trophy. Its been a long long time!

3 Watching Southampton being bounced out of the Carling Cup 5-2 by my local team Watford. (A pasinful one that one)

4 Being at the twenty 20 finals day. Great weather, great games and a great finale.

5 Seeing Kelly Holmes win 2 Olympic Gold medals on the track. She had been through an awful lot through her career and to see it given those momnets of glory was fantastic to see. What sports is about, at its best IMO.

From a perspective of a Brit keeping an eye on US sports, i would also mention The Red Sox come back against the Yankees. that was loaded with so much history and so much drama that you have to appreciate the impact of the story, even if you are a Red Sox hater. (Which I am not)

[Alphabet Man]

i knew you'd put the England Champions Trophy win in there somewhere but didn't Brian Lara score 400 and out against you guys? he was selfish, he wanted the record before the team, then he declared when he went out, now that is a captain that cares more about personal achievements than the team....Matthew Hayden deserves to keep his record even though he is in a form slump at the moment

i would also add to my list of best memories the Vics beating the Bulls in the Pura Cup (First class) cricket final at the MCG and 'Chuck' Berry announcing his retirement shortly afterwards

[See Red]

1. Boston Red Sox win the World Series.

2. UConn Huskies sweep Mens and Womens NCAA Championships

3. Peyton Manning breaks single season TD record

4. Denver Nuggets make the playoffs for the first time in 10 or so years.

5. Denver Broncos trade Clinton Portis for Champ Bailey

The Red Sox one, for me, includes their whole run through the playoffs.

[DEAD!]

My top 5 Best Memories

1- Greece winning Euro 2004 in Soccer

2- Australia climbing over the final frontier, winning in India for the first time since 1969-70 in Cricket

3- St Kilda v Brisbane Lions (Round 5) especially Schwarters goal to give us the win in AFL (had to have something Aussie Rules in it)

4- Port Adelaide knocking of the Brisbane Lions in the Grand Final

5- Muralitheran being under suspicion for chucking (Cricket)

My top 5 Worst Memories

1- Losing to Port Adelaide in the Preliminary Final at Moron Park

2- Losing to England in the ICC Champions Trophy in England

3, 4 & 5- i can't think of any

Interesting, you put Port Adelaide amone your best AND worst moments, you must hate Brisbane that much, huh?

Good luck playing for the Cardinals

[fiasco!]

here are my top 5:

...

1. DETROIT PISTONS 2003-2004 NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS. With a 4-2 series victory over the los angeles lakers

sorry, but didn't the lakers only win 1 game?

[CC97]

I'll try to go with "personal" only, so things like the Sox comeback over the Yanks (which I feel was the biggest sports event of the year), won't be on here since I'm not a Boston Red Sox fan.

In the order I can remember them in:

John Cerutti's death

Extremely shocking for Blue Jay fans everywhere, but it hit me a little harder since we both worked in the same building. I'd see the guy everyday, I said 'hi' to him a few times, shared an elevator with him now and then, I'd even see him with his family... in fact I shared an elevator with him 2 days before he died. I knew one day a player or personality I saw daily would pass away, it really is a weird feeling.

Montreal Expos finalé

Most of you know that I was there in person, being in person for a franchises final game is a lot more emotional than I thought it would be. I found myself almost crying during the post-game ceremony, but I am glad I got to experience it. You could say it should've been expected, but with such a stretched out death like the Expos had, it almost felt like they would never die and could survive anything.

Kerry Ligtenberg's On-Field Meltdown

You Yankees fans out there should remember this, Kerry Lightenberg on the mound at SkyDome in tears, but not being pulled, after a extremely awful pitching performance (wish I could find a picture)...

Ligtenberg 0.2 IP 6 H 5 R 5 ER 0 BB 1 SO 3 HR

The Blue Jays eventually rescued Ligtenberg by pulling him in favour of second baseman Frank Menechino, oddly enough Menechino was the only Jays pitcher not to surrender a run that inning.

Menechino 0.1 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 0 SO 0 HR

The Yankees ended up scoring 9 runs in the 9th inning, on their way to an 18-6 win.

Bertuzzi v. Moore

I was watching this live on television, and I thought Moore was dead. That's enough to make it personally memorable. Think about it... as it was happening on t.v. you didn't see the punch and the slam, you only saw a big pile of players in a fight, then one player off to the side, face down and not moving, in a pool of his own blood. Chilling.

The Calgary Flames

I may not have included the Red Sox because I'm not a Sox fan, sure I'm a Leafs fan, but as most crazy Canadians, I cheer for the five other teams in my nation (yes I cheered for the Senators in 2003, yes I cheered for the Habs in 1993). The one thing I'll remember most about this run was game six of the Stanley Cup finals. I had just quit my job with the Maple Leafs/Raptors, and I had tickets to a concert so I couldn't watch the game. I had my girlfriend text message me updates every 20 minutes to my cell phone. We heard the Bolts winning goal on the radio on the way home (i thought the Flames had scored so I started to freak -- embarassing)

My Month as a Maple Raptor

So for a month I had my dream job, web master for mapleleafs.com, and as a bonus that job included web master for raptors.com . The end result was ugly... very ugly... and to be honest, I am glad I no longer work there. The company was great, the people I worked with were awesome, my boss... is another story altogether. In my month there, every minute seemed surreal. I'd have ex-Leafs popping in and out of my office all the time, I'd have Chris Bosh on the speaker phone in a meeting, Chuck Swirsky would call every Wednesday to comment about how we placed his article.

I went to the Maple Leafs Media Day press conference, Pat Quinn, John Ferguson, and a bunch of Leafs... plus being in a room with 90% of the Toronto newspaper, radio, and television sports reporters was something else. It's fun to listen in to conversations! To top things off, we went to lunch afterwards and Dick Irvin was eating at the table next to us, I'll never forget that day or month!

So that was my 2004, early indications are that 2005 will be a massive drag, I hope you all enjoy it.

[Stampman]

Nice to see a fan of another team mention the Flames...

My 1989 memories are better (although I had to work the night they won the Cup!)

but 2004 memories for the Flames are probably second for the team, because they were so unexpected...

[Saintsfan]

i knew you'd put the England Champions Trophy win in there somewhere but didn't Brian Lara score 400 and out against you guys? he was selfish, he wanted the record before the team, then he declared when he went out, now that is a captain that cares more about personal achievements than the team....Matthew Hayden deserves to keep his record even though he is in a form slump at the moment

I had sort of forgotten Lara's record. But as it came in a dead rubber (England were 3-0 up in the series of 4 games already) I don't think it did anyone any harm for Lara to be selfish. Perhaps because it occured during such an insignificant game takes away from the game. And it was a dead pitch. however its still more runs than anyone else has scored in an innings in tests and thats the record. If you wanna talk important innings then thats far more difficult to rate.

[yh]

1. The complete and inexplicable collapse of the Mizzou football team. In 26 years of holding a season ticket, I can never remember a going into a season with as high of expectations as I had for this team. The dreadful coaching job of Gary Pinkel and his minions may have set this program back another 5-10 years unless, of course, there is a wholesale change of attitude and methodology while he's still got Brad Smith to work with.

2. The Cardinals turning a mediocre and promiseless April into an incredible season, culminating in a thrilling pennant victory.

3. The rapidly declining state of the Mizzou basketball program. Last spring's collapse and embarassing first round NIT loss on the heels of the Ricky Clemons saga was only the tip of the iceberg. The NCAA penalties came down in late summer, then the scandal over the naming and unnaming of Paige Sports Arena, and then embarassing losses to schools like Davidson and Creighton. Quinn Snyder's apparent indifference to the situation betrays him as the fraud that he is and proves that merely playing under and working for Coach K does not necessarily make him a protege.

4. The NHL lockout leaves St. Louis without the Blues.

5. The Oklahoma Sooners get a shot at BCS redemption, landing a second consecutive appearance in the national championship game.

From a personal standpoint, these were the five sports stories that meant the most to me this year.

[twi]

In descending order.

5) My high school team winning ice hockey championship.

4) Red Sox win the World Series. Being 17, I can't imagine 86 years.

3) Basket-Brawl-Just shocking to see that happen, fights in a game are one thing, but with the fans and out of the context of the sport was just absurd.

2) Sox beat Yankees. Yes, this was bigger than the World Series win for me.

1) After being in attendance for all 41 home games, preseason games, and playoff games, seeing the Lightning raise the Cup. Simply unbelieveable. First time my team in a sport has won it all in my lifetime.

[Suigi]

Hmm...let's see.

5. The Maple Leafs beat the Senators for the fifth straight time in the playoffs. So much for THAT Cup run...

4. The Argos win the Grey Cup. Hallelujah, dance in the streets.

3. The Flames make it to the finals after 15 years absence. Here's hoping they don't imitate the OTHER Cinderella teams in the NHL the past few years (Does anyone remember the Mighty Ducks? The Hurricanes?)

2. The Lightning win the Stanley Cup. If you told people in 1992 when they were inaugurated that they would win a Cup in 12 years, they woulda thought you were nutters. Congrats to Bulin, Vinny, Marty, and Dave. ESPECIALLY Dave.

1. The Red Sox off the Yanks in a huge comeback, and string together 8 wins to nab the World Series. I still think a Boston fan whacked the ghost of Babe Ruth over the head with a baseball bat. "Hey...he was in my seat!"

And that's my High Five. Now for the Low Five...

5. The Maple Leafs bow out to the Flyers for the second straight year. What the hell is wrong with the Buds that they can't play at the Wachovia Center?!

4. The Vince Carter debacle. You won't be missed, pal.

3. The Ron Artest debacle. You won't be missed pal.

2. The Todd Bertuzzi debacle. You get the drift.

1. The NHL lockout. My God, why can't these morons actually NEGOTIATE?!

[Broken Record]

5 Biggest moments including good and bad

5. My high school alma mater wins football state championship - Congrats to the Alcoa Tornadoes

4. University of Tennessee beats Florida on a last second field goal and beats Georgia between the hedges

3. Titans RB Chris Brown breaks out to be the best RB in the NFL when healthy. Too bad he's never healthy.

2. The NHL Lockout. Damnit! I want my hockey back!

1. The untimely death of the Minister of Defense, Reggie White. I didn't agree with 90% of the things that came out of his mouth, but wow, what a player.

[Gary]

here are my top 5:

...

1.  DETROIT PISTONS 2003-2004 NBA WORLD CHAMPIONS.  With a 4-2 series victory over the los angeles lakers

sorry, but didn't the lakers only win 1 game?

yeah mis-step of the finger

[Alphabet Man]

My top 5 Best Memories

1- Greece winning Euro 2004 in Soccer

2- Australia climbing over the final frontier, winning in India for the first time since 1969-70 in Cricket

3- St Kilda v Brisbane Lions (Round 5) especially Schwarters goal to give us the win in AFL (had to have something Aussie Rules in it)

4- Port Adelaide knocking of the Brisbane Lions in the Grand Final

5- Muralitheran being under suspicion for chucking (Cricket)

My top 5 Worst Memories

1- Losing to Port Adelaide in the Preliminary Final at Moron Park

2- Losing to England in the ICC Champions Trophy in England

3, 4 & 5- i can't think of any

Interesting, you put Port Adelaide amone your best AND worst moments, you must hate Brisbane that much, huh?

Good luck playing for the Cardinals

how much is my salary? and all i do is pitch (throw) baseballs to the batsmen, right? no fielding? i get to have a hit?

[Pat]

#10-Bertuzzi attacking Steve Moore. A sport hurting, gets another blow

#9-The Olympics. It was a poor olympics for canada, but its always fun. We had some good stories like shewfelt and some awful ones like felicien.

#8-NHL Lockout- Im so sick of it since its all thats on sportscentre but it is a big sports story especially for a huge sports fan in canada

#7-Basketbrawl at the Palace. That was just really really shocking

#6-Euro 2004. One of the biggest upsets, and underdog stories ever.

#5-Farewell Expos-poor poor expos, finally put to rest

#4-Flames run. Im not the biggest hockey fan ever, but everyone in Canada was on the edge of their seats for the Stanley Cup finals especially games 6 and 7. So exciting

#3-SuperBowlXXXVIII- The Superbowl is like a big holiday here, and that was the best Superbowl game wise I have ever seen. Incredible.

#2-The whole red sox run- everyone knows about it. It was by far the biggest sports story of the year, one of the biggest of all time id even say, its just on my own personal list #1 is engrave in my mind forever.

#1-4th and 26. I was so pumped knowing we had to stop the eagles on one play from getting 26 yards and we were in the championship game. But noooooo. Then a TD, then favre goes for it all in OT but its picked off. Ill never forget that game.