Top Ten Sporting Events I've Attended: Part I

We’re less than a week away from the most exciting two minutes in sports (with apologies to Greg Maddux and Dave Baker), so I thought I would take this time before my upcoming trip to the Kentucky Derby to rank my Top Ten Sporting Events I’ve Attended Live. Since one of them took place in New Orleans, I’m adding one more for lagniappe. And since I pay myself by the word, we’re doing this one in two parts:

11. Virginia Tech at Pittsburgh football- November 8th, 2003
One of my first orders of business after being accepted into Carnegie Mellon’s Dramatic Writing program, after finding an apartment and scraping the fries off my salad, was to order season tickets for Pitt football. They had a fantastic home schedule, including Miami, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. I figured I could easily make back the cost of the season package just by selling the Miami and Notre Dame tickets and still get to catch a few other games myself, which ultimately led to an awkward handoff with a Hurricane fan from West Virginia in the entryway of a chain restaurant near the Pittsburgh airport. In any case, I knew it couldn’t compare to Gator games in the Swamp, but I wanted to see how other college programs treated their football. The Panthers play at Heinz Field, where the Steelers call home, so that was kind of cool, but kind of not. I really missed the on-campus pre-game atmosphere that likely would have shut down traffic on Forbes Avenue if the stadium were there. Instead, it’s on the North Side, all the way across town and over a river. But, no matter, Virginia Tech and Heisman hopeful Kevin Jones was in town and so was my brother, so Adam and I headed down to the stadium for a night game treat. Larry Fitzgerald made an incredible touchdown grab, Kevin Jones broke off 4 TD runs (including an 80-yarder) on the way to 241 yards rushing and Rod Rutherford had the game of his life, leading Pitt on a 70 yard drive in the fourth quarter before Lousaka Polite punched in for the winning score with 47 seconds left. Final score- Pitt 31, Va. Tech, 28. Virginia Tech fans made themselves noticed with their bright orange and dark red gear, and local fans rose to the occasion as well, but if a Gator home game is a 9, this was a 5. Still, a great game to watch.

10. Holland vs. Belgium, World Cup- June 25th, 1994
Having grown up playing soccer from the age of 5 and following my brother’s footsteps as a varsity goalkeeper at Eastside High in Gainesville, I was pumped that the World Cup was coming to Orlando. Adam and I got tickets and drove two hours south to the Citrus Bowl to catch Belgium take on the Netherlands, with a star-studded team of Dennis Bergkamp, the De Boer twins, Marc Overmars and Edwin van der Sar (who wasn’t even the starter), all aged 21-25, just entering their prime. Always high drama when these two neighboring nations strap on the shinguards, and always high comedy pronouncing their names. It was David vs. Goliath, Flemish Masters vs. Dutch Masters. The atmosphere in the crowd was electric as red, yellow and black striped Belgian flags clashed against the orange jerseys of the Dutchmen, who were surprisingly tall. The Belgians managed to prevail in a huge upset, 1-0, and both teams advanced to the knockout round, with Belgium bowing to the Germans in the round of 16 and the Dutch falling to eventual champs Brazil in the quarterfinals. I’m really looking forward to this year’s Cup in South Africa, and I expect to spend some lovely summer afternoons with a frosty beverage in front of the television or at a local soccer bar, drinking in the atmosphere.

9. Lacrosse Final Four- May 27th, 2006
I have to admit, I am a Johnny-come-lately to the increasingly popular sport/culture of lax. Up until about ten years ago, my relationship with lacrosse was based solely on those awkwardly erotic Coed Naked t-shirts of the ‘80s. Lacrosse did not exist in Florida, or at least not in Gainesville. But a good friend of my brother’s, Chip, is from Maryland and played for Towson and got Adam and I interested. I figured it couldn’t be more complicated to follow than Irish hurling, which I got swept up in during a solo two-month journey across Europe in 2001, which Adam and Chip incidentally joined me on for a week or so. It was a long way to Tipperary for the Galway lads, but I remain loyal: Up Galway! In any case, Chip didn’t have to do a lot of arm-twisting to get us to make the pilgrimage to Philadelphia to check out the new Lincoln Financial Field for the college lacrosse Final Four. Truth be told, I don’t remember much about the games. UMass beat Maryland and UVA beat Syracuse and neither game was particularly close. The games were fun to watch and relatively simple enough for a novice to understand on a basic, enjoyable level. What impressed me the most were the fans. The parking lot in Philly, which is shared with the baseball stadium, was jam-packed. Kids and fathers were flipping balls to each other with lacrosse sticks all over the place, and the tailgating was phenomenal. It really is the sport of the Mid-Atlantic region and I’m glad to see that it’s spreading everywhere, even in Gainesville, where the Lady Gators are ranked in the Top 25 during their inaugural season, playing in a brand-new lacrosse facility (for which they can probably thank Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan- it’s good to be near the kings).

8. Compaq Classic- May 5, 2002
My first golf tournament and it exceeded all expectations. I’m a casual golfer. I’m not especially good, nor do I especially work on my game. I consider the green to be the hole. Once I get it up there, I could care less how many putts it takes for the ball to go underground. No one three-putts from 6 feet like I do, and I’m fine with it. Putting is for sissies, anyway. I like to watch golf on TV. I’m a fan of Tiger Woods as long as he doesn’t try to sleep with my wife. But, the idea of attending a golf tournament had never appealed to me until I got the opportunity to go to the Compaq Classic (now re-branded as the Zurich Classic) in New Orleans, while visiting my parents for Jazz Fest. Back then, the tournament was literally played in our backyard, as our house sits across a narrow water hazard from the sixth hole. What I hadn’t realized about going to a golf tournament, especially one that isn’t a major, is how close you can get to the players. All that’s between me and Phil Mickelson or Geoff Ogilvy or Stewart Cink is a thin white rope. You can hear them talking to their caddies, or to friends who are following them, or to have fans brave enough to chat them up between shots. And you can sit around the green and watch balls plop right in front of you, or you can stand at the tee box and watch them mash a drive 300 yards down the fairway. It’s really unlike any other sporting event I’ve ever been to, being so close to the action and getting to see so many different players. You can choose to follow one favorite player the whole time or you can sit at one hole and watch each player come through, or you can jump around, following someone who’s gone on a birdie run and then switching over to a legend at the end of his career for a hole or two. It’s almost like a music festival. Very, very cool. Oh, and K.J. Choi won, just his second PGA victory of what’s looking like a very good career.

7. Dice-K’s Fenway debut- April 11th, 2007
Sure, some (okay, all) of the luster surrounding Daisuke Matsuzaka’s arrival in Boston has worn off, but at the time, the hype around him and his magical gyroballs was entrancing and I gambled about a month in advance on when he would make his debut at Fenway Park against the Mariners, and got tickets for April 11th, praying for no rain, thinking this was as good a time as any to treat my then-girlfriend/now-wife to her first visit to the holy shrine of my Red Sox being. Andrea and I rented a car and drove up from New York, stopping in at my favorite, slightly out-of-the way lunch spot in Connecticut, and cruised into the city with plenty of time to take in the pre-game festivities. The excitement surrounding the ballpark breathed life into the cold, damp air that night and flashbulbs popped like fireworks, especially when fellow Japanese countryman Ichiro Suzuki stepped in to lead off the first inning. Dice-K certainly lived up to the hype that night, but the story belonged to young Seattle phenom Felix Hernandez. King Felix mowed the Sox down like a machine, taking a no-hitter into the 8th inning before J.D. Drew broke it up with a clean single, the only hit of the game in a 3-0 loss for the good guys. I was almost rooting for the no-hitter at that point (we had no chance against Felix, anyway); I’ve always wanted to see a no-hitter in person. Even though the Sox lost, it was a great trip and I was glad to be able show Andrea the majesty of Fenway Park. She cared- I think.

6. Dallas Stars at St. Louis Blues, Game 4, Conference Semi-finals- May 12th, 1999: Again, hockey is just not one of those sports that kids from Florida grow up connected to. And yet, Miami and Tampa have NHL teams. Go figure. I went to college in St. Louis, which I had previously considered to be borderline South/Midwest and did not expect it to be such a rabid hockey town. I also discovered that it occasionally snows in St. Louis in late April, so what do I know? As an undergraduate, I largely ignored the greater St. Louis area outside of our little campus cocoon in Clayton/University City, save for the occasional trip to the Galleria and Cardinals games. I didn’t start to explore different parts of the city until I stayed on for a graduate degree. That’s also when I got the opportunity to attend my first hockey game. A playoff game, no less. The Kiel Center was rocking as the Blues faced the mighty South Stars, led by former Blues hero Brett Hull, in the second round. The Blues were down in the series 2-1, but had just won Game 3 in overtime and was feeling a little momentum. I went with my professor Ann and another friend Dana, where our nosebleed seats were surprisingly not bad. The game and atmosphere was off the charts. Then it went into overtime and the roof nearly blew off. When the Blues scored in overtime, winning the game 3-2 and tying the series, the stadium shook like a volcano eruption. One of the coolest moments I’ve ever experienced- and for a team and game I barely cared about going in.

For Part II of the Top Ten, tune in tomorrow.