12/22/24
December 29, 2002
2002 Sports Year in Review: BBC, CBS News, CNNSI, New York Times. What's your favorite sports moment from 2002?
posted by kirkaracha to general at 01:34 AM - 21 comments
Darren Carter smashing home the wiining penalty in the play off final between Birmingham and Norwich to get the Blues promoted to the Premier League. 
posted by Fat Buddha at 06:27 AM on December 29, 2002
Without any hesitation, Canada's double hockey gold at Salt Lake City. After the men won, the celebrations on the streets throughout the country were crazy... never seen anything like it.
posted by mkn at 02:04 PM on December 29, 2002
Here's CBC's picks.
posted by mkn at 02:12 PM on December 29, 2002
I second mkn's vote for Canada's double hockey gold. Though for me the most memorable moment of the year was when the crowd at the men's gold medal game in Salt Lake City started singing "O Canada" as the clock ticked down. Canada isn't a country that displays a lot of patriotism, so hearing that sent chills down my spine.
posted by filmgoerjuan at 02:18 PM on December 29, 2002
Definitely hockey gold. After Canada won, everyone in the bar I was at stood up and sang the national anthem as the medals were given out. The streets were filled with all manner of celebratory ruckus that night. Perhaps the best sporting moment of my life.
posted by Succa at 06:27 PM on December 29, 2002
Hrm... personally, I'd go with the Duke women beating Tenessee, since I was not near a TV for Miami's creaming of Nebraska in January. Overall... probably Kent's save of Baker's kid and the Pats making Summerall look like an idiot by driving (and winning) the Super Bowl.
posted by tieguy at 07:31 PM on December 29, 2002
Patriots winning Superbowl.
posted by jerseygirl at 08:31 PM on December 29, 2002
Thing that bugs me is a lot of these "best of" sports polls are choosing Schumacher in F1 when the fact is, Ferrari did far more damage to the sport than anything else with their race fixing shenanigans.
posted by Drood at 08:48 PM on December 29, 2002
things I'll remember most: Canada gold Canes series-swinging comeback vs Montreal Giambi's gw slam vs the twins Syracuse OT win vs Virginia Tech Giants beating Philly yesterday in OT World Series Game 6 rally (though not what I wanted to see) Driving right past the Big A 2 hours before game time for Game 7 and not just tailgating outside with the radio on Driving right past PacBell before games 3,4,5 but not having the cash/desire to pay scalper prices... The last 3 are negative but will probably stick with me the most... For some reason untill recent Top 10 games shows I had forgotten about the super bowl entirely... must be because I hate both teams (sure was glad to see them both knocked out this year :) ). Hopefully this bowl season will bring us some great ones to start off 2003...
posted by Bernreuther at 11:06 PM on December 29, 2002
The World Cup....the whole thing. What a spectacle!
posted by StarFucker at 08:15 AM on December 30, 2002
Puget Sound Senior Baseball League, semifinal game, my underdog Diablos vs. consensus favorite Timber Rattlers. Winner goes to play in the final in Cheney Stadium. We're up by two, bottom of the ninth. Batter fouls back a 2-2 forkball, I spring out of my crouch, fling off my mask, all my fielders are yelling "It's out of play! Out of play!". I'm not so sure, I track it back to the fence then follow it as it drifts right in front of our dugout, at the last second sticking out my mitt and the ball pops into it, I look up and have about one second to catch my breath and realize we've won before I'm engulfed by my pitcher and first baseman. The pig pile and celebration happens on top of me. (We went on to beat the Zephyrs in the final...) My second favorite would be telling our pitcher that not one batter in the Timber Rattler's lineup was expecting changeups, they were all looking for fastballs and curveballs, and sure enough he pitched 5 innings of no-hit ball, striking out 7 with an absolutely devastating change-up.
posted by vito90 at 10:41 AM on December 30, 2002
My alma mater, East Rutherford (NC) High School, winning the 2A state baseball title. Far and away the best moment for me this year.
posted by jasonbondshow at 11:40 AM on December 30, 2002
Okay, so they didn't quite get it done this year, but that Patriots win in the Superbowl was amazing. Hell, the whole run of dramatic wins to get there was great, too.
posted by Samsonov14 at 12:44 PM on December 30, 2002
The double gold medals of Canada's Olympic hockey teams is probably the most exciting moment(s) of the year for me. Watching Barry Bonds demolish major league pitching for another year (and in the playoffs especially) was an extended moment I enjoyed. Getting up at ridiculous times on work days so I could watch as many World Cup games as possible was probably the most fun I had this year. That Hail-Mary-touched-by-4-players-touchdown pass for the win by LSU was probably the most unbelievable moment of the year. I could also include watching Barry Bonds hitting that MONSTER home run off Percival in Game 2.
posted by grum@work at 01:08 PM on December 30, 2002
I'll agree with the Candian Golds. Beautiful stuff, especially on the men's side (no offense to the ladies, though). My favorite playoff series of the year was the Mavs/Kings conference semis. That was the most fun I'd had watching pro basketball ever. The World Cup was cool, but paled in comparison to '98 when I was in Southern France when they won. But nothing short of my wedding day or birth of a child may ever compare to that night.
posted by Ufez Jones at 01:14 PM on December 30, 2002
Yeah, you're wedding night was fun too Ufez! Man, did we party!
posted by StarFucker at 02:02 PM on December 30, 2002
but i'm not married.....I don't think
posted by Ufez Jones at 02:33 PM on December 30, 2002
Salon Premium picks and ESPN.com Page 2's The Year in Sex & Sports Just recently I really enjoyed seeing ex-Minnesota Viking Cris Carter say "He can't kick it that far" on the Miami Dolphins sidelines just before the Vikings' Gary Anderson kicked a 53-yard field goal to beat the Dolphins (and helped knock them out of the playoffs).
posted by kirkaracha at 01:26 AM on December 31, 2002
I'm just going to add this one: In the final game of the final day of 2002, the Toronto Maple Leafs played and won the gutsiest game I have ever seen. With 4 of their top 6 scorers out (Mogilny, Sundin, Renberg, Antropov (after getting injured in the first period) and being down 3-1 to the healthy Canucks in the first period, the Maple Leafs rallied to win 5-3. Belfour held them in it as Vancouver had 5 different breakaways and scored on ZERO of them. No one would have blamed them if they had just packed it in after falling behind on the road on NYE, but they didn't. That makes my list of one of the best sporting moments of 2002 for me.
posted by grum@work at 10:09 AM on January 01, 2003
Have to agree with Fat Buddha. Carter's penalty could well be the most memorable moment of my life so far. Which is a little sad. (Carter steps up to the area. "Oh fuck, it's Carter for Christ's sake he's only a kid. Come on Darren, come on my son, come on...........Yessssssssssssssssss. Fucking yes.") 
posted by squealy at 12:26 PM on January 01, 2003
I think two I'll remember are Robert Horry's game-winning 3-pointer in the NBA Finals, and J.T. Snow's grabbing Dusty Baker's kid at home plate during the World Series.