Ten on Tuesday

Ok, I'll play along. These are in no special order, just typing them as they come to mind. Oh, and I know that figure skating and gymnastics are not considered sports by some people, but I don't think two guys getting in a ring and beating the living crap out of each other is a sport, so to each his/her own.

 10 Favorite Sports Moments Ever:

• Al Michaels screaming, "Do you believe in miracles? YESSSSS!"
• Sarah Hughes coming from nowhere to win the gold medal in figure skating in the (what year?) Winter Olympics
• The first time I saw Olga Korbut's backflip on the uneven parallel bars in the 1972 Olympics
• Seeing Hank Aaron hit the home run in 1974 that took him past Babe Ruth's record
• Seeing the Cincinnati Reds sweep the World Series in 1990
• Franz Klammer's amazing and scary all-out downhill skiing run for the gold medal in the 1976 Winter Olympics
• Jennifer Capriati's ace for match point in the finals of the Australian Open against Martina Hingis (what year??)
• Pretty much anything Roger Federer does. The guy moves like a cat. He's a joy to watch.
  
• Pete Sampras' serve that literally blew a hole through the racquet strings of Pat Rafter in an ATP match 
  
• The drop shot I hit in a doubles match that left our opponents standing open-mouthed six feet from the net wondering how the heck that ball hit the court and died the way it did. (Hey, nobody said they had to be professional sports moments, did they?)

As you can see, I have an extremely limited frame of reference for sports. I'm sure I've seen some other great moments, but I can't put names and times to them. So I guess that's what "memorable" means, eh? I would have included Torvill & Dean's gold medal-winning performace to "Bolero" in the 1984 Winter Olympics, but if figure skating is iffy for some folks as a sport, ice dancing is really questionable. I don't care one way or another, but it was a beautiful performance (which word is probably what disqualifies it as being "sport." Whatever.)

The funny thing about the first one is that I never watch hockey. I just happened to be home that evening, sick with strep throat. My parents were gone, and I was lying in the recliner too sick to care what was on TV. The Olympics were on, it was hockey, what the heck. I'd watch. It didn't take long for me to forget about the strep throat. That was one amazing game. Ya gotta love it when the underdog wins!