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We all have those moments. The
ones when we're watching a triple overtime unfold, or we're hitting
the last-second jumper ourselves - the ones that stay with us the
rest of our lives. They remind us of why we're passionate
about sports - why everything from the Tallahassee Little League
Championships to the Super Bowl can get us excited. Some
of us here at Outsports, and some of our readers, have put together
our lists of our Top Moments In Sports. We hope some of these
lists remind you of "where you were when..." and that they
inspire you to create your own list. Whether you have 3, 5,
10, or any number of favorite sports moments, e-mail
them to us and we'll post them here. Mikey
B:
Check
out Mikey B's Clubhouse profile
10. 1979: Seattle Sonics win NBA title.
At seven years old, this was one of my first and most profound memories of professional sports as Gus Williams, Dennis Johnson,
Jack Sikma, and "Downtown" Freddy Brown led the Sonics to the NBA World Championship after losing in the finals the previous year.
I'm hoping Payton can learn a lesson or two!
9. 1995: The Seattle Mariners win AL West crown.
A Griffey-led attack capped a great season for the M's. I remember sitting glued to the big screen in such torrid anticipation as the M's
win some huge games in that series. M's are on track to do itagain!
8. January, 1991: University of Washington football wins share of
NCAA title.
My alma mater, coached by Don James, defeated Oklahoma in the Orange
Bowl and finished ranked #1, tied with the University of Miami for a
share of the national championship. The bragging rights one obtains
when you're a student at the college that claims the NCAA football
crown ... awesome!
7. 1990-1991: University of Washington women's basketball defeats
Stanford in Palo Alto.
My older sister was a senior guard for the Huskies on this team that
came from behind to claim a rare win at Stanford, beating the highly
ranked Cardinal on a last second shot to help win a share of the Pac-10 title. On the final play of the game, after a missed shot by
the Huskies, the ball was tapped around and rolled away from the pile into the hands of guard Laura Moore. Laura had just entered
the game for the first time for her textbook shooting. She picked up the ball and launched a 17 footer that hit nothing but net. The
Huskies advanced to the Sweet 16.
6. March, 1991: The Duke Blue Devils defeat UNLV in NCAA tourney.
My favorite college hoops team, Duke, pulled off the biggest upset of the year by beating Larry Johnson and the undefeated and #1
ranked, defending national champion Runnin' Rebels, 79-77 in the semis of the Final Four. This led to the first of back-to-back NCAA
titles for Christian, Bobby, and Grant. Tark and the "Shark" get bounced!
5. March, 1992: The Duke Blue Devils beat Kentucky on a last second shot by Laettner.
Duke did not disappoint me here as Christian Laettner capped a perfect game (10-10 FT, 10-10 FG) with a turn-around jumper near the
top of the key to lead Duke over Kentucky, sending my boys to the Final Four, where they belong and where they went on to win the NCAA
crown for the second year in a row.
4. May, 1997 & May, 2000: NAGVA national volleyball champions.
We won the AA crown for the North American Gay Volleyball Association in Philadelphia in 1997, defeating San Francisco.
Following a two-year absence we won gold again in Denver, this time beating Chicago in the finals.
3. October, 1997: Holy Names Academy girls volleyball defeats Blanchet High School for my greatest win as a coach.
HNA vs. Blanchet was a staple for intensity to our league and my volleyball program. In the final match of the regular season and
Blanchet one game ahead of us in the standings, we were faced with the difficult task of traveling to their gym and playing in front of
their hostile crowd.
 In the previous meeting at our gym, in front
of a standing-room-only crowd, Blanchet won the 2 1/2 hour marathon match coming from behind after being down 0-2 in games to win the
next three and claim victory. We were hoping to return the favor, and my girls did not let me down.
After dropping a close first game to the much taller and stronger Blanchet squad, my team (with an
averaged height of 5'6 and only one player taller than 5'8) dominated play with spectacular defense and blocking, and timely
hitting by our big gun Jesse. We took the next three games to win the match in four, leaving the Blanchet faithful stunned. This led
to the league tournament and the coveted Metro title on the line.
Blanchet was upset in the semis by Seattle Prep and my girls again took care of business to get to the championship match. Another
packed house watched as this group of overachievers delivered another convincing performance, earning the school's first league
championship in volleyball (only the fourth championship overall), a
return trip to the state tourney, and sending us into a frenzy as I lay in the middle of the pig-pile at center court as pretty much the
happiest guy on earth.
2. August, 1998: My men's volleyball team wins gold at Gay Games
Amsterdam in honor of former teammate.
Assembled for Gay Games Amsterdam was a team of men playing in honor
of a former teammate of ours who had just previously lost his life in an accident. Each team member's volleyball career had been
touched by him, either as a teammate on the USA national team, a teammate from his club team, or by having been coached by him. After defeating Sports Club Zurich from Switzerland in the semis of
the medal round, in the men's half of the featured volleyball event on the last day of competition, our team faced the guys from San
Francisco. In the best-out-of-five-game match, we played very well,
defeating SF in three straight games with a dominating offense and total determination to complete our quest to win this tournament in
honor and remembrance our friend.
1. March, 1984: Woodway High School wins Washington State girls AA
basketball championship.
This game has to be one of the finest moments in sports I have ever experienced. My older sister KB was a highly touted sophomore
starting guard on this team, in a high school program that had established itself as one of the state's finest.
After breezing
through the league, district, and regional finals, WHS won the first
two rounds of the state playoffs handily. In the finals Woodway met
North Kitsap, who had steadily become a playoff rival for the Warriors. As a gangly 7th grader and my sister's #1 fan, I made
sure I was in the thick of things as I crammed myself to the front of the student section, getting smashed and knocked around by high
schoolers twice my size. The game was a battle from the beginning, with deafening crowd noise and an intensity that could be felt not
only on the court.
With nine seconds remaining on the clock, the score tied at 42-42, Woodway had the ball out of bounds and had to
work the full length of the court to score. The ball was inbounded to the only senior starter on the team who then managed to scramble
and dribble the length of the court and get off a 5-foot jumper inside the paint that rattled around and finally found the bottom of
the bucket as the final horn sounded.
Pandemonium erupted. Piles of bodies on the court. Piles of bodies in the student
section. Piles of bodies on top of me as my younger cousin next to me kept trying to scream in my ear that she had peed in her pants as
a result of all the excitement! A brilliant moment!
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