Top 10 Sports Moments of 2007
Well it’s this time of year again when it seems everybody is coming out with their Best and Worst of 2007 lists, and this time The Stool is no different. Now some of you more veteran readers might remember a similar article I did way back in 2004, and frankly, a lot of people liked it. Therefore I decided to run it back this year with another exciting edition of the Top 10 Sports Moments (of 2007). Now keep in mind, a lot of shit happened this year, however this list contains the best of the best. (Note: off the field moments like Bonds’ indictment, Sean Taylor, Vick, Spy Gate, etc. were not included.)
Okay, onto the list…
10. As a Yankee fan, this one was particularly memorable. The New York Mets, with a seemingly insurmountable 7 game lead in mid-September, just absolutely coughed and gagged away the NL East. Oh how sweet it was to see the Shea Stadium faithful all on mass suicide alert the final game of the season when their ace, Tom Glavine, got lit up against the Marlins like Baby New Year on his 21st birthday. It’s interesting - many argue the Mets’ slide officially began after their September 15th loss against the Phillies - a game I happened to attend with my Mets’ fan father, extending my streak of home team losses to 9. Once again, sorry dad.
9. Florida basketball squeaks onto this year’s list at #9 for winning their 2nd straight NCAA hoops title, the first team to do so since Duke (assist: Vegas mob) in ’91-’92. Now despite what bloggers from other Mickey Mouse websites may have told you, this year’s Big Dance, as predicted by The Stool, belonged to the Pac-10 who sent 4 teams (UCLA, Wazzu, USC, Oregon) to the Sweet 16. However Florida, who struggled at times during the regular season, clearly peaked at the right time in March and early April. UCLA was no match for them in the Final 4 and either was Ohio State in the Championship game. The Pac-10 is strong again this year by the way, but 2007 was owned on the hardwood by the Gators.
8. I’ve worked long and hard on this list and I’ll be damned if I leave anything too important out, regardless of how many people watched. That’s why the Anaheim Ducks winning the Stanley Cup has to make the Top 10 Sports Moments of 2007. Sure, ratings for this year’s Cup Final against Ottawa were lower than Bruins Rewind in June, but that’s what happens when you televise the games on a channel (Versus) who’s best known for their coverage of bike riding. And "Youngblood", which is fine.
7. “The Mountaineers of Appalachian State have just beaten the Michigan Wolveriiines!” That was the call on September 1st when Division 1-AA Appalachian State went into the Big House and shocked the world, especially #5 Michigan 34-32. Forget Lloyd Carr, not even a Lou Holtz pep talk the following week could save the Wolverines as they lost again, this time to Oregon. Another personal side note here, I was about to tee-off at Newport National (cue Rodney's car horn from Caddyshack) and overheard somebody in the pro shop make a comment about the game being taken “off the board” in Las Vegas. Hmmm, now I still don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’s at least borderline interesting. No?
6. We’re going to keep this one short because of how meaningless it will ultimately prove to be. It was from August 7th in San Francisco where Barry Bonds juiced homerun #756 to break Henry Aaron’s all-time record. Like most people, I remember watching this and literally not caring at all.
5. Coincidentally #5 on this list took place on 5/5 of this year – that’s right, Cinco de Mayo was the date when Floyd Mayweather, who claims to go to the strip club “every night”, defeated American-Mexican Oscar de la Hoya by split-decision to win whatever random weight-class belt (Light Middleweight) De La Hoya held at the time. Now granted it wasn’t the greatest fight to watch and whether it “saved boxing” is still up for debate, but it was the richest and most anticipated fight in a long time, thanks in part to the HBO series “Mayweather/De La Hoya 24-7”, which showed Mayweather betting thousands of dollars on the Nuggets, while De La Hoya dodged Freddie Roach, and bullets, on the streets of Old San Juan.
4. Another clunker of a game was Super Bowl 41. There were 8, count em, 8 turnovers in all as Peyton Manning and the Colts took down the Bears 29-17 in one of the sloppiest games of all time. By the 3rd quarter it looked like one of those old NFL Films’ blooper reels starring strictly guys from the Bucs and Falcons. And nobody remembers this, but Rex Grossman actually had a better completion percentage that day than Manning, however that last pick-6 sealed the win for the Colts, and somehow gave the MVP to Peyton.
3. Truth be told on #3, I missed the first 12 innings of this game. I showed up at a local bar around 12:30 a.m. and was shocked to see the Padres/Rockies NL Wildcard Playoff game was still going. Somebody filled me in about a homerun hitting a guy in a wheelchair - I didn’t know what he was talking about. Anyway I was able to watch the 13th inning on TBS in between “Frank TV” promos and see Trevor Hoffman serve up the winning runs as the Rockies completed the most ridiculous September comeback in the history of baseball, ultimately winning Barstool’s El Presidente a few bucks (that quickly disappeared) on a 30-1 mid-season wager . They had a good run, those Rockies. Just not quite good enough.
2. Speaking of ridiculous, the Game of the Year BY FAR has to be this year’s Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma. I mean this game had it all – I’m sure everybody remembers, Boise State - up 8 with 90 seconds left in regulation, then DOWN 7 just 30 seconds later, Boise pulls out the Hook and Ladder play on 4th and 18 to tie the game, then the Half-Back Toss Pass in overtime and the now famous "Statue of Liberty" play to win the game on the 2-point conversion. Oh, and then the star running back proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend after the game and she said yes. An unbelievable ending, one we’ll probably never see anything like again. The only thing missing was Bob Barker pulling out the Big Wheel and somebody hitting $1.00.
1. Well they did it a few years ago and in 2007 they did it again. Are their fans getting spoiled by their recent success? You could say that. And sure, people questioned their ability to win several times during the regular season, but they picked it up for the playoffs, proving they were the best team in the league, winning the World Championship in a convincing 4 game sweep. That’s right, the San Antonio Spurs are champions of the NBA, and come in #1 on our Top 10 Sports Moments of 2007. Now a lot of people thought 2007 was Lebron’s year to finally assume the throne vacated by MJ, but Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and whoever else is on the Spurs had other ideas. So congrats to the Spurs, God damn it, what a team.
And there you have it – the Top 10 Sports Moments of 2007. If I missed any, which really isn’t likely, I don’t know what to tell you. Happy Holidays and we’ll see you in 2008.