It’s that Time of Year

Well it only took every bit of September to complete, but the Major League’s regular season has come and gone; and the “Fall Classic” is upon us. Not to mention, both the N.F.L. and college football are in full swing only weeks into their respective seasons. Oh yeah, hockey and basketball are in the rear view mirror and objects are closer than they appear. With all this excitement surrounding the sports world I’m not sure if my heart can take it.

As sports fan, we ride the emotional and psychological roller coasters of a season filled with walk-off home runs, last minute field goals, and buzzer beaters. No matter what sport, we’ve all experienced the celebration in victory and agonizing pain in defeat. And these memories last forever.

Bring up the names Bill Buckner to Red Sox’s fans, Bartman to Cub fans, Flute to Miami, Jordan to Chicago, and “Tiger” to the world, and just listen to emotions and expletives you’ll hear. But its sports and that’s why we love it. No matter what’s going on in life, from high gas prices, to fears of economic recession, we unite around it, schedule our lives around it, and live through it.

We grow up following these teams. Living and breathing the history generations before us have pasted down. For every winner there’s a loser, for every up there’s a down, and while no fan’s experiences of seasons past are the same, I’d like to share my favorite and not so favorite sports moments of all time and would encourage you to do the same on the phalanx message board following this story.

 

Victories

1.                         1980 United States v. Russia Olympic Ice Hockey. A timeless classic that can be relived at any age and excite the emotions of a live game.

2.                         2005 MSU Football v. Wisconsin. A top 5 team comes marching into East Lansing, and leaves with a beat down. A capacity crowd witnesses 2, 4th and goal stops and a great team performance.

3.                         2008 United States Open – Tiger Woods v. Rocco Mediate. With what we now know as a season ending injury Tiger Woods captivates millions with his super-human ability and forces a playoff on the 72nd hole, and once again creates the greatest of sports theater in a great Monday showdown.

 

Defeats

1.     2004 MSU Football v. Michigan. After a colossal collapse, I’ve never forget leaving the “Big House” with my head hanging lower than my self esteem.

2.     2006 MSU Football v. Notre Dame. Clearly you can tell there’s a pattern emerging here. It’s a time in my life I refer to as “heartbreak in East Lansing.” A crowd of thousands chanting “We ain’t leavin’” in the pouring rain supporting the Spartans turned into a night of anger, disgust, etc…..

3.     Every time I lose. This one is so simple in its intent but so complex in its definition. Like many of you, I can’t stand losing, and that doesn’t necessarily mean when I’m playing. As sports fans we use words like “we,” “us” to describe how “our” teams did each night. We inject ourselves in each sport.

 

 

Join me in the phalanx forum and tell me your most euphoric and devastating wins and losses of all time.Â