OT - Most Memorable Sporting Event that YOU PLAYED IN

Beating Flint-Powers in soccer for the first time in the history of our program. Nothing special or spectacular. Just felt REALLY good.

I hit a game winning grand slam playing Chicago style softball in 5th grade.  Also, I had four interceptions playing two-hand touch during recess.

I peaked early - on my 11th birthday, I was playing in a little league baseball tournament. I hit a grand slam on my first at bat, a two run Homer on my second at bat, and a double on my third at bat. I was also the youngest kid on the team by far, some were almost 2 years older than me. On the day after my 12th birthday, I hit another home run in a game. I never hit another home run after that, but got close a few times in high school.

1st high school district playoff basketball game, senior year. We were good, 16-4, but the draw was unseeded and we drew the only team we'd lost to twice. They had a 6'11" guy who went on to play at Santa Clara (a year or two before Nash go there, iirc).

So we start the game on fire, blitzing them, and we're up 20 in the first quarter. Then our power forward, and captain, comes down from a dunk and SHATTERS his leg. Multiple breaks, he was in a wheelchair for a month afterwards. Gurney on the floor, ambluance pulled up to the gym doors, silence in the gym while he screamed, an hour delay.

So we have to play on. Our 4, the guy who broke his leg, had been guarding their 5, the 6'11" dude. Gave up 6 inches but our center was only 6'4" (played TE at CMU). So now our center guards the big guy, but he quickly gets 3 fouls. That left me, at 6'1, 6'2 with shoes on, guarding the tall guy.

Fortunately the tall guy wasn't all that, and somehow we nursed our lead for the next three quarters and won, me ending up on the 6'11" guy the whole way.

The tournament was at Bowl One lanes in Troy, a beautiful house. I didn't shoot well that day but to qualify for the tournament you had to shoot great scores during your previous season. I qualified by shooting my highest series ever, an 851 (297,275,279). It was special being amongst all those great bowlers.

December 2005. The previous winter, the team had gone to the Rose Bowl, so we South Quadders won. But in 2005, Carr let the football players play for West Quad, and we were completely obliterated. 

During that fight, I was picked up into the air and thrown into a snowbank by Prescott Burgess. 

Summer after my senior year of high school.  I still had it in the back of my mind that I was going to not go to GMI and walk-on to Purdue's tennis team. (They were the local school, about 30 minutes from my house.)

There used to be a small tournament for graduating seniors in the area, no more than about 30 players would show up, but sometimes coaches from the smaller colleges and universities would drop in to look for late additions to their team, so it was pretty good tennis.

Anyhow, I was playing doubles with one of the guys from my team and we ended up in the semi-finals against the #1 doubles team from our county rival.  These two guys had played together for 4 years, and I had played against them for all 4 of those years, but with different partners.  The guy I was playing with had been my partner the only time we beat them, but that was when we were all freshman.  I'd also lost to these guys several times out of season at USTA tournaments.

For whatever reason, we just absolutely demolished them, 6-1 6-1.  We ended up losing the next match, but 2nd place was perfectly fine that day.


My partner that day ended up playing at a small DII school that he'd had no interest in, but the coach was there that day and had him enrolled in summer classes about a month later.

2011 D1 Hockey Regional hockey final. Blew a 3 goal lead in the 3rd and lost in double OT. That one hurts.

2009 Basketball State Championship - got to play in the Xfinity Center. I'm #15, getting ready for the jump ball.

I played DT. I was small, but extremely quick and would get several sacks/game. At the end of the season we would play a match vs EMU; one year we won on the first play in OT by running the kickoff back for a TD.

1973, with a football coach and his kids living in the basement apartment of the golf course.

Winning the tournament earned mucho points for West Quad Adams House in the campus IM standings, and qualifed me for walk on status with the Varsity Golf team.

The Adams House IM committee came for me in the morning, and we were still partying in the dorm room from the night before (I had been on campus about 2 weeks).

was still mildly tripping as I played.   loved the trails off my shots.  everyonie else is playing in coats, I had on a golf sweater.    Shot 74.    Still have the trophy somewhere.

Senior year of HS.
Federal Hocking at Miller (SE Ohio).
We ran a wishbone and never really threw the ball (I threw 110 passes in 10 games, with 27 coming in one game where we were getting blown out). Coach told the paper earlier in the week that we probably would not throw the ball a single time that week. They loaded the box, and I audibled accordingly. 4 TD passes in the 1st half. I also returned a pick 6 in the 2nd half. We won 38-8.

I went to a mid-sized high school in Michigan and was on the wrestling team all four years. We had never been to states which was the top 8 schools from each of four divisions, all competing at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek. Just prior to that are the regionals where the winners go on to the state finals.

We were the underdog in our first match at regionals and had a lot of things go our way early, up pretty solidly. When my match came up, I was super nervous but typically was going into matches. I didn't want to get pinned or do anything to cost us points. Nothing really happens in the first period and I choose down to start the second. I shoot my leg out and my elbow back to try to grab my opponent's arm but suddenly hear the ref's whistle. What happened? Did I do something wrong?

I got up and looked at the other guy and he was bleeding all over the place, like a LOT of blood. I kind of freaked out because I wasn't sure if he was ok or what to do. The other coaches and trainer came over to tend to the other guy. Turns out I elbowed him right in the nose and broke it. The ref chatted briefly with the other coach and then walked over to me and raised my hand, signifying that I won. Apparently if the blood can't be stopped by a legal move, then the other wrestler wins by injury default. 

That ended up being six points to our team and the next guy on our team won his match, clinching the win for us. We won the next match pretty easily and became the first team in our school's history to make it to the state finals where we were blown out in the first round but it was fun making it that far.

Andover high school.

Team Captain.

State Champs.

Boom.

I was the starting pitcher for GR Central. We were mediocre most of the season, posting a .500 record. We faced GR Christian and won 7-1 in the tournament. I had 10Ks. 

Not a super big event.  But when I went to highschool my grade was the first grade as it was a new school.  In grade 9 we didn't have a football team. Grade 10 we lost every game as juniors.  Grade 11 we were given the choice to stay in junior or field a senior team of course our bravado got in the way of common sense as it happens to boys at that age, we lost every game except the last that was payed in a torrential rain and hitherto now known as the Mudbowl.  

The next year we won the championship but the Mudbowl will always be our best.

!

I had my own Bill Buckner moment playing second base in a Pee Wee championship game way back when.  One out, man on first, imagined going to second to start the double play if a grounder came my way and everything.  Hit came to me just as I imagined.  I went to a knee, scooped, turned to throw, and nothing was in the glove, and the ball was through to shallow right field.  A comedy of errors ensued and the runner on first scored to win the championship.

Ah to be 12 again. 

A high school football game I played in as a senior. We were playing against the cross-town rivals in the last regular season game of the year and we were fired up. They came out and punched us in the mouth getting an early 14-3 lead in the 1st quarter. But after that we woke up and got our shit together. We walked out of there with a 42-14 win and a lot of pride. And I (as an exceedingly undersized OL) had a great game. I managed to rack up 8 pancakes and a couple new names on my not-going-to-send-me-a-Christmas-card list.

I've had more heroic sporting moments but for most memorable...

6th grade basketball we were playing our second game against a team that we had lost to badly the first time. They had one kid who was way above average for that age.

It was late in the game we had a three point lead and then they scored to cut it to one with about 30 seconds left. My dad, who is the coach, calls a time out and talks it over with us. He says okay, I've saved a lot of timeouts so if you get in trouble just call one. Otherwise just dribble it past half court and pass it around and let the clock wind down. Whatever you do, don't shoot and don't foul.

Our point guard dribbles it up court taking it slowly past half court. He passes to the other guard who passes it to one of our forwards, my best friend. Since the other team was going for the ball, he is wide open with tons of space. He decides to shoot with fifteen seconds left. He misses. The other team rebounds it and passes it to their best player who dribbles it up court and my best friend, the one who took the shot, fouls him. My dad is just beside himself, complete wtf face.

Two foul shots for them one point down best player at the line. First shot is up, hits the back of the rim and rolls off. Second shot up, same exact thing, slowly rolls off the back of the rim. We get the rebound and win the game. Drove my best friend home after the game and we had a good time giving him crap over his "Don't Shoot, Don't Foul" crimes, especially since we still won.

Hmm... lot of possibilities, but mainly because they're all Cool Stories Bro rather than rising to the level of an actual cool story.

I'll go with intramural softball, because we happened to play against Matt Schaub one particular game.  His team stunk.  Their whole offense was "try to put a runner or two on base in front of Matt Schaub, then watch him blast it 100 feet over the centerfield fence."  He lived up to his end of the bargain literally every time up.  Between our team of halfway decent players and his team built around one superstar, we ended up tied.  Rules called for one extra inning in which your own pitcher pitched to you and you got one pitch only.  Schaub came up and blasted one 100 feet over the centerfield fence, then they went down in order.  I led off and my pitcher gave me one four feet over my head.  Fortunately my arms + the bat are about that long and I got a hit out of it, scored the tying run.....and watched our team go down in order after that.  So instead of being able to say I beat Matt Schaub in IM softball, I'll have to go with Matt Schaub did not beat me in IM softball.

Played in the bourbon bowl.....can't remember if we won or lost

Last year in the Chicago Outdoor Hockey League (beer league) we got to play out on the ice at Soldier Field the week before Michigan did, which was a cool one.

Going way back, it would have to be high school JV state championship at the Joe. 

at a Detroit Piston game January 2, 1976. Hit a shot from the top of the circle with an overly inflated ball. Won $100. That night I became a professional. Retired January 3, 1976. Still have the letter and check stub from the Pistons somewhere.

started playing hockey as an adult. about 6 months in, we played in a travel tournament. scored 2 goals in the championship game. maybe not most memorable, but that was such a fun weekend.

Probably 2004 13U Southeast Regional Championship for Babe Ruth Baseball League. Lost to North Carolina (Rocky Mountain) 8-7 in extra innings. I kept up with several travel ball teams we played against growing up and that NC team had two guys get drafted and virtually all of them played D1 baseball -- which is probably why they beat us 12-2 in the 2005 14U Southeast Regional Semifinals. Best times of my life.

 

I grew up in Saginaw. I have long since moved away, so I don't know if this still exists, but there used to be an annual "Friendship Games" where teams from Saginaw would face off in various sports against teams from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The games would alternate between Saginaw one year, and Canada the next. Anyway, one morning when I was about 14 or 15 years old, I get a call from a friend's dad, who was the coach of Saginaw's Friendship Games chess team. He said the Canadian team had arrived one player short in the under-15 division, and wanted to know if I'd be willing to fill in. I agreed, so I went downtown to where the games were being held and played four matches. I wound up winning all four games, and our team prevailed. I was awarded a gold medal, which I proudly accepted as a member of the victorious Canadian team.

Easy.

broomball championship.

Won on the hallowed ice of Yost arena.

I scored the game winner in an overtime shootout!

Our junior year my buddies and I won the independent league of intramurals, not so much for being good as for playing everything...  great times.  They even have a dinner for the champions, one of the most absurd things I've ever attended...

Taco House forever!  

To expand more, I lived in Thronson house 96-97 and 97-98, we were pretty active in the intramurals but what I remember most was jager bombs in our rooms at 11 at night before broomball games...

jdon