As I've been writing these reflection pieces I've been getting a rush or memories. The moments of this decade have been captured more than any other decade before it. With each moment becoming a GIF or Meme almost instantly. That's great, but also these moments are quickly forgotten as you continue your scroll. It's that double edged sword of the times we live in, we're more connected than ever but also have a tremendous disconnect. These moments, special plays, happen, get shared to the world and then poof the next day they are gone, replaced by another thing. There is no "Bobby Thompson shot heard round the world" or MJ's "The shot" vs Cleveland anymore, we go through moments so quickly, but also we get so many MORE, there is something incredible almost weekly. Someone tries to break the internet every day, I'm going to look back at a few I can remember, in no particular order.
Tebow Mania 2011, The Tim Tebow era in the NFL was short but incredible. If you want to boil it down to one moment, it would have to be the Wild Card TD he threw to Demaryius Thomas in Overtime. That play was Tebow Mania in a nutshell, the dude throws the ball 15 yards and the receiver takes it the final 65 yards. I was very hard on Tebow, I even wrote a post about it, before the 2011 season. I don't think my stance has softened, mostly because I was right, he flamed out and flamed out quickly. However, he does have that 2011 season, when he would play like crap for 3 quarters, but somehow the opposing team would let the Broncos hang around and suddenly in the final 10 minutes it was Tebow time and the dude took a team who was 1-4 with Kyle Orton starting to the playoffs. They won the division and won games in the most improbable ways, but just like that playoff game, he made the plays when they mattered and beat a very good Pittsburgh team.
The Bat Flip, They will do a 30 for 30, or one of those "Oral Histories" on the entire 7th inning of Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS between Texas and Toronto. It was epic and capped off by the greatest bat flip in MLB history. The Rangers scored the go ahead run on a crazy play, where the catcher hit the bat of the batter on his throw back to the pitcher in the top of the 7th. After a review and almost 20 minute delay the Rangers were winning late. Enter Jose Bautista in the bottom of the 7th with 2 runners on and a tie game he uncorked a monster homer, and the mother of all bat flips. After contact, he stared the ball down, then threw the bat over the plate and towards his dugout, before running to first. Reminder this is the 7th inning, there is still time to play in the decisive game of the series. It was incredible, impossible and cocky as hell. The Rangers weren't thrilled and things escalated again in 2016, when the two teams played and Bautista got punched by Rougned Odor after a hard slide at 2nd, another moment in itself. So great, go watch it again.
When the Lights Went Out, I could probably do a bunch of these on the Super Bowl moments, but this has to be the most memorable. In the 3rd quarter in Super Bowl 47, the lights went out in the Superdome. The game between the 49ers and Ravens was delayed for 34 minutes. I still think the blackout made that game closer than what it should've been. Baltimore was up 28-6, then San Francisco went on a 17-0 run and made the game much closer. With the blackout and the long halftime the Ravens offense was off the field for over an hour, that really slowed them down. It was tremendous black eye for the city of New Orleans and the NFL to have their premier event hampered by such an event but it was still incredible.
The Cubs Win the World Series (finally), When I did my breakdown for baseball in the 2010's I didn't really mention the Cubs. I'm a noted Cubs hater and even in the header for this moment, I couldn't help and take a shot. What can't be denied though is the Cubs did it. The finally won one, something not done in 108 years, not since the dead ball era had the Cubs been the kings of baseball. And they did it the 2nd hardest way possible, going down to the Indians 3-1 and winning the last 3 games including the last 2 on the road. The Cubs overcame so much to win that series including their boneheaded manager using their closer in a blowout Game 6 win that left him vulnerable in Game 7. But those scrappy Cubs overcame those obstacles and a rain delay to win Game 7 and end the streak. A moment that no baseball fan should forget, Cubs fan or not.
The Little 16 Seed That Could, When you fill out your bracket you always know you get 4 freebies in the first round. Since the NCAA Basketball Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 the #1 seeds were undefeated. Until 2018, then University Maryland Baltimore County did the unthinkable. Not only did they beat #1 Virginia, they embarrassed them 74-54. There was point late in the game where I felt UMBC was running up the score a little. It was a shocking result and the fact the Terriers laid it on UVA made the game feel less flukey. The aftermath was amazing, the UMBC twitter account was hilarious after the game. It was a shocking result and I'm not sure we'll ever see it again. Virginia did rally and win the NCAA title in 2019 lessening the blow of the loss, but I'm sure it's something none of those players will ever forget.
IshikaWalk-Off, I talked about the greatest moment for me in baseball when I talked about 2014 game 7 of the World Series in my baseball memories. The 2nd best memory of that postseason was Travis Ishikawa winning the NLCS with a walk-off 3 run homer. The game was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th, the Cardinals were out of pitchers and with 2 men on and nobody out I think they knew what was going to happen. Ishikawa launched a ball into right field, when it left the bat I knew the game was over, whether it was a double or a homer the runner from 2nd was scoring. I wasn't the only person who figured game over no matter what, Jake Peavy started mobbing Ishikawa between 2nd and 3rd not realizing he had to complete his home run trot. Ishikawa pushed Peavy off him and rounded 3rd before being mobbed at the plate, amazing moment. It sent the Giants to the World Series and legendary broadcaster Jon Miller said "Travis Ishikawa with the Bobby Thompson Moment." The Giants didn't have many clinching victories at home in their 3 World Series in 5 years run, that's why this is such a big deal to me.
Watson to Renfrow, Sometimes it happens, the team everyone wants to see lose, loses on a last second TD pass with 1 second left on the clock. In the 2017 National Championship game Deshaun Watson rolled to his right, Clemson ran a rub route and Hunter Renfrow ran free to the pylon, turning a 3 point deficit into a 4 point lead Clemson with 1 second left on the clock. Clemson finally took down the giant that was Alabama. The game was one of the best college football games of the decade as these teams fought it out for the 2nd straight year. Clemson scored 21 points in the 4th quarter en route to avenging the previous seasons loss. Renfrow a former walk on caught 2 TD passes on the night, while Deshaun Watson capped off his college career with 3 TD passes and 1 rushing TD as Clemson won 35-31.
Crowning of the Pharoah, In May/June of 2015 I was 33 years old my son was 3 months old. We each had witnessed the same amount of Triple Crown winners in our lives: 0. American Pharoah changed that, not only did he win the first Triple Crown since 1978, he kicked everyone's ass getting that Triple Crown. American Pharoah dominated horse racing that spring, his time in the Belmont was the 2nd fastest for a Triple Crown winner. I had given up hope on seeing a Triple Crown winner as it seemed trainers would hold their horses out of races to be fresher in later races thus making it harder for a horse who runs all three races to win all three. American Pharoah didn't care though, he won those races and capped off his season winning the Breeder's Cup Classic before retiring to stud, what life, what a horse.
28-3, 2nd and 11, ball on the 23 yard line, little over 4 minutes left in the game, up by 8, a FG makes it a 2 score game, what do you do? Run a pass play that results in a 12 yard loss, then another pass play that earns you a holding penalty, and then another pass play that falls incomplete and forces you to punt to the best QB of our generation with plenty of time to go score and get a 2 point conversion to force overtime? That wasn't ideal, but nothing in Super Bowl 51 made much sense. The Falcons built the huge lead on big plays, while New England ran a crap load of plays but left so many points on the field. The lead itself was just as flukey as the comeback. The best part of this comeback was the meltdown on social media, as all of America was basking in the Patriots demise, well until it wasn't their demise anymore. That 2nd down play will always haunt Atlanta fans, just run the ball and stay in FG range and seal it. But they didn't so Tom Brady did some Tom Brady shit and James White did his thing and the Patriots scored a TD on the opening drive of overtime. Next time Atlanta just kneel it 3 times and take the FG.
Sister Jean, The Cinderella story is what every sports fan wants. When UMBC beat Virginia it opened up the region for the other 14 teams, Loyola-Chicago took advantage. As the 11 seed they beat #6 Miami, then dispatched #3 Tennessee to make the Sweet 16, there they faced #7 Nevada before moving on to face #9 Kansas State, whom they beat and punched their ticket to the Final Four. During this entire run America fell in love with the Ramblers team Chaplain, Sister Jean, a 98 year old nun who was at every game. She was known as a good luck charm, it was such a great story and Sister Jean took much of the attention from the team so they could just keep winning. They eventually lost to Michigan in the Final Four but that doesn't make the story any less fun. Sister Jean just turned 100 in August and is still there for the Ramblers.
That's it, that's the list. I decided to stick with 10 moments, and mostly moments I watched. I obviously missed a ton including, OBJ's catch, the Minnesota Miracle, and Malcolm Butler. The USWNT winning World Cups, Landon Donovan scored a goal once. The Olympics gave us plenty of memories. Brandon Belt hit a homer in the 18th inning, David Freese shocked the Rangers, Doc Halladay threw a postseason no hitter, Chase Utley tweets, the Royals Wild Card comeback vs Oakland. Tiger Woods won the Masters, while Golden State blew a 3-1 lead, and Golden State also won a lot. Tua came in to beat Georgia, and the next year Jalen Hurts came in to beat Georgia. I mentioned the Kick Six and 2015 MSU vs Michigan game in the NCAA post. The "Iowa Wave" is a great tradition, I don't think of it as a moment. So many moments and we could go on forever. What do you remember? Hit me up on twitter @derekbredeson or on Facebook
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