Semi-OT: Most dominating sports performances

Submitted by JeepinBen on

So, recently we've seen a lot of domination in sports. The NBA had 3 second round sweeps with the Magic obliterating the Hawks, the Cavs got owned by Boston last night, the Blackhawks completely out-played the Canucks in game 6, there was a perfect game in baseball, Halak has owned the NHL playoffs recently, etc.

Got me thinking, what's the most dominating sports performance you remember? Can be series long, game, inning, whatever, scoreboard, style of play, etc. Something that gave me a "He's playing like a man among boys" feeling. A couple off the top of my head:

 

Michigan vs ND 2006 47-21

U of M's defense vs. Penn State 2006. Even though we weren't scoring, i remember thinking, no way we lose this game, this is a crushing D

.

An Ali fight i saw on ESPNClassic a while ago - he used his right hand twice in the 7 round fight. got a 10 second knockdown in the 4th, and a KO in the 7th

The '85 Bears defense. Scores in the playoffs? 21-0, 24-0, 41-10. They gave up 10 points in 3 games on their way to the Superbowl. Anyone know a scarier man in glasses than Mike Singletary?

Your favorites?

(Semi-OT because some of these might be michigan sports)

blueblueblue

May 12th, 2010 at 11:55 AM ^

Me, playing with my little brother's friends in backyard football - I was 17 years old, they were all about 10 years old. I just dominated those kids. It was awesome, probably the best day of my life. I'm now 35. 

blueblueblue

May 12th, 2010 at 12:36 PM ^

Once one gets to a certain age there must be an inverse relationship with the age of people one can dominate at backyard football -  I would like another match-up, but better make it 7 yr olds this time (or 70 year olds for that matter).

the_big_house 500th

May 12th, 2010 at 12:23 PM ^

1. Red Wings Avalanche 2002 Game 7 Un real domination of the Avs. Roy sent home crying.

2. Red Wings vs Avalanche 2008. 8-2 in game 4. Franzen owned that series and playoffs.

3. Michigan vs ND 2003. SHUT DOWN THE IRISH!

4. Michigan vs Minnesota 2008. Owned the Jug and Gophers yet again.

5. USA womens hockey beating China 18-0. 2010 Vancouver games.

6. Team Canada ripping apart Russia in in the 2010 Vancouver games. Nabakov was a complete joke in this one.

7. OSU vs Florida 2006 National Championship. Troy Smith is blasted by the Gators defense and seeing the reaction of the Buckeyes on the sidelines knowing they are out by the second quarter is still beautiful to watch.

Tater

May 12th, 2010 at 12:45 PM ^

Webber playing in class B was sick.  I saw his Friday semis when he was a senior and they were still playing them at Crisler, and the biggest player on the other team might have been 6-5.  Being tall was bad enough for the other teams, but his power game made him the epitome of the "man among boys" cliche.

I also watched most of Antoine Joubert's playoff games as a senior, and he dominated on the scoreboard, but it was nothing like what Webber did.

Blue boy johnson

May 12th, 2010 at 4:43 PM ^

Magic Johnson game 6 vs the 76'ers his rookie season. Kareem out with a sprained ankle, Magic scores 40 something and leads Lakers to title in Philadelphia

Some sweet plays by Dr. J in this game

Magic had not quite reached his 21st birthday when this game was played

Blue boy johnson

May 12th, 2010 at 5:42 PM ^

Lucky you, well somewhat I guess, Dr J was my boy, I hated when Portland and Bill Walton knocked off the Sixers for the NBA title. Speaking of Walton his performance in the NCAA finals vs. Memphis State also ranks amongst great performances.

Walton 21-22 from the field.

Curt Gowdy calling the game.

Blue Durham

May 12th, 2010 at 6:24 PM ^

As I recall, that 76er team also had George McGinnis, Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins, Steve Mix, Bobby Jones and Llyod "World B." Free.  Quite the colorful group. 

There was a time there that Free was making everything against the Celtics, and when he was bringing the ball up the court, the fans were shouting "shoot it!" as he approached the half court line.

Walton had a brief career due to ankle or foot injuries, I think.  But when healthy, he was virtually unstopable and the dominant player on both ends of the court.

I have a lot of great memories of Julius Erving, and the 76ers have had a great ambassador.  When he retired, the game wasn't quite the same to me for a while.  He was surely entertaining to watch on the offensive end, but defensively he was a bit of a liability.  That really is what separates Michael Jordan from all of the other players I've ever seen.  He was the best player on the court at both ends

Blue boy johnson

May 12th, 2010 at 7:18 PM ^

OMG I just looked at the 77 Sixers roster, that may have been the all time  all sire team. '

Mike Bibby  son of Henry Bibby

Kobe Bryant  son of Joe Bryant

Mike Dunleavy son of Mike Dunleavy

Chris Collins (Duke basketball) son of Doug Collins

Tamika Catchings (WNBA) daughter of Harvey Catchings
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHI/1977.html

Blue Durham

May 12th, 2010 at 7:50 PM ^

Doug Collins was a very good guard.  Henry Bibby was decent.

The other guys, including Kobe's father, Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, eh, not so much.  Their kids were probably better than they were.

Other guys on that '77 roster, Caldwell Jones was also decent, more defensively than on offense. 

Fred Carter was on that imfamous '72-'73 team that went a record worse 9-73!  He and Hal Greer were the only guys worth a damn on that team (and Hal Greer was very good).

Coach Gene Shue's daughters went to my highschool (the younger was in my grad class) and were pretty good BBall players themselves, and pretty good looking as I recall.

Thanks for the link - really brings back the memories.

League54

May 12th, 2010 at 12:48 PM ^

The first time I watched that game, I felt like I was watching a Tecmo Super Bowl game and the Bears were guessing every play the Patriots ran.  Complete domination

Crowpuppy

May 12th, 2010 at 12:56 PM ^

The first time you played Tecmo Super Bowl, you felt like you were watching the '85 Bears Super Bowl.

 

Unless you have a time machine, in which case... yes, I will go fuck myself.

 

Edit: Or you could have watched the Super Bowl after the fact...  

I'll let myself out.

League54

May 12th, 2010 at 1:03 PM ^

Couldn't watch tv on Sunday, the first Super Bowl I watched live was '96, as a college freshman.  If you're from West Michigan you probably know what I'm talking about.

Steve Lorenz

May 12th, 2010 at 12:49 PM ^

Jordan vs. Blazers (the Shrug) 

LeBron vs. the Pistons 

Durant's first half vs. Kansas in 07.....25 points on 10-14 and made every single kind of shot known to man.....just an absolute clinic. 

Rorschach

May 12th, 2010 at 1:06 PM ^

in the Big 12 Championship Game this past year. Now, I haven't been watching football as long as some here, but I can't remember ever seeing a DT take over a game like that.

In that way, it reminds me of my 2nd choice, Braylon in Braylon-fest 2004. He was simply unstoppable that day.

jmblue

May 12th, 2010 at 2:14 PM ^

'97 PSU was the greatest performance, team-wide I've ever seen a Michigan team put up.  Even better was that it came against a team that we had lost three straight to, and on "Judgment Day" (when there were two matchups of undefeated top 5 teams).

funkywolve

May 12th, 2010 at 2:21 PM ^

I wasn't alive to see them, but they won the NC.  They went 11-0 and outscored their opponents:  307-28.  They gave up an average of 2.5 pts/game.

GoBlogSparty

May 12th, 2010 at 3:22 PM ^

I was in the stands. The guy straight up dominated. He didn't have any big runs, but each run would be up the middle for 4-5 yards. The defense knew what was coming but couldn't do much about it.

vic.valiant

May 12th, 2010 at 3:34 PM ^

since the category is 'dominating sport performance' may i add a non-human?

Secretariat

triple crown winner 1973.

set record in kentucky derby 1:59 2/5 (still stands)

won belmont stakes by 31 lengths.

fastest 1 1/2 mile on dirt in history, 2:24.   (still stands)

no other horse has gone under 2:25.1

octal9

May 12th, 2010 at 4:05 PM ^

Can be series long, game, inning, whatever, scoreboard, style of play, etc. Something that gave me a "He's playing like a man among boys" feeling.

Wayne Gretzky. From the 1980-81 season through the 1989-90 season the man had over 1900 points.

I Bleed Maize N Blue

May 12th, 2010 at 4:59 PM ^

Larry Csonka, FB, Miami Dolphins, Hall of Fame 1987, was one of the most punishing backs I have watched.  Back in the day when 6'3", 235lbs was big, he would run over guys, and when that didn't work, he'd carry 2 or 3 for a few yards.  He really had to be gang-tackled.  He didn't score a lot of TDs, but he moved the chains.

In 1971 he ran for 1051 yds on only 195 carries - an average of 5.4.  Longest run that season was 28 yds.  He wasn't getting his yards with a lot of long runs.

In 1972, the perfect season, he ran for 1117 yds on 213, ave 5.2.  With HB Mercury Morris' 1000 yds, they were the first 1000-yd RB duo.  In Super Bowl VII he ran for 112 yds on 15 carries, ave 7.5.

1973 was his last 1000-yd season, 1003 on 219, ave 4.6.  He was the Super Bowl VIII MVP with 145 yds (then a record) on 33 carries, ave 4.4, 2 TDs, as the Dolphins crushed the Vikings 24-7.

Blue Durham

May 12th, 2010 at 5:14 PM ^

Rick Wise of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter against the Reds in Cincinnati in 1971.  The Big Red Machine.  Rose, Morgan, Bench, Perez.  Oh, and Wise hit 2 home runs in the game as well.  [Incredibly, after a very good year, Wise was traded for Steve Carlton in the off-season.  The next year, Carlton won his first of 4 Cy Young awards by going 27-10 for a 59-win team!]

As a rookie, guard Magic Johnson played for an injured Abdul Jabbar in game 6 of the1980 NBA finals in Philadelphia, with the Lakers leading 3 games to 2.  Playing mostly as center, he scored 42 points, and had 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals.  He is still the only rookie to win the MVP of the NBA finals.

Tiger Woods, in his 1st major at the 1997 Masters, as a pro killed the field, winning the tournament by a record 12 stroke margin.  In 2000 at Pebble Beach, he was 15 strokes better than the 2nd place finisher, the largest margin of victory ever at any major.

Richard Petty, his entire NASCAR career.  200 wins all-time, I don't think any one else has 100.

Michigan Arrogance

May 12th, 2010 at 7:52 PM ^

I'd have to go with myself here. Summer of '96. Back home to play rodchester (21) against 2  friends from HS in a driveway court.  One guy was a good player, the other not. But still I dominated. I was unconscious. I must have shot 75%. probably won like 3-4 straight games to 21 and 5/6 overall, including having to hit a 3 to win each or go back to 15. The one good player was so frustrated, he wouldn't let us quit till he won a game.

probably the pinnacle of my basketball career.

cool story, bro

Search4Meaning

May 12th, 2010 at 10:43 PM ^

1.  1969  Michigan 24 - OSU 12

2.  1909  Michigan 86 - OSU 0

3.  1909 Michigan 49 - Stanford 0 (Rose Bowl)

4.  1948 Michigan 49 - USC 0 (Rose Bowl)

5.  1901 Michigan 550 - everyone else combined 0

6.  1940 Michigan 40 - OSU 3

7.  2003 Michigan 38 - ND 0

8.  2007 Michigan 38 - ND 0

9.  1901 Michigan 128 - Buffalo 0

10.  1902 Michigan 119 - MSU 0

11.  1902 Michigan 86 - OSU 0

12.  1947 Michigan 47 - MSU 0

13.  1975 Michigan 69  - Northwestern 0

14.  1983  Michigan 42 - MSU 0

15.  1987 Michigan 49 - Wisconsin 0

16.  1993 Michigan 28 - OSU 0

Soooo many blow outs, so little time...