10. November 9th, 2006 -- Rutgers Scarlet Knights 28, Louisville Cardinals 25 (Rutgers pulls off the upset,
improves to 9-0, and takes over sole possession of first place in the Big East): Make no mistake about it. In a
magical season of Rutgers football, this was the game that put the program on the map. While Rutgers did come back
from a 25-7 second quarter deficit to win the game, what really made this a big event was the pre-game and post-game
atmosphere. Before the game, Rutgers students were lined up halfway around the stadium to get in, there was a huge
audience outside the Mike and the Mad Dog Show in the parking lot, and there was just a huge anticipation in the air that
a big night was coming. I saw the Louisville cheerleaders walk in to the stadium before the game and it almost looked like
the school snuck them in so nobody would...well, bother them. It was an atmosphere that has never been around Rutgers
Stadium. And yes, I got my share of ticket requests for this game....sorry, no can do. The big play that got Louisville on
a roll came after Rutgers tied the game in the first quarter, 7-7. JaJuan Spillman returned the ensuing kickoff 100 yards
for a touchdown. After Louisville tacked on 10 more points, Rutgers would make the score 25-14 by halftime thanks to
a 39-yard catch and run by Kordell Young, which set up an 18-yard scoring carry by Ray Rice. In the third quarter, a
67-yard pass play from Mike Teel to Kenny Britt set up another Rutgers TD, and the Knights would tie it on a Jeremy Ito
46-yard FG with over 10 minutes left in the 4th. Louisville's offense stalled in the second half, crossing the 50-yard line
only once, and Rutgers would set up for the winning FG in the closing seconds thanks to a Mike Teel to Brian Leonard
26-yard pass play on 3rd-and-6. Ito would miss a 33-yard FG, but an offsides call on Louisville -- which clearly affected
Ito's concentration on the kick -- gave Ito a second chance from 28 yards out, which he connected on. The best scene of
the game came after Spillman returned the ensuing kickoff to the Louisville 42 and was down with time for one play. The
fans started to rush on to the field prematurely, and totally took over one side of the field, but just as quickly as they ran
on, the announcement that the game wasn't over yet had them run off just as quickly. The delay was very minimal. It was
a sight to see. They were on and off in a span of about 30 seconds. On that final play of the game, Brian Brohm was
sacked, and this time the field was totally swamped with fans and they wouldn't leave until the party was over about 30
minutes later.
9. June 12th, 2002 -- Los Angeles Lakers 113, New Jersey Nets 107 (Lakers clinch their third straight NBA
championship): The Lakers three-peat as champions of the NBA, sweeping New Jersey in the finals. The Nets keep it
close but never take the lead in the second half. Shaquille O'Neal scored 34 points for LA while the Nets were led by
Kenyon Martin's game-high 35. The locker room scene -- at least what I saw of it -- was nothing like the Rangers
Stanley Cup victory in '94. By the time they let the media in the locker room, all the champagne had been sprayed and
there were just puddles on the floor. Actually, I was hoping the Lakers would win this game and end the series tonight.
Had there been a fifth game to this series, I would've missed it because of a bachelor party I had to attend.
8. October 25th, 2003 -- Florida Marlins 2, New York Yankees 0 (Florida wins World Series in six games):
The first World Series I ever watched on TV was the 1981 LA Dodgers victory over the Yankees. The Dodgers
clinched it in six games at Yankee Stadium, and it was a painful sports moment I lived with until the Yanks would finally
win the big one in '96. Well, this time I was in person when the Marlins clinched the World Series in six games at Yankee
Stadium. Sure, this was not the Yankee hitting team from years past; this team wasn't as patient at the plate, and had
undergone a lot of turnover in recent years. But it wouldn't have mattered. Nobody was scoring against Marlins starter
Josh Beckett on this night. He was phenomenal -- on just three days rest, no less. He struck out nine batters, walked just
two and surrendered just five hits in going the distance. And not to be forgotten was the Marlins first run, which was
scored when Luis Castillo singled to right field and Alex Gonzalez avoided Yankee catcher Jorge Posada's tag at home
plate with a nifty slide.
7. June 9th, 2003 -- New Jersey Devils 3, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 0 (NJ Devils win their third Stanley Cup
in nine seasons): The New Jersey Devils take full advantage of playing game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals at home as
they defeat the Mighty Ducks to win the NHL championship. I wasn't even asked to work this game until the night
before, but I was in to this series from the start, mainly since I witnessed the Devils let the Stanley Cup slip away two
years earlier. The Devils and Martin Brodeur posted their third shutout of the series; Brodeur stopped all 24 shots he
faced in this contest. The scoring came courtesy of Jeff Friesen, who tallied twice, and Mike Rupp, who broke the
scoreless tie in the second period. The home team won every game of this series. The site of the Devils shaking their
gloves off and letting go of their sticks in the final seconds was one to see, and was certainly a look of a team relieved to
escape this series with the championship.
6. October 27th, 2008 AND October 29th, 2008 -- Philadelphia Phillies 4, Tampa Bay Rays 3 (Phillies win a
suspended game to win the World Series): Among other things, this is the longest sporting event I have ever attended,
as the Phillies would win the World Series for the second time in their history, winning game 5 which had to be played in
two parts after rain forced the game to be suspended in the middle of the 6th inning on Monday, the 27th and the game
couldn't be resumed until two days later. But to just describe the game's events doesn't do this whole affair justice. It was
a Philadelphia I wound up staying in for four days that I had never experienced while living there for seven and a half years
during and after college. After flying home from a Rutgers football game in Pittsburgh on Saturday night, the 25th, I got a
call at 2:00 in the morning warning me that my broadcast would be going on the air at noon. So, I drove down to
Philadelphia on only four hours of sleep, not having a clue that I wouldn't be coming home for four days. And during my
time down there, I would experience the highs of wearing a Tampa Bay Rays shirt prior to game 4 of the series at a bar
attached to Citizens Bank Park -- during an Eagles game -- and getting booed mercilessly, the lows of waiting out a
Nor'easter which completely drenched the World Series atmosphere during the game's suspension, and ultimately staying
in five different locations in five different nights (if you count staying in Pittsburgh Friday night and at home on Saturday
night before going to Philly where I stayed at three different hotels). But when they were finally able to resume playing the
bottom of the 6th inning, the World Series atmosphere was back and Brad Lidge's strikeout of Erik Hinske with a runner
on second would give Philadelphia its first major pro championship since 1983. And the celebrating outside the stadium,
particularly at the players parking lot entrance, was bigger than I had ever seen before at any game -- yes, including the
Rangers win in the 1994 Stanley Cup finals. Heck, any Philadelphia sports fan under 25 years old had never experienced
one of their teams win a championship, so this was their chance to let loose. And let loose they did.
5. January 28th, 2001 -- Baltimore Ravens 34, New York Giants 7 (Ravens win Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa,
Florida): 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.
4. March 28th, 1992 -- Duke Blue Devils 104, Kentucky Wildcats 103 (OT) (Duke advances to the Final Four
of NCAA Tournament with dramatic win at the Philadelphia Spectrum): This was the best college basketball game
of all time. Christian Laettner's miracle shot from the foul line after receiving an inbounds pass from 3/4's court away with
1.4 seconds left in OT broke the hearts of Wildcats fans. You should've seen them just sitting there in the stands with
somber, stone-cold looks. Meanwhile, on the other side, writers from the Carolina area hugged each other yelling "I'll see
you in Minneapolis" as Duke advanced to the NCAA Final Four. My job was to hand the Duke team its credentials once
it arrived at the Spectrum. I'm glad I did my job well. One little flinch by me (like me not being at the gate when the team
arrived) could've changed history.
3. October 16th, 2003 -- NY Yankees 6, Boston Red Sox 5 (11) (NY Yankees win American League
Championship series): When a game that is expected to be a classic actually lives up to its billing, you can't beat it.
This was the seventh and deciding game of the American League Championship Series involving baseball's biggest rivalry
and two first ballot hall-of-fame starting pitchers -- Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox and former Boston pitcher Roger
Clemens. Pedro was masterful in this game, holding the Yankees to just two runs over seven innings while Clemens was
hit hard by Boston leading to an early exit, possibly his last career appearance. But the ghosts of playoff past would hurt
Boston, which led 5-2 heading in to the bottom of the eighth. With two runners on base and and one run already in, Jorge
Posada's bloop double between three fielders tied the score at five-apiece, knocking Pedro out of the game. The
Yankees handed the ball to Mariano Rivera in the 9th, and the Yanks closer went an unprecented three innings to hold
Boston in check. Finally, on the first pitch of the bottom of the 11th, Aaron Boone hit a solo home run off of Tim
Wakefield to give the Yanks the win. What was even more thrilling is the Yankees victory sent me to my first ever World
Series and it was only minutes after this game was over when I was making preparations for the job that lay ahead. Talk
about a transition.
2. May 2nd, 2002 -- New Jersey Nets 120, Indiana Pacers 109 (2OT) (New Jersey wins first playoff series in
18 years): Arguably, only the Rangers Stanley Cup clinching game was more exciting than this one. My first Nets
playoff game was a thriller. In this fifth and deciding game of the NBA first round playoffs, the Nets held a nine point lead
with 5:31 remaining in regulation time. And while Indiana fought back, Richard Jefferson by making just one of two foul
shots in the closing seconds would've put the game away. However, Jefferson missed both foul shots and Indiana instead
only trailed by three with one last chance and Reggie Miller put up a 40-foot prayer. It looked from where I was sitting
next to the Pacers bench that the shot was way off to the right. Maybe my brain didn't want to believe that the shot had a
chance of going in. Of course, the bank shot did go and we went OT. In the first extra session, the Pacers held a
three-point lead and had the ball, but New Jersey would fight back to take a two-point 107-105 lead with :3.1 seconds
remaining. This time, Miller took it to the hole and his slam dunk forced the second overtime. Finally in the second
overtime, the Nets outscored Indiana 13-2 to pull it out. How close was this game? It was tied at halftime, after the third
quarter, and of course, after regulation and the first OT. It's hard to imagine what the implications would've been if the
Nets lost this game. They obviously don't go to the finals this season, and perhaps the heart wrenching loss doesn't give
the Nets the confidence of going to the finals in 2003. But with this game, the Nets had finally turned the corner. This
was their first playoff series victory since 1984.
1. June 14th, 1994 -- New York Rangers 3, Vancouver Canucks 2 (Rangers win the Stanley Cup for the first
time since 1940): "The Rangers have won the Stanley Cup and I was here to see it." That's what I said to myself -- or
yelled out loud -- when it happened. This is, and probably will always be, the best sporting event I've ever been to. The
Rangers jumped out to a 3-1 second period lead in this winner-take-all game 7, and then held on after Vancouver cut the
lead in half on Trevor Linden's second goal of the game. The third period was as tense a period of hockey as I've ever
seen. There was nothing like being in the locker room after the game -- I did get splashed with champagne and I did
drink from the Stanley Cup. I said if I never go to another sporting event again, I'd be satisfied with what I've seen...well,
I've been to quite a few sporting events since then, but this was fulfilling.