A little too American in this day and age, and the media made it a little more than it was, but back then this was one of the most courageous performances any athlete was able to do. The Olympic team gymnastics event saw the US team relying on Kerri Strug's vault to win the gold medal. However she got injured after a bad vault, and U.S. victory seemed lost. And then she tried again...
Make no mistake, Michael Jordan was the single reason the Chicago Bulls won anything in the NBA. His Last Shot Ever tm won the Bulls their sixth championship, en route to his retirement... which lasted all of three years, which he proceeded to tarnish with a stint as a Washington Wizard. Still the way he closed out his first (second, depending how you see it) career, was a story for the ages.
In NHL it seems all moderately good hockey players have their name enscribed in the Stanley Cup, which makes it more compelling if a genuine great player, a Hall of Famer, hasn't been able to do so during his career. Such was the case for Ray Bourque, who played 21 seasons without winning it all. His career was winding down, and he was in danger of notoriously becoming one of the greatest players never to win the Cup. The relief when he won the Stanley Cup in 2001 with the Colorado Avalanche, the class captain Joe Sakic showed when he handed the Cup immediately to Bourque, closed one of the most emotional Finals in NHL history.
The most dramatic finals win in UEFA Champions League history saw Manchester United defeat Bayern Munchen in 1999 in stoppage time, after having been down by a goal and almost being denied the coveted Treble. Note the distraught Sami Kuffour pounding the pitch. Note the arrogant smiles of Mario Basler and Lothar Matthaus being swiped away. Note all 8 foot of Peter Schmeichel do a cartwheel like a Chinese gymnast.
You can't feel more for one player than Pete Sampras. This one match here, against Jim Courier at the 1995 Aussie Open, forever set the legacy of Sampras from being a very good, but boring player, to the greatest champion tennis has known to date. Agonizing over his friend and coach Tim Gullikson, he managed to pull together just enough strength and courage to beat Courier.
No comments:
Post a Comment