A Summer of Spectacular Sports Scenes
After what I watched today in London, I realized that this 2008 summer, only about half over and with many other events (including most notably the Olympics) still to come, has produced some wicked awesome moments in the wide world of sports that will always be remembered…or never be forgotten. Not only are these moments filled with wild amounts of drama, but they’ve taken place during the highest levels of competition and grandeur in each respective sports. And for your reading pleasure, I’ll take you through the big four moments, in my opinion, of the summer so far…
–Champions League Final (Manchester United vs. Chelsea)
Soccer has never been my favorite sport to watch on television (with the exception of the World Cup), but the Champions League Tournament of 2008 definitely caught my eye. The final pitted Manchester United against Chelsea, two of the titans from the English Premier League. I found myself cheering for Chelsea for no particular reason, perhaps though because of my dislike for pretty boy Cristiano Ronaldo. In any case, the match went scoreless despite numerous attempts from both teams going just wide during the 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time. During penalty shots, Chelsea had a chance to win but the striker (his name escapes me at this point) slipped slightly on the grass and shot it wide. Man U capitalized and won the shootout soon after, causing a raucous celebration from the team in red. Soccer, however, remains well down the list in my watchable sports meter, as it failed to capture my rapt attention throughout the Euro 2008 Championships like it did during Champions.
–Game 5 Stanley Cup (Pittsburgh vs. Detroit)
I have always said that playoff hockey is the most exciting thing in sports, and this year’s Stanley Cup gave further evidence to that fact. With their backs against the wall, Pittsburgh evened Game 5 at 3 apiece with only 30 seconds remaining, sending the game into overtime. And there the game stayed for the next two-and-a-half hours. Countless saves were made by the young Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, as Detroit clearly held the advantage on the ice. If the Red Wings scored, they would clinch the Cup, which Pittsburgh needed a goal to send the series back to the Steel City for Game 6. As the game neared the end of the 2nd overtime, Penguins forward Petr Sykora leaned in to the NBC sideice reporter Pierre McGuire and promised he would be the one to end the game. And in the 3rd overtime, Sykora delivered on his promise and sent the series back to Pittsburgh, leaving the Red Wings faithful in sorrow. Even though, Detroit ended the series the next game, drama and excitement was alive and well in the land of hockey.
–US Open (Tiger Woods)
There are dominant athletes in history, and then there’s Tiger Woods. The greatest golfer of all time (it’s about time we admit this) had not played a tournament since the Masters due to knee surgery, but he was still the prohibitive favorite to win the 2008 US Open in Torrey Pines. After a round-and-a-half of so-so golf, Tiger turned it on during his back nine on Friday, shooting a 30 to crash the front page of the leaderboard. His Saturday back nine charge was slightly more epic: a 60-foot eagle putt on 13 that brought back memories of the 17th at Sawgrass; a slam dunk chip-in for birdie at 17 that brought back memories of the 16th at Augusta; a 30-foot eagle putt to close the round and take the lead at 18, which followed my claim that there was no way he’d make the putt. All this with searing pain in his knee, which became more and more evident as the round progressed. Then Sunday, which can be remembered with this…
A Monday playoff to defeat Rocco Mediate took 19 holes, but Eldrick survived with yet another major and his first US Open title since 2002. He then promptly announced he had played with a torn ACL and would miss the remainder of the season. Simply the best.
–Wimbledon (Federer vs. Nadal)
And then what we saw today, as Rafa Nadal assumed the throne as the top player in the world, in essence, and became the King of both the Grass and the Clay. Roger Federer had not lost a match on grass since 2002 and had won each Wimbledon since that year. However, the first two sets of the match made it appear that Federer would not be fighting to retain his crown, as he fell in consecutive sets 6-4. After a rain delay, the Swiss champion fired back by winning the next two sets in exciting tiebreakers, fighting off two Nadal match points in the process. As expected, the 5th set contained everything a sports fan could dream about. With no tiebreaker system for the final set, the match could have gone for days as each player looked totally dominant on his serve. Eventually, Nadal broke Federer to take an 8-7 lead in the set, and then he pulled it out the next game and captured his first Wimbledon title. John McEnroe called the match for NBC, and the great champion himself has already proclaimed it to be the best tennis match he’s ever seen. I would have to agree.
