Idea (II)

As you were invited to over the weekend, here are a few of the moments that stuck out to me this year in sports. Of course, there were a good bit that I was fortunate to have attended, whether it was related to the Beacon, SNYS or as a fan. Yet, there will be other posts about that throughout the holidays.

All credit to the original uploaders.

• Beyond being there and meeting Joe Frazier (though I should have finished the article... oops), this was such a thorough and unexpected domination by Bernard Hopkins, even the most avid Kelly Pavlik supporters had to stand in awe and respect.

• After two barbeques in South Jersey and actually getting some sleep, this epic match was the cherry on top of a great Fourth of July weekend.

• Sure, there are a lot of you who are Boston Celtics fans now, but your hearts were in your laps because of a team no one expected to win more than a game in the first round... let alone three. Welcome back to the NBA, Atlanta. We've missed you and your ridiculous pyrotechnics!

• Who would have thought that the NHL would have given us the first treat of a phenomenal 2008? Oh, that's right, the people that watched this game on New Year's Day. If you were subjected to the anti-climatic bowl games later that evening, I hope you at least enjoyed this earlier that afternoon. (By the way, I recognize how much many puckheads dislike Sidney Crosby or at least the hype around him. However, you had to have appreciated this moment.)

• Sorry, Patriots fans. (Note: If anyone has a video with Marv Albert's radio call, please send the link. If you can't recall, let's just say that I'm not a fan of FOX.)

• Finally, since there isn't a great video from YouTube and MLB does not allow embedding, search "All Star Home Run Derby 2008" in its video site.
  For those who followed me one the journey to Dallas back in July, I was able to add photos and videos from the last game before the All-Star break (revisit, if you will). Instead of covering the All-Star Game festivities myself, I was at a hotel in suburban Dallas with a face stuffed full of pepperoni, sausage & Sprite, excitedly jumping up and down like a stressed-out nicotine fiend without smokes.
  To say that what Josh Hamilton did the following night at Yankee Stadium defied our wildest imaginations is an understatement. However, it was great to see a football-crazed state hold off all the talk about the Cowboys, the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners, if only for a little while. There's a bonafide superstar in the making in Arlington and the Rangers need to do everything possible to build around him.

So, share you favorite moments, no matter where they may come from.

Love

There's a lot of hate going 'round and quite frankly, it's stale, old, tired, pointless, mundane, absurd, revolting, repetitive and most of all, stupid.

Even in sports, hate flows so much that you can sometimes forget what you love about them in the first place. Maybe we need some reminders.

Love having once played the games yourself.

Love the history you didn't hear about on television.

Love when a player comes to your town and puts on a clinic.

Love the times in the backyard or at the gym where you tried the Dream Shake, but you tripped up and fell on your face.

Love the time when your brother didn't pick you on his team and you ended up beating them with a bases-loaded RBI single.

Love the undrafted rookie tight end.

Love Steve Bartman... PLEASE!

Love the greatest song and video from an athlete of all time.

Love Pony's comeback.

Love the combination of mental wherewithal with sheer physical strength.

Love the post-game camraderie between bitter rivals.

Love the no-calls, bad calls and "should-that-have-been-a-call?"

Love how first base was a patch of dirt in the grass, second base was a brown paper bag, third base was a tree and home plate was a puddle of mud yesterday afternoon.

Love the hard foul.

Love Scott Norwood (though the opening of this video is a little harsh, it's the best to be found).

Love the screen pass.

Love the single stretched into a double.

Love the fullback, the most unappreciated position in all of sports.

Love the third jersey.

Love Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Love another team in another city besides your own.

Love the wire hanger and pair of socks you used to refine your jumpshot in your bedroom.

Love the gifted athletes who have yet to realize their potential.

Love the athletes who refuse to call it a career until their bodies tell them no more.

Love the first pitch, jumpball, kickoff and faceoff.

Love the pro-hop made famous by LeBron James, even though it travelling.

Love the "who the f%&@ are the Colorado Rockies and how did they come here and sweep their way to the World Series?"

Love the player that can't shoot a lick, can't dribble and can't pass, but can defend and rebound like hell.

Love the pros, taking their life's work and displaying it for the world to see.

Love the amateurs whose futures have yet to be determined.

Love the golf swing, even if you're trying too hard to drive the ball out of the course.

Love the player that has been traded to more times than you've been to McDonald's.

Love Manu Ginobili when he's not flopping every other play.

Love your team's biggest rival.

Love your biggest rival's best player.

Love your biggest rival's home city.

Love the random company that you never heard of which brought the naming rights to the stadium, even though you're going to call it something else entirely.

Love Roger Federer.

Love souvenir cups.

Love the silence of announcers when they've witnessed history.

Love the sweet science.

Love the conference championship games.

Love seeing several 250+ pound grown men falling over each other for a fumble recovery.

Love the chants of "DE-FENSE!"

Love watching two dozen cars veer nothing but lefts for four straight hours without bathroom or cigarette breaks.

Love the kid catching the foul ball or watching his favorite third basemen walk out of the dugout.

Love the medicines and medical practices made available thanks to the game's scariest moments.

Love that the defensive coordinator didn't take the head coaching job down I-95.

Love the body bump, sports' best celebration.

Love women's sports.

Love thy sneaker.

Love football/futbol/soccer.

Love this writer.

Love another sport.

Love your sport.

Love sports.

Give Scribe something else to love.