My Favorite Moments in Sports

Every sports fan has their own list of favorite sports moments. Maybe not a literal list, but it's a collection of moments that they witnessed and felt moved in some way. These moments can be moving for a variety of reasons; elation, empathy, maybe one of the competitors is some kind of inspiring story. Perhaps you feel vendicated after a player YOU believed in ended up turning in to something great.

(Kinda like when I told people that Derek Carr would be the best quarterback of his draft class when he was coming out of Fresno State. But that's besides the point.)

The point being that we all have moments that we grew up watching and, for one reason or another, stuck with us. They had the power to make heroes out of 20 something year-old athletes from Chicago. Or Cedar Rapids. Or Gulfport, Mississippi. They came from all walks of life, and the titans and heroes of our greatest sports memories will live on forever, if only in our own minds.

Here, I humbly present to you, just a few of my favorite moments in sports, and the story behind them.

First, I have to lead off with perhaps my clearest memory of sports-driven elation. For reasons I may try to explain in a later blog post, I really like when NBA teams have a basketball in their logo. When I was young and impressionable the logo that left the biggest impression was that of the Dallas Mavericks, back when they had the big M adorned with a cowboy hat.

Basically, the Dallas Mavericks have always been my favorite NBA team because I thought their logo was cool. My childhood featured a great deal of postseason disappointments.

I REALLY don't like to talk about 2006. Or 2007. Or 2010.

But 2011? That's when it all culminated into a moment at the top of my list. The Dallas Mavericks survived the Western Conference playoffs, only to meet the three-headed monster of Miami: LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. Once again, it was going to be close but not cigar for the Dallas Mavericks.

Until of course, it wasn't.

My moment came in game five. With the series tied at two games each, it looked as if midnight had finally struck on Cinderella. The Heat just went on a run to take a 99-95 lead with five minutes left. Though only a four point deficit, it felt like this was the run Miami needed to finally pull away.

And then the magic happened.

With the game tied at 100, Dirk Nowitzki drove the baseline and delivered a two-handed jam to give the Mavs the lead. The American Airlines Center erupted. Then, with less than a minute and a half to go and Dallas leading 102-100, Jason Kidd hit a shot that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Jason Terry drove the lane, the Heat defense collapsed on him, and he kicks it out to a wide open Kidd. I will always remember, standing in my room because I was too nervous to sit, and literally pointing at the TV when Kidd got the ball. I knew that shot was going in.

The Mavericks would win game five 112-103, and would close out the series in game six, winning their first NBA title in franchise history. Finally, after all the years of heartbreak. After all the years of teasing from my older brother. Finally, my team had climbed the mountain top and would forever be known as NBA Champions. It felt incredible, because it felt impossible.

While yes, Dallas winning the 2011 NBA Finals is a proud achievement for a fan to think of, but it was Jason Kidd's shot that is on my list.

That's when I finally believed it could happen.

This post ended up being a lot longer than I anticipated, so I plan on dedicating my next few blog posts to the other sports moments that, for one reason or another, have always stuck with me. I hope you enjoy these pieces, because part of what I think makes sports so great is the ability to

feel passionately about them, and that that passion is something all sports fans can relate to.