what was asked by those rooting for Colorado, and was the subject of all the post-game talk shows. With the
Colorado Avalanche leading the Devils 2-1 entering the third period and on the verge of leading the Stanley Cup Finals
three games to one, Roy decided to play the puck off the boards after a dump in by the Devils. His miscue led to an open
net which Scott Gomez took advantage of to tie the game. Petr Sykora then scored the game winner with under three
minutes left in regulation and the series would be tied at 2-2. The game started at 8:00 p.m. but I was actually in the
building for good at 10:00 in the morning because as I was engineering Colorado radio; they went on the air with all
their talk shows from the stadium beginning at noon -- and didn't sign off until 1:00 in the morning.
4. February 7th, 2001 -- New York Knicks 96, Dallas Mavericks 93 (2OT): Two miracle Dallas baskets at the end
of regulation, then overtime push the Knicks to the brink until they're able to pull it out. Actually, the Knicks trailed this
game by five points with two minutes left in regulation but take an 80-78 lead with nine seconds left. But Michael
Finley's buzzer-beating, off balance 18-footer forces the first overtime. Then with the Knicks leading 87-84, the
Mavericks tie the game on Howard Eisley's three pointer off a rebound scramble with one second left in overtime.
Finally, in the second overtime, the Knicks are forced to make the clutch baskets and they come through. Allan
Houston's 15-foot jumper tied the game at 93-apiece with 47 seconds left. Latrell Sprewell puts the nail in the coffin for
New York by stealing a Finley pass, then making two free throws on the other end. Sprewell finished with 20 points and
11 rebounds.
3. September 5th, 2001 -- Pete Sampras defeats Andre Agassi, 6-7, (7-9), 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5): The first
unusual fact about this US Open tennis match is it was a quarterfinal round affair -- usually these two players will meet
in the finals. But Sampras' "low" seed of 10 puts these two long-time rivals in the same quarter of the bracket. As for
the match itself, there were no breaks of serve, although several break point chances, and it was the largest ever cable
audience for a tennis match. Agassi's victory in the first set came after Sampras had three set points in the tiebreaker.
Then in the decisive fourth-set tiebreaker, Sampras led 6-3 and had two upcoming serves but lost them both. But
down 5-6 and back on serve, Agassi loses the point, and Sampras comes out the victor. After the match when the two
players' TV interviews were being broadcast on the stadium PA system, one drunk fan around me kept yelling USA,
USA, leading to some other people to tell him to be quiet so they can hear what the players were saying. Of course,
chants of USA would become quite commonplace considering the World events that would take place just six days
later. Sampras would go on to lose the U.S. Open final, though he would defeat Agassi in the 2002 final.
2. October 21st, 2001 -- New York Yankees 3, Seattle Mariners 1: I'd like to say this is one of the classic New
York Yankees playoff victories, but in reality, because it's the Yankees, it'll probably just go down as another game.
But it was my first ever League Championship Series game, and it was a good start. Bret Boone broke a scoreless tie
in the top of the eighth inning for Seattle, but Bernie Williams tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with his own solo
shot. That led to Alfonso Soriano's heroics; he hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to give the Yanks the win
and a three-games-to-one series advantage en route to advancing to their fourth consecutive World Series.
1. January 28th, 2001 -- Baltimore Ravens 34, New York Giants 7: OK, Super Bowl XXXV was a blowout, but
who cares. The atmosphere at my first Super Bowl was everything I had hoped. People told me that going to the
Super Bowl isn't any real big deal. They are wrong. Just getting to the Super Bowl is part of the story. After not
confirming that I would go to the Super Bowl until three days before the game, I went to the St. John's - Virginia Tech
game in Blacksburg the day before the big show. I flew back to New York after the game, then flew back down to
Tampa from Long Island the next morning from MacArthur Airport on Long Island -- I live in New Jersey. But once I
got down there, everything fell in place. I touched down in Tampa at about 11:45 a.m. and got to Raymond James
Stadium at about 2:45 p.m. The weather was perfect -- easy for me to say being a New Yorker in Tampa in January
-- and the foodfest the vendors through at us media people was endless -- just the way I like it. The Giants' only
moment of glory in this game was on Ron Dixon's 97-yard kickoff return, although they did have an interception return
for a TD called back in the first half due to a penalty. The next day, I flew back home -- from Jacksonville -- yet still
made it in time to the Canisius - St. Peter's college basketball game in Jersey City on Monday night.
deciding first round playoff game. The Knicks trailed the entire second half, although they came to within one point,
81-80, in the fourth quarter.
2. October 22nd, 2001 -- New York Yankees 12, Seattle Mariners 3: Yankees oust Seattle in the ALCS to advance to
the World Series.
3. June 7th, 2001 -- Colorado Avalanche 4, New Jersey Devils 0: The atmosphere at the Meadowlands was charged up
before the game as the Devils with a win can win their second straight Stanley Cup. However, Colorado spoils the party,
ties the series at three-games apiece and would win game 7 as well in Denver to steal the cup away.
4. January 7th, 2001 -- New York Giants 20, Philadelphia Eagles 10: Despite living in Philadelphia for 7 1/2 years, this
game at Giants Stadium is my first Eagles playoff game. The Giants never gave the Eagles a chance.
5. January 14th, 2001 -- New York Giants 41, Minnesota Vikings 0: They were passing around the Super Bowl beads
in the press box after this game was over. The Giants crushed the Vikings in the NFC Championship game.
6. December 11th, 2001 -- Boston Celtics 102, New York Knicks 93 (OT): Latrell Sprewell's failure to get his 50th
point on a free throw attempt with 6.2 seconds left allows Antoine Walker's three pointer with 3.6 seconds remaining to tie
the game. Celtics go on to win in overtime. Sprewell never got his 50th point.
7. January 11th, 2001 -- Houston Rockets 76, New York Knicks 75: Cuttino Mobley's game-winning layup for the
Rockets comes with nine seconds left. The Knicks scored just two points in the last 5:58 of the game in squandering a
10-point fourth quarter lead.
record is 0-5, four of those games played at Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx.
2. The Seton Hall - Alabama NIT game on March 13th is the first game I've gone to that wasn't in the Eastern Time
Zone.
3. The Toronto Raptors -- New York Knicks first-round series is the first series I attended that the Knicks played in and
lost. I have been to at least a portion of five New York Knicks playoff series and I have never seen them clinch a series.
All five series were clinched by the road team in the series finale.
