Memorable Championship Games

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
Feb 1, 2009

Memorable Championship Games

1946 World Series

Boston shortstop Johnny Pesky hesitated before throwing home, and Enos Slaughter scored all the way from first base on an eighth-inning double by Harry ''The Hat'' Walker to give the Cards a 4-3 victory. Which game would you add to the list? Send comments to siwriters@simail.com.

1955 World Series

Johnny Podres became a Brooklyn legend when he pitched the Dodgers to their first World Series title. Podres went 9-10 in the regular season before beating the crosstown Yankees in Games 3 and 7, the latter a 2-0 shutout at Yankee Stadium.

1957 NBA Finals

Led by a rookie center out of San Francisco named Bill Russell and his 19 points and 32 rebounds, the Celtics fought off the St. Louis Hawks in double overtime for their first NBA crown. Helping Russell was fellow rookie Tom Heinsohn with 37 points and 23 rebounds, which offset a combined 5-for-40 shooting performance by Boston stars Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman.

1958 NFL Championship

Known as the "Greatest Game Ever Played," the championship game between Baltimore and the New York Giants was a see-saw battle that saw the Giants take the lead in the fourth quarter only to fall as the Johnny Unitas-led Colts tied it in the last seconds and won on their first possession in overtime.

1960 World Series

Bill Mazeroski opened the bottom of the ninth with a homer off Ralph Terry of the Yankees to give the Pirates a 10-9 victory and the World Series in seven games. Which game would you add to the list? Send comments to siwriters@simail.com.

1962 World Series

Ralph Terry, the goat of the 1960 Game 7 loss to the Pirates, was on the mound again in the ninth but this time he came out a winner as Giants slugger Willie McCovey (left) lined out to to second baseman Bobby Richardson for the final out.

1965 World Series

After throwing a shutout in Game 5, Hall of Fame left-hander Sandy Koufax returned on two days rest and did it again, striking out 10 batters in both games and winning the clincher 2-0.

1967 NFL Championship

The drama of an epic showdown between Green Bay and Dallas was only enhanced by temperatures of nearly 18 below. Quarterback Bart Starr scored on a last-minute dive into the endzone to lead the Packers to the Ice Bowl victory.

1970 NBA Finals

After hobbling off the court early in Game 5 with a torn thigh muscle, Willis Reed made a surprising and triumphant return moments before tip-off for the series' deciding game. Buoyed by his presence -- and his scoring the first two baskets of the game -- the Knicks won the title behind Walt Frazier's 36 points and 9 assists.

Super Bowl V (1971)

Before there was the Idiot Kicker, the Colts had "Lassie" -- shaggy-haired Jim O'Brien, who helped them overcome five fumbles and climb out of a 13-6 fourth quarter hole against Dallas. The stage was set when linebacker Mike Curtis picked off a Craig Morton pass and returned it to the Cowboy 28 with under a minute to play. O'Brien's 32-yarder sealed the deal with five seconds to spare.

1975 World Series

This series wouldn't have gone seven games if Carlton Fisk (pictured) hadn't homered off Reds lefty Pat Darcy in the bottom of the 12th of Game 6. The Reds were down 3-0 through five innings of Game 7, but tied it in the seventh and went ahead with two outs in the ninth on a bloop single by Joe Morgan.

1980 NBA Finals

This one's not memorable for the final score, but because with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sidelined by a bad ankle, rookie Magic Johnson was moved from guard to center. Magic scored a game-high 42 points, with 15 rebounds and seven assists.

1982 NCAA Championship

Not yet Air Jordan, the Jumpman started to write his legacy of game-winning shots when he banked in a mid-range jumper with 17 seconds remaining in the win over Georgetown.

1983 NCAA Championship

When the Wolfpack's Lorenzo Charles caught Derrick Whittenburg's air ball and put it in for an easy score, fans in attendance may have thought the sky was falling. Jim Valvano's team pulled an all-time upset in rushing the heavily-favored Phi Slamma Jamma out the championship door.

1984 Orange Bowl

Nebraska entered this game as the consensus No. 1 and a heavy favorite, but Howard Schnellenberger's squad came to play and led 31-17 in the fourth quarter. The Huskers made a furious comeback, but failed a two-point conversion with 48 seconds left, and Miami won its first national title.

1987 Fiesta Bowl

Dubbed as a battle of "Good versus Evil," the game featured two teams with vastly different pedigrees. Although it entered the game undefeated, Penn State was a blue collar team that looked pretty beatable. Miami, on the other hand, had steamrolled every opponent on its schedule with a flamboyance that rubbed many football fans the wrong way. Miami put itself in position to win the game, but Penn State intercepted Vinny Testaverde on the goalline with 18 seconds left to preserve the win.

1987 NCAA Championship

Jim Boeheim's first Final Four ended on a sour note as Indiana's Keith Smart helped the Hoosiers to a 74-73 win when he hit a 16-foot baseline jumper with four seconds left. Which game would you add to the list? Send comments to siwriters@simail.com.

1988 NBA Finals

Facing an upstart Detroit Pistons club in their third Game 7 of the playoffs, the Lakers defended their NBA championship with a three-point win in Los Angeles. Finals MVP James Worthy led the way with 36 points and 16 rebounds, making good on coach Pat Riley's guarantee that the Lakers would hold onto their title.

Super Bowl XXIII (1989)

They didn't call him Joe Cool for nothing. Trailing the Bengals 16-13 and backed up on their own eight with 3:20 left, the 49ers looked to QB Joe Montana in the huddle. "Hey, isn't that John Candy over there?" he asked. So began the 11-play, 92-yard drive. The capper: Montana's 10-yard scoring strike to wideout John Taylor with 34 seconds to go.

Super Bowl XXV (1991)

Trailing by one with 2:16 to play in a gut-grinding game, the Bills drove from their own 10 to the Giants' 29. Quarterback Jim Kelly spiked the ball with eight seconds left, and both teams prayed as Scott Norwood attempted a game-winning 47-yard field goal. "I hit it solid, but I guess I tried to kick it too hard," he later said.

1991 World Series

Minnesota's Jack Morris and the Braves' John Smoltz, Mike Stanton and Alejandro Peña locked up in a scoreless duel. The Twins' Gene Larkin singled home Dan Gladden with the winning run with one out in the bottom of the 10th to give Minnesota its second World Series title in five seasons.

1993 World Series

With the Blue Jays trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth and Rickey Henderson and Paul Molitor on base, Joe Carter launched a three-run homer off Mitch Williams.

1994 NCAA Championship

Scotty Thurman's high-arcing three-pointer with 53 seconds left helped seal the Razorbacks' win over the Blue Devils.

1994 Orange Bowl

With Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward at the helm, Florida State entered this matchup as a 17 1/2-point favorite. Tommie Frazier put the Huskers in position to attempt a 45-yard field goal, but Byron Bennett missed wide left. The win gave Bobby Bowden his first national title.

1994 Stanley Cup Final

New York's agonizing 54-year drought boiled down to one final Game 7 face-off in their own end -- Craig MacTavish against Vancouver's Murray Craven -- with 1.6 seconds left. "The last seven minutes seemed like a lifetime," Rangers goaltender Mike Richter said after his team was forced to repeatedly ice the puck to ward off six Vancouver attackers. "I could feel my heart beating when Martin Gelinas hit a post and then Nathan LaFayette hit another post. It wasn't until there were 1.1 seconds left that I felt relieved. I could feel the weight of 1940 off my shoulders."

1997 World Series

Craig Counsell came home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th on Edgar Renteria's solid base hit to center, giving the Marlins a World Series title only five years into their existence.

1998 NBA Finals

Trailing 86-85 with 15 seconds remaining, Michael Jordan shook free of Bryon Russell and hit a game-winning and series-winning 18-footer, Jordan's last shot as a Chicago Bull. Which game would you add to the list? Send comments to siwriters@simail.com.

Super Bowl XXXIV (2000)

The Titans roared out of a 16-0 hole to tie the game in the fourth quarter. After the Rams took a 23-16 lead with 1:54 left, Titans QB Steve McNair completed nine passes in a row. Six seconds left. McNair to Kevin Dyson at the Rams' three. The end zone awaits, but linebacker Mike Jones brings Dyson down on the 1 as time expires, preserving the Rams' first Super Bowl title.

2001 Stanley Cup Final

Raymond Bourque's 22-year wait to hold and lift the old chalice ended with the Avs' climbing out of a 3-games-to-2 grave against Martin Brodeur's stout Devils. In Game 7, Alex Tanguay scored twice and assisted on a third goal while Conn Smythe-winner Patrick Roy became almost impregnable in net. The Avs' comeback was all the more remarkable because they did it without Peter Forsberg, who'd been lost to a spleen injury.

2001 World Series

The best postseason closer in baseball was holding a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Never mind what the dandy D-Back duo of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson had done earlier: The Yanks looked like a lock. But Mariano Rivera got himself in trouble, and Luis Gonzalez won the game 3-2 with a bases-loaded bloop single over a drawn-in shortstop Derek Jeter. Johnson got the win in relief.

Super Bowl XXXVI (2002)

The Rams out-gained the Patriots 427-267 in total yards, but it all came down to 17-17 with 1:30 left. With no timeouts left, Tom Brady used his uncanny precision passing to drive the Pats to the Rams' 30, where he spiked the ball with seven seconds to go. Adam Vinatieri then coolly nailed a 48-yarder to give New England its first Super Bowl title. It was the first time the big game was won on the final play.

2003 Fiesta Bowl

Nobody gave Jim Tressel's squad a chance against the star-studded Hurricanes, but the Craig Krenzel-led Buckeyes pulled off a shocker in double overtime. The game will always be remembered for a controversial, fourth-down pass interference call that kept Ohio State alive in the first overtime.

2004 Stanley Cup Final

An epic slugfest between Vincent Lecavalier's Bolts and Jarome Iginla's gutty Flames was decided by a pair of goals by lesser-light winger Ruslan Fedotenko, who had been knocked out with a head injury in Game 4. The steadfast Lightning held Iginla without a shot and weathered a furious Flames assault that was short-circuited by a penalty in the final minute on Andrew Ference for charging Martin St. Louis, who'd scored the double OT winner in Game 6.

2006 Stanley Cup Final

It took the stellar goaltending of Conn Smythe-winner Cam Ward, a backup for most of the season, and goals from a pair of unlikely heroes -- blueliners Aaron Ward and Frantisek Kaberle -- to hold off the gallant Oilers, who made an unexpected playoff run and climbed out of a three-games-to-one Final hole with backup Jussi Markanen in net. A Chris Pronger turnover led to Justin Williams' silverware-securing tally into an empty net with 1:01 left to play.

2006 Rose Bowl

Considered by some as the greatest college football game ever played, the '06 Rose Bowl served as a personal highlight reel for Vince Young. Young threw for 267 yards and rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns (including the game-winner on fourth down with just 18 seconds left) as Texas won the national title.

Super Bowl XLII

An improbable catch by David Tyree and a late game, do-or-die march down the field by Eli Manning carried the Giants past the previously unbeaten New England Patriots to capture Super Bowl XLII.

2008 NCAA Championship

Down nine points with 2:12 remaining and thought to be done, the Jayhawks tied the game and sent it to overtime when Mario Chalmers nailed a three-pointer with less than three seconds left. Kansas eventually won in overtime, 75-68. Which game would you add to the list? Send comments to siwriters@simail.com.

Super Bowl XLIII

After watching Larry Fitzgerald score on a 64-yard touchdown to give Arizona a 23-20 lead, the Steelers responded with a two-minute, game-winning drive, capped by a Ben Roethlisberger pass to Santonio Holmes.