Top 10 Sports Moments of 2008

It's a few days late, but I finally got a chance to sit down and put together my list of this year's top 10 sports moments. I wanted to get it up on the 31st, but that wasn't going to happen thanks to what was a ridiculously busy schedule over the Holidays. If you want to reminisce a bit, you can check out my 2007 Top 10 here. Feel free to let me know in the comments whether I left something off that you would have included. Now, for my favorite moments of 2008:

#10 - Pacquiao Pounds De La Hoya (12/6/08)
By no means was this the best fight of 2008 -- not even close. In fact, it wasn't even really a fight so much as a beat down by Pacquiao. Why, then, does it make my list? How about the fact that it likely ended the career of the most marketable fighter boxing has ever seen. Or the surprising dominance of Pacquiao, who was supposed to be the weaker fighter due to his naturally smaller size. Or the fact that it cemented Pacquaio's place as the best active pound-for-pound fighter in the business. All of these reasons factored into my decision to include this fight on the list, but the thing that sealed the deal is that this fight opened the door for the possible return of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who would like to test Pacquiao's claim to that pound-for-pound crown.

#9 - Davidson's March Madness Run (3/20 - 3/30/08)
It's not unprecedented for a small school to make a big run in the NCAA Tournament, but the 10th seeded Davidson Wildcats, led by Guard Stephen Curry, didn't just make a run -- they nearly knocked off the eventual champions in the Elite Eight. Davidson took out Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Wisconsin on the way to facing Kansas in the Midwest Regional Final, and ended up losing by a slim 59-57 margin. That was enough to get Davidson in my top 10 -- but to be fair, I should split the #9 spot and give the National Championship game some credit as well. Kansas ended up taking out Memphis in overtime after trailing by 9 points with just 2:12 left to go. The finish of regulation was remarkable, with Memphis choking by missing four of five free throws to end regulation. I'm giving Davidson the headline, but really this spot belongs equally to that great championship game.

#8 - The 50th Daytona 500 (2/17/08)
The finish of the Daytona 500 is always pretty interesting, but this year's Daytona 500 probably wouldn't have made my list if it hadn't been the 50th running of the sport's biggest race. Ryan Newman ended up getting the win with an assist from teammate Kurt Busch, giving team owner Roger Penske his long sought first restrictor plate victory. The fact that the "new car" (a.k.a. the Car of Tomorrow) made its Daytona debut in this race also spiced things up somewhat. Really, though, it's the nostalgia involved with a major anniversary that gets this year's relatively pedestrian running of the race on my Top 10 list.

#7 - Celtics win the NBA Championship (6/17/08)
The Finals matchup between the Celtics and Lakers was a dream come true for the NBA, but notice that I didn't put the series itself on the list -- this spot goes exclusively to the Celtics for winning the banner. I didn't start to pay attention to the NBA until after the Celtics were already in a serious decline from the championship era, and before last summer the team hadn't hoisted a trophy since 1986, and hadn't won a conference crown since 1987. The extreme makeover that brought Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in to join Paul Pierce made Danny Ainge look like a genius (and Kevin McHale look very, very bad). It was a notable return to form for the Yankees of the NBA (17 championships -- wow).

#6 - Jimmie Johnson/Lewis Hamilton Championships
I'm cheating by putting both racers togethers in one slot, but I couldn't pick which one I preferred. Johnson made history by doing the unthinkable and winning his third straight NASCAR championship, something that seemed unthinkable in the modern era with so many competitive teams. Hamilton, on the other hand, won his first Formula 1 Championship in just his second year in the sport, becoming the youngest driver to pull that off. Hamilton narrowly pulled off the win over Ferrari's Felipe Massa in the championship, winning by just one point after a last lap pass netted him a fifth place finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix. The motorsports world might look very different in 2009, but 2008 brought two brilliant and historic championship runs.

#5 - Rays win the Pennant (10/19/08)
The World Series proved to be a bit of a dud, but the Rays 4-3 series victory over the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS was anything but. After narrowly losing the first game of the series, Tampa Bay clobbered Red Sox pitching in Games 2-4, scoring 9, 9, and 13 runs respectively in those games. That was enough to give the Rays a 3-1 series lead and seemed to indicate that the Rays had figured out how to score enough runs off of Boston to make it to the World Series. The veteran Sox wouldn't quit, though, and undoubtedly had visions of a 2004-like comeback flashing through their minds as they won games 5 and 6. In the end, the Rays would ride series MVP Matt Garza and rookie David Price to the game 7 win. And just like that, the Rays threw off the shackles of the first 10 years of team history. No longer are the Rays a laughingstalk. Hopefully they can continue terrorizing the Yankees and Red Sox for years to come.

#4 - Michael Phelps / Usain Bolt
The Olympics deserve a spot on this list, and without question the stars of the Beijing Olympics were these two guys. Phelps, of course, set the record for excellence by striking Gold in 8 different events. Bolt won "only" three medals, but his 9.69 second 100 m time (while showboating at the end!) broke his own World Record and inspired praise (for the sheer brilliance of his achievment), criticism (for his showboating), and concern (about the possibility that Bolt's time was aided by performance-enhancing drugs -- something for which there is no evidence). If I had to pick just one single event to put on this list, it probably would have been Phelps' 100m Butterfly victory over Milorad Cavic by just 1/100th of a second -- it was the most exciting 50 seconds of the Olympics for me since I was rooting hard for Phelps to break the medals record. Bolt's achievment is nothing to sneeze at, but I couldn't get overly excited for a 10 second event.

#3 - U.S. Open Golf Championship (6/12 - 6/16/08)
By far the most exciting golf event of the year. In case you've somehow managed to forget, this was the great battle between an injured Tiger Woods (who would submit to season-ending surgery a couple of days after winning the event) and the surprising Rocco Mediate. Woods' improbable victory probably would have been enough to get the event on this list by itself (how on earth do you win a golf tournament with a double stress fracture of the tibia and an ACL injury!?!), but the way it was done made it even more special. The unheralded Mediate finished the Fourth Round in a tie with Woods, requiring a Fifth Round the next day. The two golfers were still tied after the extra 18 holes, so in the end it came down to a playoff hole that was won by Woods. Mediate proved to be a popular foil to Woods, and I suspect many were rooting for David rather than Goliath in this battle. Woods victory over the field despite his injuries simply shows how very much better he is than everyone else in his sport. That's not exactly a revelation, but last year's U.S. Open served as yet another amazing reminder.

#2 - Wimbledon Men's Final (7/6/08)
An instant classic, this battle between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer is now considered by most pundits I've read to be the best Tennis match ever played. The event took all day to complete, as rain delayed the proceedings several times. In the end, Nadal would win by the unbelievable score of 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7. Nadal had been nipping at Federer's heels for some time, and this unbelievable match was the culmination of that fight. Federer had been invincible on the Wimbledon grass. While they likely will never duplicate the 2008 Wimbledon final, I hope they have a few more great bouts before Federer hangs 'em up.

#1 - Super Bowl XLII (2/3/08)
The Super Bowl is the undisputed King of sporting events in the United States. Nearly half of the people in the United States watch at least part of the game every year, a mark that nothing else comes close to. But really, the Super Bowl is popular in spite of itself. The game is usually a long, boring dud with bad halftime entertainment and far too many commercials (which usually are nowhere near as entertaining as they are expected to be by the fans, some of whom tune in solely to watch them). That's what makes last year's Super Bowl the #1 event of the year -- not only was it an "event" in the sense that everybody was watching, it was a great game that saw a tremendous upset. The New York Giants 17-14 win over the previously undefeated New England Patriots denied Bill Belichick's squad perfection, and created the legend of Eli Manning. The Giants final drive, notable for Manning's evasion of a seemingly sure-thing sack and David Tyree's circus catch off his helmet, was astounding sports theater. For once, the Big Game lived up to the hype, setting a new bar for greatness. It easily deserves the #1 spot on my list this year.

Top 10 Sports Moments of 2007

Top 10 lists at this time of year may be omnipresent, but I think they serve a useful purpose. When is a better time to look back at the year that was and remember the great moments? With that in mind, I'm offering you today my favorite moments from the sports world in 2007. I hope it brings back a few memories!

#10 - Formula 1 Racing - Chinese Grand Prix (10/1/07)
This was the first year in which I really followed Formula 1, and it was a highly entertaining season. The Chinese Grand Prix was the 16th of 17 races in the 2007 season, and super-rookie Lewis Hamilton entered the race with a seemingly insurmountable 12 point lead in the championship race. Prior to the start of the race, the rain started to come down -- and while that wasn't unexpected, it would play havoc with Hamilton's championship hopes. On the 30th lap, Hamilton's tires were worn out and he needed to come in to pit. When Hamilton moved to dive onto pit lane, however, his car failed to turn and he ended up in a sand pit from which he couldn't escape. As a result, Hamilton picked up the first DNF of his career and his points lead would dwindle to just 4 points heading into the final race of the season. By the time that race was over, Hamilton was tied for second with teammate Fernando Alonso, just one point behind champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari. This makes my list not necessarily because it was the best race of the 2007 Formula 1 season, but because it was almost certainly the most consequential.

#9 - Scott Baker's 1-hitter (8/31/07)
In a season where very little went right for the Minnesota Twins, this game was a high point. Baker, who has at times been frustratingly inconsistent as a Major Leaguer, put it all together in the second game of a doubleheader against the Royals. Baker took a perfect game into the 9th inning before walking John Buck and giving up a single to Mike Sweeney to lose his perfect game and no-hitter on back-to-back hitters. The Twins nonetheless ended up winning the game 5-0, and Baker turned in the pitching performance of the year for the team. Sadly, this is the only Twins moment of the season to make my list (although Jason Tyner's first career homerun was an awful lot of fun).

#8 - Florida Gators Repeat (4/2/07)
March Madness is always a blast -- and I actually prefer the first weekend and the attendant craziness to the Final Four. Nonetheless, the culmination of the tournament in 2007 gave us the first repeat national champion since 1991-92, when Duke did the deed. Florida beat Ohio State 84-75 to finish the season 26-5, meaning that the poor Buckeyes were once again the runners-up to Florida for a national championship -- three months earlier, Ohio State got pounded by Florida in the BCS Championship Game. While I remember next to nothing of the game itself, it is the achievement that I'm honoring with this spot on the list.

#7 - Patriots go Undefeated (12/29/07)
A 38-35 victory over the New York Giants just 2 days ago gave the Patriots a perfect 16-0 regular season. The first half of the season saw the Patriots looking virtually unbeatable as they pounded opponents into oblivion -- but the second half required the Patriots to do some work as they had several close calls. While the Patriots will not consider this season to be a success unless they finish things off with a Super Bowl victory, there's no question that going 16-0 is in itself a remarkable achievement that deserves recognition. This entry would also be incomplete if it didn't mention Tom Brady's ridiculous mark of 50 TD passes for the 2007 season. Unbelievable.

#6 - Missing Man Tributes
The USC Trojans and Washington Redskins both honored fallen teammates by using a version of the "missing man" formation in games this year. The Trojans were first up, honoring kicker Mario Danelo in the season-opener against Idaho on September 1. After scoring the first of what was sure to be many touchdowns in the game, the Trojans went onto the field for the extra point with 10 blockers and no kicker, resulting in a delay of game penalty. Danelo's parents, who had been invited to the game, took a few moments to realize what was being done, but were said to be quite touched by the gesture. Three months later on December 2, the Redskins honored Sean Taylor by going out for the first defensive play of their game with the Buffalo Bills with just 10 players on defense. I may be sentimental for finding these gestures to be meaningful, but I don't care -- they were incredibly touching, and represented the most visible way for the players to honor their fallen comrades.

#5 - Appalachian State over Michigan (9/1/07)
I'm a sucker for upsets, so I understandably loved the 2007 College Football season. Without question, though, the first upset was the best. Michigan turned out not to be nearly as good as a lot of pundits thought they would be in 2007, but when this game was played they were considered to be potential championship contenders. Watching the end of this game, which Appy State won 34 to 32 thanks to some incredible last minute play, was an exhilarating experience that fully primed me for what was to come. Again, as with several other items on this list, it's not necessarily the game itself that merits attention on this list, but what it stood for. Essentially, this game is standing in for all of the other upsets this season. Honorable mention in that category goes to Stanford over USC on October 6 -- but when I think back on the 2007 season, it'll be Michigan losing to open the season that I'll remember.

#4 - AFC Championship (1/21/07)
The Colts and Patriots entered the playoffs following the 2006 season as the 3rd and 4th seeds respectively, but after the Ravens and Chargers failed to live up to their higher seeds, Indy and New England met in the AFC Championship. New England led for nearly the entire game, but with about a minute left, Joseph Addai made it into the end zone from 3 yards out to give the Colts the lead. The defense held on, and the Colts won 38-34 to earn a trip to the Super Bowl. Two weeks later, Peyton Manning got the Super Bowl monkey off his back when the Colts beat the Chicago Bears, but it was the AFC Championship that presented the bigger challenge.

#3 - NASCAR Daytona 500 (2/18/07)
I love the Daytona 500. After three months without any racing to speak of, NASCAR comes roaring back with its biggest race of the season. As a result, the Daytona 500 would probably be somewhere on my top 10 list every year, just because of what it is. The 2007 version of the event was particularly great, however, as Kevin Harvick edged out Mark Martin by just 0.02 seconds -- the closest finish since the inaugural event in 1959. The end was not without controversy, as a major wreck on the last lap was ignored by NASCAR officials to allow Harvick and Martin to battle to the finish line -- contrary to what almost everyone believed was standard procedure. Nonetheless, the finish was great, and the race meant NASCAR was back.

#2 - Rockies win the Wild Card (10/01/07)
The Twins are my team and always will be, but living in Colorado, it was hard not to get caught up in the Rockies unbelievable finish to the 2007 season. The season culminated with 11 straight wins by the Rockies -- and 14 of 15 overall -- to get Colorado into the playoffs for the first time since 1995. Colorado needed to beat the San Diego Padres in a one-game playoff, and pulled it off 9-8. The magical run would continue into the World Series, as the Rockies swept the Phillies and Diamondbacks. Unfortunately, the Red Sox brought things crashing to a halt. The end of the regular season couldn't be tainted, however, and the weeks of enjoyment it brought me earned it this high place on my list.

#1 - Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (1/1/07)
What a way to kick off the year! Boise State beat Oklahoma 43 to 42 in this unbelievable game which I hope you've seen -- I can't do the ending justice and I'm not even going to try. The only time in my life when I enjoyed the ending of any game as much as I enjoyed this one was in 1991 when the Twins won the World Series. I credit this game with my newfound love of college football, which came on full force this season. When I was compiling this list, there was no question for me that this would be at the top. I can only hope that one of this season's BCS games will deliver in such a big way in the next few days!