5
Baseball
Shot Heard ‘Round the World
BASEBALL has moments. Football has drives, basketball has runs, hockey has … I dunno what hockey has. But I know this: Baseball has moments. Moments of suspense. Followed by moments when everything changes. Some 50 years ago, Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca threw a smoky fastball up and in to New York Giant, Bobby Thomson, who turned on it like a farmer wielding a machete. The Dodgers had led 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth. Two Giants were on base when “The Shot Heard `Round the World” disappeared into the left-field stands at the Polo Grounds. As a result of the “shot”, the Giants won the game 5–4, defeating the Dodgers in their pennant playoff series, two games to one. “The Giants won the pennant. The Giants won the pennant”, and October 3, 1951, became a frozen moment in baseball history.
4
Rugby
2003 Rugby World Cup Final
The 2003 Rugby World Cup Final was between England and Australia. The final was closely contested with both teams showing exceptional perseverance. Elton Flatley of Australia had tied the game at 14 each with a penalty goal on the 80th minute taking the game in to extra time. Jonny Wilkinson then kicked a penalty in the 82nd minute, the score then 14-17. Flatley kicked a penalty in the 97th minute, and the score drew level once again at 17-all. With only a minute remaining in the game, the ball was returned to England from a Mat Rogers kick, and with only 26 seconds on the clock, Wilkinson kicked a final drop goal, making the final score 17-20 and clinching the trophy for England. A national day of celebration was held on Monday, December 8, for the English rugby team, and hundreds of thousands of fans lined the streets of London to pay tribute to the English team. The English squad were also invited personally by the Queen to Buckingham Palace, and this was followed by a reception at Downing Street with, then, Prime Minister Tony Blair .
3
Cricket
Lara’s record-breaking 375 run innings
In a sport in which hitting a century (100 runs) in one innings is an extraordinary achievement, Brian Lara’s 375 runs against England last week was, well, Ruthian. From April 16 to April 18 the crease belonged to Lara and Lara alone. A 5’6″ lefty, Lara faced 537 balls from five English bowlers and hit 45 fours. His at bat was “chanceless,” meaning that, until he was put out, he never allowed a ball to get anywhere near the wicket, nor did he hit anything close to a catchable fly, the two most common ways to get out in cricket. Lara batted without interruption, not counting various stoppages for such necessities as lunch and tea—cricket, after all, did originate in England—for 12 hours and 46 minutes before being dismissed. In the wake of Lara’s 375-run tally, Trinidad and Tobago was—if such a thing can be said of a country comprising two neighboring islands—beside itself. On Thursday the prime minister, Patrick Manning, was at Port-of-Spain’s Piarco International Airport to laud Lara and his mates. It was announced that the next day would be recognized as a Day of Achievement in Lara’s honor, NATUC, the country’s national trade union, canceled a nationwide strike it had planned some time ago for that day. Besides receiving the Trinity Cross, Trinidad’s highest honor, Lara was also given real estate.
2
American Football
“The Greatest Game Ever Played”
Often known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played”, the 1958 National Football League Championship game between Baltimore Colts and New York Giants, was nothing less than spectacular. There’s no denying that the excitement of the back-and-forth battle reached epic proportions as quarterback Johnny Unitas led the Colts’ offense onto the field late in the game. With the clock ticking, the Colts began from their own 14-yard line. After two incomplete passes, Unitas connected with halfback Lenny Moore on an 11-yard play to start moving the offense up the field. Johnny U. missed on a long pass to L.G. “Long Gone” Dupre, before turning to his favorite target. On second-and-ten, he found Raymond Berry for a 25-yard gain to midfield. Then, Unitas looked down the left sideline and connected with Berry for another 15 yards. One more Unitas-to-Berry hook-up, which was good for 22 yards, put the Colts at the Giants’ 13-yard line. With seven seconds to play in regulation, kicker Steve Myhra trotted onto the field and booted the 20-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. It marked the first time in league history that a championship game would be decided in sudden death. The Giants won the coin toss, but were forced to punt after they went three-and-out. Seizing the opportunity, Baltimore’s offense methodically controlled the ball and moved 80 yards on 13 plays. History was made when fullback Alan Ameche punched through the line on a one-yard, game-winning touchdown after 8 minutes and 15 seconds of overtime to give the Colts a 23-17 win and the NFL title. The game marked the beginning of the NFL’s popularity surge, and eventual rise to the top of the United States sports market. Eventually 17 players would be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
1
Football/Soccer
1998-1999 Champions League Final
Arguably the greatest football moment has to be Manchester United’s triumphant comeback over Bayern Munich in the 1998-1999 champions league final. Manchester United were trailing 1-0 at the end of 90 minutes. United won a corner just as the fourth official indicated three minutes of injury time, and in a last-ditch attempt at an equalizer, Peter Schmeichel ventured up to Bayern’s penalty area. At this point, ITV commentator Clive Tyldesley asked: “Can Manchester United score? They always score!”. Beckham flighted the corner in just over Schmeichel’s head, Dwight Yorke put the ball back towards the crowded area, and after Thorsten Fink failed to clear sufficiently, the ball arrived at the feet of Ryan Giggs on the edge of the area. His right-footed snap-shot was weak and poorly struck, but it went straight to Sheringham, who swiped at the shot with his right foot, and nestled the ball in the bottom corner of the net. The goal was timed at 90:36. It looked as if, having been behind for most of the match, United had forced extra time, with Tyldesley declaring “Name on the trophy!”.
Less than 30 seconds after the subsequent kick-off, United forced another corner, but Schmeichel stayed in his penalty area this time. Beckham again swung the corner in, which was headed downwards by Sheringham. Solskjær shot out a foot and poked the ball into the roof of the Bayern goal for United to take an astonishing lead. The goal was timed at 92:17. Solskjær celebrated by sliding on his knees, mimicking Basler’s earlier celebration, before quickly being mobbed by the United players, substitutes and coaching staff. Schmeichel, in his own penalty area, famously cartwheeled with glee. Tyldesley’s commentary on Solskjær’s goal is famous among Manchester United fans for its direct nature: “Is this their moment? Beckham… into Sheringham… and Solskjær has won it!” Tyldesley again followed this with the exclamation, “Manchester United have reached the Promised Land.” It had looked so certain that Bayern Munich would have won the cup that Bayern ribbons had already been secured to the trophy in preparation of the presentation ceremony. When the trophy was presented to Manchester United, the captain on the night, Peter Schmeichel, who had just finished his final match for the club, and manager Alex Ferguson raised the trophy together.
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