Dodgers vs. Cubs
Manny in my mind could very well be the NL MVP as he has carried LA on his back. But let's be honest, the NL West was pathetic. Furcal could be playing in this series and if he's effective, that would help LA out. But this offense doesn't scare me. You pitch around Manny with runners on, this team is not gonna beat you. It's rotation has improved but it's decent at best. The key for the Cubs will be Zambrano. He comes back series over. I'll easily take the likes of Dempster, Big Z and Harden over Lowe Billingsley and Kuroda anytime anywhere. LA's BP is solid but you gotta have a lead. With that in mind I'm taking the Cubs in a sweep. This Dodger team has proven nothing to me beyond getting through an awful division.
Brewers vs. Phillies
The heroics of Sabathia are gonna cost Milwaukee in this series. Sabathia will most likely be unable to pitch more than once in this series and Sheets is not back to the level he needs to be at for the playoffs. A lineup with Howard, Utley, Rollins, and Victorino is something to be feared and this rotation has improved drastically throughout the season. You wonder how long Lidge will keep this up his perfect save streak but other than that the Phillies are the better team. C.C. probably wins his start but that's it. Phillies in four
White Sox vs. Rays
The Rays are the biggest mystery in the postseason. A team that relies on solid pitching and solid fundamental baseball. You don't know how much of a factor the inexperience will be for this team. Having said that, the Sox have had to use their starters late in the season and Vazquez may be forced to pitch more than they would like. An inconsistent rotation and bullpen and an offense that relies on the longball is not what the 2005 team was about and it will not get it done for the Sox. Tampa is also tremendous at home. Rays in 4.
Red Sox vs. Angels
This will definitely be the most entertaining series to watch. The Angels pitching staff is one of the best and if they're ahead in the 9th game over. K-Rod is amazing. Boston will be without Beckett until Game 3. They also don't have Lowell or J.D. Drew but this team will fight. Pedroia has been the MVP of this team and the AL and Big Papi could come alive. And with Beckett at least available they still do have a scary rotation. But in the end the Angels are the better team and will hold on in this series. Angels in 5
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Given the chance, Harden can be the man for the Cubs in the playoffs
When asked which Cubs pitcher can turn into a star in the postseason such as Josh Beckett in 2003, I think the typical response to that would be Ryan Dempster. I don't deny that and he is definitely capable of it. But I'm gonna say the pitcher I've been high on ever since the Cubs traded for him, Rich Harden.
Harden has some of the nastiest stuff you will see, especially his fastball and his splitter. Every start he has you can expect great stuff from him almost all of the time. The key will be does Pinella finally use him to his potential.
Since Harden has been known more to be on the DL than anything, Pinella at most would pitch him 7 innings a game. But more often then not he would go only 5 to 6 innings. One would think this would be so they could save him and he would be his healthiest for the playoffs. Well it's playoff time now Lou. It's time to unleash him.
If Lou is willing to let him go as deep into the game as necessary, he will be a valuable asset for the Cubs in the playoffs. But I'm not positive that will be the case as we saw even in the playoffs, Pinella puts almost too much trust in his bullpen. The example of that was pulling Zambrano too early in Game 1 against Az last year in a matchup with Brandon Webb. That decision cost the Cubs Game 1 and turned the series in the Dbacks favor. That will not cut it this time around. Harden needs to go 7-8 innings in his starts if he will be his most effective.
But if he is used to the best of his abilities, he will be the difference in the Cubs going to and even winning the World Series. Before Harden, the Cubs would have been looking at Lilly as their game 3 starter and Marquis as their Game 4 starter. A frightening prospect. Harden has given the starting ritation unbeliavable depth that will be a tremendous benefit in the playoffs.
As I said, this will be all on Pinella. If he is unwilling to unleash him on the rest of the Cubs opponents from here on out, it will be nothing but greatness and every Cubs fan will remember the name Rich Harden.
Harden has some of the nastiest stuff you will see, especially his fastball and his splitter. Every start he has you can expect great stuff from him almost all of the time. The key will be does Pinella finally use him to his potential.
Since Harden has been known more to be on the DL than anything, Pinella at most would pitch him 7 innings a game. But more often then not he would go only 5 to 6 innings. One would think this would be so they could save him and he would be his healthiest for the playoffs. Well it's playoff time now Lou. It's time to unleash him.
If Lou is willing to let him go as deep into the game as necessary, he will be a valuable asset for the Cubs in the playoffs. But I'm not positive that will be the case as we saw even in the playoffs, Pinella puts almost too much trust in his bullpen. The example of that was pulling Zambrano too early in Game 1 against Az last year in a matchup with Brandon Webb. That decision cost the Cubs Game 1 and turned the series in the Dbacks favor. That will not cut it this time around. Harden needs to go 7-8 innings in his starts if he will be his most effective.
But if he is used to the best of his abilities, he will be the difference in the Cubs going to and even winning the World Series. Before Harden, the Cubs would have been looking at Lilly as their game 3 starter and Marquis as their Game 4 starter. A frightening prospect. Harden has given the starting ritation unbeliavable depth that will be a tremendous benefit in the playoffs.
As I said, this will be all on Pinella. If he is unwilling to unleash him on the rest of the Cubs opponents from here on out, it will be nothing but greatness and every Cubs fan will remember the name Rich Harden.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Strongest performance and weakest performance every Sun.
For my weekly feature every Sunday, I will say which player I feel had the strongest postseason performance to benefit their team and which player had the weakest performance hurting their team the most. For this week, it will be who helped their team's playoff chances the most and who hurt their team's playoff chances the most.
Strongest performance-C.C. Sabathia
C.C. pretty much single-handely has turned around the Brewers. But today, he stepped up in his biggest start this season. He pitched his 7th complete game as Brewer giving up just 1 run on 4 hits and walking only 1. All this on his 3rd straight start with just 4 days rest. Milwaukee might have some solid players in the likes of Braun, Fielder etc. but this team is now a playoff team because of Sabathia. Also at the beginning of this week as well, Sabathia won over the Pirates pitching 7 innings and giving up 1 run on 4 hits again. He has stepped up and gotten Milwaukee into the playoffs and has easily earned my strongest "postseason" performance of this week, in that he definitely did the most to help Milwaukee's playoff chances.
Weakest performance-Javier Vazquez and Justin Morneau
It's very tempting to say the New York Mets for this category but instead I'm going with two players from the horrible AL Central.
Ozzie Guiellen challenged Vazquez to step up and deliver them a win against the Twins this week. He said that Vazquez basically has never won a big game. For most players that would challenge them to step up and deliver when the team needs you the most. Instead, all Vazquez did was validate Ozzie's comments. In his start against the Twins he went just 4 innings giving 5 runs and 7 hits in a 9-3 loss, which would be his 15th of the season. But he was not done losing. In his start yesterday against Cle. he went just 4 1/3 innings and gave up 7 runs on 5 hits in a 12-6 loss which gave him 16 losses on the season and in total has bumped his ERA up to 4.67 When your manager calls you out and you make yourself look worse, that is why he is tied for this week's weakest performance.
I'm not just singling the Sox out however. My other weakest performance goes to Justin Morneau. Morneau is being considered as a candidate for AL MVP but after this weekend, there is no way I would give it to him. The Twins had prime opportunity to wrap up the AL Central but lost 2 of 3 at home to KC of all teams. And Morneau didn't contribute at all. He went just 1 for 12 in this series driving in just 1 run. Overall, he is 1 for his last 17. MVP's deliver in clutch situations especially during the end of the season in a pennant race. There is no way Morneau should get MVP after this pitiful performance. And that is why he was picked for the other weakest performance this week.
Fortunately, for those two players one of them will still be a part of the postseason. I find that pathetic and disgusting that either the Sox or the Twins will make the playoffs. Both of these teams are completely undeserving with how they finished the season. They're the examples of how not to play down the stretch of the season.
Next week, this will officially turn into the strongest and weakest performances of the actual playoffs for each week. Get ready because it's playoff time now. And it's who steps up and who doesn't that will determine each team's playoff fate.
Strongest performance-C.C. Sabathia
C.C. pretty much single-handely has turned around the Brewers. But today, he stepped up in his biggest start this season. He pitched his 7th complete game as Brewer giving up just 1 run on 4 hits and walking only 1. All this on his 3rd straight start with just 4 days rest. Milwaukee might have some solid players in the likes of Braun, Fielder etc. but this team is now a playoff team because of Sabathia. Also at the beginning of this week as well, Sabathia won over the Pirates pitching 7 innings and giving up 1 run on 4 hits again. He has stepped up and gotten Milwaukee into the playoffs and has easily earned my strongest "postseason" performance of this week, in that he definitely did the most to help Milwaukee's playoff chances.
Weakest performance-Javier Vazquez and Justin Morneau
It's very tempting to say the New York Mets for this category but instead I'm going with two players from the horrible AL Central.
Ozzie Guiellen challenged Vazquez to step up and deliver them a win against the Twins this week. He said that Vazquez basically has never won a big game. For most players that would challenge them to step up and deliver when the team needs you the most. Instead, all Vazquez did was validate Ozzie's comments. In his start against the Twins he went just 4 innings giving 5 runs and 7 hits in a 9-3 loss, which would be his 15th of the season. But he was not done losing. In his start yesterday against Cle. he went just 4 1/3 innings and gave up 7 runs on 5 hits in a 12-6 loss which gave him 16 losses on the season and in total has bumped his ERA up to 4.67 When your manager calls you out and you make yourself look worse, that is why he is tied for this week's weakest performance.
I'm not just singling the Sox out however. My other weakest performance goes to Justin Morneau. Morneau is being considered as a candidate for AL MVP but after this weekend, there is no way I would give it to him. The Twins had prime opportunity to wrap up the AL Central but lost 2 of 3 at home to KC of all teams. And Morneau didn't contribute at all. He went just 1 for 12 in this series driving in just 1 run. Overall, he is 1 for his last 17. MVP's deliver in clutch situations especially during the end of the season in a pennant race. There is no way Morneau should get MVP after this pitiful performance. And that is why he was picked for the other weakest performance this week.
Fortunately, for those two players one of them will still be a part of the postseason. I find that pathetic and disgusting that either the Sox or the Twins will make the playoffs. Both of these teams are completely undeserving with how they finished the season. They're the examples of how not to play down the stretch of the season.
Next week, this will officially turn into the strongest and weakest performances of the actual playoffs for each week. Get ready because it's playoff time now. And it's who steps up and who doesn't that will determine each team's playoff fate.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Hank needs to shut up
First of all I'm happy to say that this is probably gonna be the only Yankee related blog I will do since finally they will not be a part of the postseason.
But I never thought there would be more irritating than George Steinbrenner. But along comes the next generation of Steinbrenner. And he is even worse. When Wang got hurt, he said the National League should wake up and join the 21st Century and start using the DH. You serious Hank? Would you really be saying that if this had happened to Dice-K. You try to make it seem like you're arguing valid points but nobody can take you seriously since it's all motivated by selfishness.
His most recent complaining has been about how tough the AL East is and they should be a playoff team. First of all, that would probably only be true in the Central as the Angels still would have dominated andyou wouldn't have gotten the wildcard anyway. But second of all, there are tough divisions. If you focused on what your team needed to improve and not waste all your time complaining, maybe you would still be competing. There are certain divsions that are tougher than others. I don't wanna give credit to Mil but if they don't get in I don't think they'll be complaining about the Central being too tough and take responsibility for their play, something that maybe Hank should start to do.
Just because his last name is Steinbrenner, he thinks he has the right to argue the most pointless reasons why the Yankeees are a major disapointment. If I were the Yankees, I don't care if he is a Steinbrenner, I couldn't stand having someone like that be involced with the team. The only way Hank can make a positive contribution to running the Yankees is to keep his mouth shut.
But I never thought there would be more irritating than George Steinbrenner. But along comes the next generation of Steinbrenner. And he is even worse. When Wang got hurt, he said the National League should wake up and join the 21st Century and start using the DH. You serious Hank? Would you really be saying that if this had happened to Dice-K. You try to make it seem like you're arguing valid points but nobody can take you seriously since it's all motivated by selfishness.
His most recent complaining has been about how tough the AL East is and they should be a playoff team. First of all, that would probably only be true in the Central as the Angels still would have dominated andyou wouldn't have gotten the wildcard anyway. But second of all, there are tough divisions. If you focused on what your team needed to improve and not waste all your time complaining, maybe you would still be competing. There are certain divsions that are tougher than others. I don't wanna give credit to Mil but if they don't get in I don't think they'll be complaining about the Central being too tough and take responsibility for their play, something that maybe Hank should start to do.
Just because his last name is Steinbrenner, he thinks he has the right to argue the most pointless reasons why the Yankeees are a major disapointment. If I were the Yankees, I don't care if he is a Steinbrenner, I couldn't stand having someone like that be involced with the team. The only way Hank can make a positive contribution to running the Yankees is to keep his mouth shut.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Between NY and Milwaukee, who's capable of not choking?
Despite Santana's solid performance tonight, the Mets fate has not yet been sealed. Even though the Cubs have clinched homefield in the NL, it doesn't mean they're not capable of ruining the Mets and the Brewers postseason hopes. And frankly, as a Cubs fan, I don't think it's completely clear what to root for.
The Mets have the clear history of blowing tremendous opportunities to advance to the playoffs. They also don't have the bullpen and no solid starters after Santana. I suppose it would potentially be better if Arizona finds a way to win the West. I don't think any Cubs fan wants to see the Dbacks. On the other hand, it has recently been brought to my attention that we could see Santana twice and if Lou doesn't use his starters effectively again, then Santana will probably beat us in the playoffs. Also, the worst case scenario would be if somehow the Mets catch the Phillies. The Phillies will be a tough first round matchup.
Milwaukee, doesn't appear to be a threat right now to make it to the NLCS and if it means we play LA, then I absolutely wanna face the Dodgers in the first round. It's very tough to tell with the Brewers though as Sabathia and Sheets will be a test. The Cubs have done very well against C.C. though providing him his only NL loss and should have beat him earlier this season. They're also more capabale of taking down Philly in the 1st round then LA or Az would be even though it didn't look that way a couple of weeks ago.
The bottomline is it doesn't look like either team wants the wild card. These teams have much more potential than they're showing and are definitely capable of more than they're doing right now. I think I have to say whatever gives the Cubs the easiest road to the World Series is all that matters. The longer we avoid playing the Phillies the better. The Cubs end with both of these teams so in my mind neither team has a clear advantage beyond the game and a half lead the Mets currently have in the wild card. So who is actually capable of not choking. Nobody can tell because both of them are doing that right now.
The Mets have the clear history of blowing tremendous opportunities to advance to the playoffs. They also don't have the bullpen and no solid starters after Santana. I suppose it would potentially be better if Arizona finds a way to win the West. I don't think any Cubs fan wants to see the Dbacks. On the other hand, it has recently been brought to my attention that we could see Santana twice and if Lou doesn't use his starters effectively again, then Santana will probably beat us in the playoffs. Also, the worst case scenario would be if somehow the Mets catch the Phillies. The Phillies will be a tough first round matchup.
Milwaukee, doesn't appear to be a threat right now to make it to the NLCS and if it means we play LA, then I absolutely wanna face the Dodgers in the first round. It's very tough to tell with the Brewers though as Sabathia and Sheets will be a test. The Cubs have done very well against C.C. though providing him his only NL loss and should have beat him earlier this season. They're also more capabale of taking down Philly in the 1st round then LA or Az would be even though it didn't look that way a couple of weeks ago.
The bottomline is it doesn't look like either team wants the wild card. These teams have much more potential than they're showing and are definitely capable of more than they're doing right now. I think I have to say whatever gives the Cubs the easiest road to the World Series is all that matters. The longer we avoid playing the Phillies the better. The Cubs end with both of these teams so in my mind neither team has a clear advantage beyond the game and a half lead the Mets currently have in the wild card. So who is actually capable of not choking. Nobody can tell because both of them are doing that right now.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Nicely done Brew Crew. Enjoy missing the postseason.
Can someone tell me what the Brewers management was thinking? I know you're struggling and you're basically giving away the wild card spot by constantly losing. But firing Ned Yost with only a couple of weeks left in the season? When you're tied for the wild card, no less. Tell me how that move will benefit the Brewers in any way.
They're about to begin their biggest series of the season at Wrigley and will also host the Cubs at Miller Park to close the season. This team does not have the experience down the stretch to come together at the end of the season under an interim manager. An interim manager who was also under consideration to be fired. The only thing I can think of is they know they're finished and need to make a change. But why have that attitude when you still are tied for the wild card?
This team already was in a significant amount of trouble considering the best team both the Phillies and the Astros play the rest of the season are the Marlins (with the exception of 1 final game against the Cubs for Hou when the Cubs will have clinched the Central already). But now Milwaukee has to face a Cubs team that is clearly back on track without their manager who they have been very accustomed to playing under for the last 4 seasons.
This team is done. It'll shock me if they find a way to overcome this adversity and get into the postseason. When they acquired Sabathia they appeared to be a shoe-in to at least make the playoffs. But now a huge slump has cost them their manager and it appears their season. I just don't see it happening for the Brewers now.
They're about to begin their biggest series of the season at Wrigley and will also host the Cubs at Miller Park to close the season. This team does not have the experience down the stretch to come together at the end of the season under an interim manager. An interim manager who was also under consideration to be fired. The only thing I can think of is they know they're finished and need to make a change. But why have that attitude when you still are tied for the wild card?
This team already was in a significant amount of trouble considering the best team both the Phillies and the Astros play the rest of the season are the Marlins (with the exception of 1 final game against the Cubs for Hou when the Cubs will have clinched the Central already). But now Milwaukee has to face a Cubs team that is clearly back on track without their manager who they have been very accustomed to playing under for the last 4 seasons.
This team is done. It'll shock me if they find a way to overcome this adversity and get into the postseason. When they acquired Sabathia they appeared to be a shoe-in to at least make the playoffs. But now a huge slump has cost them their manager and it appears their season. I just don't see it happening for the Brewers now.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Top 10 Most Memorable Moments
10. Vince Young carries Texas to the win in the 2006 Rose Bowl.
This was coming off of a season in which USC was supposed to win their 3rd consecutive national championship. With only 6:42 left in the game the Trojans had a 38-26 lead. Young took over accounting for 70 yards in route to a Texas score. And Young won the game on his 3rd rushing touchdown. I have never seen one player dominate a college football game the way Vince Young dominated the Rose Bowl.
9. Lance Armstrong wins 7 consecutive Tour de France races.
Lance Armstrong is one of the more remarkable stories in sports. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer and the cancer had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. Undergoing chemotherapy is one of the most grueling experiences people can go through. The fact that Armstrong not only had the strength to make a comeback into cycling but be the most dominant athlete in the sport is unbelievable. He may not be done, however as he announced his comeback from retirement last week.
8. Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals.
You could argue that there have been better individual Olympians, but Phelps dominated in a way that hasn't been seen before. As dominant as everybody knew he was, I was always hearing that he couldn't control the team races or it was just not possible to get gold in every single race. But Phelps proved all of the doubters wrong and is now the most successful Olympian ever.
7. Boise State's Fiesta Bowl win over OU
This was the best college football game I have ever seen. The great thing about this was Boise State won using almost every trick play in the book. And the Statue of Liberty play just blew my mind when I saw it. It was the best fake I have ever seen. You didn't realize that Ian Johnson had the ball until he was just about in the end zone. In a game where Boise State lost an 18 point lead, it showed just how resilient they truly were and is now giving the small conferences the credit they deserve.
6. Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open while injured
The 2008 U.S. Open showed that Tiger Woods is the most dominant athlete currently in sports. He hit a clutch 12 foot putt to tie Rocco Mediate and force a 18 hole playoff. But he tops that by forcing sudden death with a birdie. A few days later, we find out that he tore his ACL and is out for the rest of the season. That was definitely one of the best performances in sports and to do that with a major injury makes it that much more impressive.
5. The McGwire/Sosa homerun chase in 1998.
This revitalized baseball. Mark McGwire the last couple of seasons had been coming closer and closer to breaking Roger Maris' record of 61 homeruns in a season. Everybody expected him to make a run or break it in 1998. Sammy Sosa was a complete surprise. The fact that these two were such close friends gave this even more hype than it already deserved. What was great is this race didn't get put away until the final weekend. McGwire put it away in the last weekend and finished with 70 hr's, Sosa with 66. Baseball regained all the popularity it lost from the strike with this incredible homerun chase.
4. The NY Giants upset New England and their undefeated season in Super XLII
Nobody knew what the Giants were capable of. In addition nobody knew what Eli Manning was capable of. The Patriots were already being called the greatest team in football and even the greatest team in sports. Tom Brady had a record 50 TD passes. But the NYG front line harassed Brady giving him by far more pressure than he's ever seen in a game. But the real magic came with the Patriots up 14-10. Eli Manning miraculosly escaping a sure sack, then throwing it deep and David Tyree making one of the best catches ever pinning it against his helmet. After that the winning TD was easy as Manning threw to a wide open Plaxico Burress. This is defintely one of the biggest upsets football has ever seen and in a team that was highly criticized going into the season came together and pulled off a tremendous postseason run winning all their games on the road.
3. The Boston Red Sox coming back from a 3-0 ALCS series defecit against the Yankees
This appeared to be another Yankee series win over Boston. But in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and Boston trailing by a run, pinch-runner Dave Roberts steals second and would eventually score on a 2 out hit sending the game to extra innings and revitalizing the Red Sox for the 1st ever comeback from a 3-0 defecit in baseball. The Red Sox would go on to break the 2nd longest drought and win the 2004 World Series. But it will be that epic comeback in the ALCS that will be talked about in terms of Boston breaking their curse.
2. John Elway finally wins the Super Bowl.
This was a game that the Broncos at the time were the largest underdogs in Super Bowl history. Terrell Davis was the MVP rushing for 157 yds and 3 td's despite having to leave the game due to a migraine. But the play that will be remembered was Elway getting hit and flipped, sacrificing his body to get the 1st down. That is my favorite play in football that I have seen to date. It showed Elway's toughness and his willingness to do anything in order for Denver to get the win.
1. MJ's last shot as a Chicago Bull.
This is not just the most memorable moment of the last decade. It's the most memorable moment in sports period. From the beginning of that play where Jordan snuck up on Karl Malone and stole the ball, you knew something incredible would happen. He had the ball in his hands the entire time and had the best crossover to school Bryon Russell and hit a wide open jumper to give the Bulls their 6th championship. He would end game 6 of the NBA Finals with 45 points. He is the reason I am into sports and I will never think any play or moment in sports will top this one. It is very hard to believe that this occured 10 years ago. I was never more proud to be a Bulls fan than I was at that very moment. I'll repeat this one more time. This is the best play in sports period. Simply amazing.
This was coming off of a season in which USC was supposed to win their 3rd consecutive national championship. With only 6:42 left in the game the Trojans had a 38-26 lead. Young took over accounting for 70 yards in route to a Texas score. And Young won the game on his 3rd rushing touchdown. I have never seen one player dominate a college football game the way Vince Young dominated the Rose Bowl.
9. Lance Armstrong wins 7 consecutive Tour de France races.
Lance Armstrong is one of the more remarkable stories in sports. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer and the cancer had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. Undergoing chemotherapy is one of the most grueling experiences people can go through. The fact that Armstrong not only had the strength to make a comeback into cycling but be the most dominant athlete in the sport is unbelievable. He may not be done, however as he announced his comeback from retirement last week.
8. Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals.
You could argue that there have been better individual Olympians, but Phelps dominated in a way that hasn't been seen before. As dominant as everybody knew he was, I was always hearing that he couldn't control the team races or it was just not possible to get gold in every single race. But Phelps proved all of the doubters wrong and is now the most successful Olympian ever.
7. Boise State's Fiesta Bowl win over OU
This was the best college football game I have ever seen. The great thing about this was Boise State won using almost every trick play in the book. And the Statue of Liberty play just blew my mind when I saw it. It was the best fake I have ever seen. You didn't realize that Ian Johnson had the ball until he was just about in the end zone. In a game where Boise State lost an 18 point lead, it showed just how resilient they truly were and is now giving the small conferences the credit they deserve.
6. Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open while injured
The 2008 U.S. Open showed that Tiger Woods is the most dominant athlete currently in sports. He hit a clutch 12 foot putt to tie Rocco Mediate and force a 18 hole playoff. But he tops that by forcing sudden death with a birdie. A few days later, we find out that he tore his ACL and is out for the rest of the season. That was definitely one of the best performances in sports and to do that with a major injury makes it that much more impressive.
5. The McGwire/Sosa homerun chase in 1998.
This revitalized baseball. Mark McGwire the last couple of seasons had been coming closer and closer to breaking Roger Maris' record of 61 homeruns in a season. Everybody expected him to make a run or break it in 1998. Sammy Sosa was a complete surprise. The fact that these two were such close friends gave this even more hype than it already deserved. What was great is this race didn't get put away until the final weekend. McGwire put it away in the last weekend and finished with 70 hr's, Sosa with 66. Baseball regained all the popularity it lost from the strike with this incredible homerun chase.
4. The NY Giants upset New England and their undefeated season in Super XLII
Nobody knew what the Giants were capable of. In addition nobody knew what Eli Manning was capable of. The Patriots were already being called the greatest team in football and even the greatest team in sports. Tom Brady had a record 50 TD passes. But the NYG front line harassed Brady giving him by far more pressure than he's ever seen in a game. But the real magic came with the Patriots up 14-10. Eli Manning miraculosly escaping a sure sack, then throwing it deep and David Tyree making one of the best catches ever pinning it against his helmet. After that the winning TD was easy as Manning threw to a wide open Plaxico Burress. This is defintely one of the biggest upsets football has ever seen and in a team that was highly criticized going into the season came together and pulled off a tremendous postseason run winning all their games on the road.
3. The Boston Red Sox coming back from a 3-0 ALCS series defecit against the Yankees
This appeared to be another Yankee series win over Boston. But in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and Boston trailing by a run, pinch-runner Dave Roberts steals second and would eventually score on a 2 out hit sending the game to extra innings and revitalizing the Red Sox for the 1st ever comeback from a 3-0 defecit in baseball. The Red Sox would go on to break the 2nd longest drought and win the 2004 World Series. But it will be that epic comeback in the ALCS that will be talked about in terms of Boston breaking their curse.
2. John Elway finally wins the Super Bowl.
This was a game that the Broncos at the time were the largest underdogs in Super Bowl history. Terrell Davis was the MVP rushing for 157 yds and 3 td's despite having to leave the game due to a migraine. But the play that will be remembered was Elway getting hit and flipped, sacrificing his body to get the 1st down. That is my favorite play in football that I have seen to date. It showed Elway's toughness and his willingness to do anything in order for Denver to get the win.
1. MJ's last shot as a Chicago Bull.
This is not just the most memorable moment of the last decade. It's the most memorable moment in sports period. From the beginning of that play where Jordan snuck up on Karl Malone and stole the ball, you knew something incredible would happen. He had the ball in his hands the entire time and had the best crossover to school Bryon Russell and hit a wide open jumper to give the Bulls their 6th championship. He would end game 6 of the NBA Finals with 45 points. He is the reason I am into sports and I will never think any play or moment in sports will top this one. It is very hard to believe that this occured 10 years ago. I was never more proud to be a Bulls fan than I was at that very moment. I'll repeat this one more time. This is the best play in sports period. Simply amazing.
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