Getcha Popcorn Ready

          The score is 10-0 in favor of the away team. The clock reads 4:34. It’s the 4^th quarter. The home team huddles up, getting ready to run their first play of the drive. The home crowd is eager for their beloved football team to get things going. They have been held scoreless to this point. However no one is worried, the crowd is quiet but surprisingly calm.  The young quarterback has been in this position many times before. The question is, can he do it again? With Ice running through his veins he leads his team down the field like a sergeant leading his troops. He throws, jukes and scrambles for first downs, each one more improbable then the next. The murmuring of the crowd grows after every yard gained. Finally with 2:12 left the quarterback drops back and surveys the field. The pocket breaks down and he is forced to scramble. There is a lane open to use his legs, but knowing every second is precious he holds up. Aware of his running abilities, defenders leave their assignments to make a play. The QB sees this and releases the ball before crossing the line of scrimmage. It’s a dart to the corner of the end zone to a wide-open receiver. The catch is made! BOOM!!  Fireworks shoot up from the scoreboard as the crowd cheers!

Fast forward to overtime. The opposing team has the ball and is approaching field goal range. Their coach takes a safe approach, calling a running play to the left side. The ball is snapped and everything goes as planned. The RB sees an open hole and shoots through; it looks to be a big gain that will seal the game. BUT THEN………… Pandemonium.  The running back is stripped of the ball and its recovered by the home team. The crowd erupts like a Volcano with all the stored up energy released in one moment. People are hugging, high fiving, yelling, staring in disbelief and of course “Tebowing”. I think you know the rest.

These types of moments are what I enjoy most in life. As soon as an exciting sporting event ends whether I’m at the game or watching it on TV; I immediately look towards the next one I can go to or watch. In a world where people are so busy with work, school, jobs, etc. Watching sports is my out. Its how I get away and where I can truly be myself. Unfortunately I cant go back in time to relive these experiences so I find the best way to remember them is to share them with others.

So without further ado, here are my top 5 best sporting events I have ever attended.

1.                    Bears @ Broncos 12/11/11.

Outcome:  Broncos 13 Bears 10

Tim Tebow led the Broncos to comeback victory in 4^th quarter for 6^th straight win. Read Above.

2.                    Red Wings @ Sharks Game 7 Western Conference Semifinals 5/12/2011

Outcome: Sharks 3 Red wings 2

Probably the LOUDEST game I have ever been too. I took video on my phone, but it was so loud that it couldn’t even record the audio. The Wings made a comeback in the 3^rd period with a goal to bring it within 1. There was a scramble in front of the sharks net with less than 10 seconds remaining, but the puck got cleared as time ran out and sent all the fans into complete delirium.

3.                    Clippers @ Kings 2/28/2011

Outcome: Kings 105 Clippers 99

This game had significance for other reasons then just the game itself. This was at the peak of the Kings possible relocation to LA. Tyler, Blake and I along with other Die Hard Kings fans set up a “Here We Stay Night”. We helped sell out the game to make one lass ditch effort to convince the Maloof’s to reconsider moving the Kings. We showed up to the stadium three hours before game time with signs and our faces painted chanting “Here we stay, Not LA” ,among other chants, outside the stadium. We made the cover of the Sacramento Bee as well as in other websites and videos. The game was great too. Blake Griffin was electric and Marcus Thornton scored 16 points in the 4^th quarter for a comeback victory.

4.                    Cavaliers @ Kings 3/13/09

Outcome: Cavs 126 Kings 123

Even though the Kings lost, this game was sick!!  It was my first time getting to see Lebron James play in person (this is before he went to the Heat) Lebron dropped 51 points, 16 of them in the 4^th quarter to lead the Cavs to tie the game. Kevin Martin had a chance to win the game in regulation on a last second shot, but Lebron blocked it. I don’t care what anybody says, Lebron is a beast!

5.                    Patriots @ Packers 11/19/06

Outcome: Pats 35 Packers 0

On the field, this game was awful. Tom Brady and the Patriots ran over the Packers. Brett Favre was knocked out of the game in the 2^nd quarter with an elbow injury, which left a young and inexperienced Aaron Rodgers to play. He couldn’t get much going and his leg was broken on the final play. However aside from the game this was one of the coolest experiences of my life. I got to see my beloved Packers play at Lambeau Field and enjoy the community of Green Bay. We even sat next to an old guy who said he was at the Ice Bowl.  Crazy!

Honorable mention:

Lakers @ Kings 2011: Was thought to be last game for Kings in Sacramento,

NCAAB Arizona @ Cal : Game went into triple OT!,

NCAAF UCLA @ Cal: Saw Desean Jackson and Marshawyn Lynch play for Cal

The best game I never saw

I had tickets to the Kings vs Grizzlies game when Tyreke Evans hit a half court shot at the buzzer to win the game. Unfortunately I was forced to give up my ticket because I was scheduled for a double shift at my work and I couldn’t find anybody to take it for me. I can’t believe I missed one of the most exciting games in Kings history!! I’ll Never live it down!!!!

Use this site to keep track of games you have been too

http://travel.espn.go.com/travel/passport/index

What’s the best sporting event you have ever been too?

There is NO crying in sports....... or is there?

     Hello, my name is Tim Ghiorso and I am a 19-year-old college student. This is my first attempt at writing a blog. So bear with me. The reason I have decided to write this is because I am a sports FANATIC.  So can you guess what my favorite conversation topic is? I talk about other stuff too (if any women are reading this, don’t write me off already) When it comes to sports debates I have a pretty big ego. Most of the time I believe that I am right and you are wrong, but come on? Dosen’t everyone feel that way.

     

       I was watching ESPN today and didn’t realize it, but this week is Jimmy V week. No not Bobby V, the new Red Sox manager, it kinda confused me for a sec too. If you call yourself a sports fan, the mention of Jimmy V should immediately stir up some sort of emotion inside of you. Jimmy Valvano is most remembered for his speech after receiving the Arthur Ashe Award at the ESPY’S. They show it a lot on ESPN especially during Jimmy V week. It is one of the most motivating, emotional and personal speeches ever given in the sports world. If you have not seen it before I recommend you go watch it on YouTube right away. In his speech he spoke about his organization, the Jimmy V Foundation and his personal fight with cancer. He talked about some of his experiences coaching and people he worked with like Coach K and Dick Vitale. But he also spoke about how we should get the most out of every day and live life to the fullest. Here is an excerpt from the speech, 

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special”

     Now I have probably seen the Jimmy V speech about a gazillion times, but it still brought me to tears. This spurred my title, is there crying in sports?   Yes there is, and I am going to give a list of top 5 moments in sports I have cried about, but before I do let me clarify something.  CRYING DURING A SPORTING EVENT IS UNACCEPTABLE!! Fan or Player, unless you are hurt badly and in pain.  As a fan and player I have had myself a good cry after a tough loss or even a great win…. Key word AFTER.

I had an experience one time on my high school soccer team when one of our best players started crying DURING the game because the other team was playing “too physical” Are you kidding me?!!!! you cry when you are 6 years old during a game because you don't know which direction to go in. Not in freaking high school!  Get off the field crybaby!!!!

    I think the only time I can remember a Pro athlete crying during a game was when Kevin Garnett, Forward for Boston Celtics was ripping his teammate Glen Davis. Garnett was just tearing into him on the bench because he messed up on the court. Glen Davis also known by his nickname as Big Baby Davis (very fitting) was crying into his towel on the bench. How embarrassing!

    

Here are my top 5 sports moments as a fan, viewer or player that have made me shed some tears

1.Watching Brian’s Song…..all I can say is WOW, this movie is powerful and so sad. It’s a true story about the famous Chicago running back Gale Sayers and his teammate named Brian Piccolo.  I literally bawled my eyes out (not exaggerating)

2. Jimmy V speech…… my grandpa died of cancer a couple years ago, most people are touched by this because cancer effects everyone

3. Reggie White speech…..most people don’t know about this one. Reggie White was giving his testimony to a stadium full of people in Philadelphia. He played for Eagles before he played for Packers. Jerome Brown was a DT that played with Reggie on Eagles, this guy had made 2 All-Pro teams and the Eagles were a Super Bowl contender. In his 5th year in the league, he was killed in a car accident 20 minutes before Reggie White was supposed to share his testimony. Reggie got word of this before he got on stage and broke the news to all the people there. I am literally getting goosebumps just talking about it. Watch it

4. Pretty much any ESPN film, E:60 or segment on sportscenter (they do a really good job)

A recent one that brought me to tears was called “Unguarded”  about a former NBA player named Chris Herren. Drugs and alcohol cut his basketball career short and almost ripped his family apart. 

 

5. And now a personal experience………I was playing in an indoor soccer league and our team was playing for the championship. The team we were playing was one we had beaten before, except this time something was different. There team looked bigger, faster and stronger. Then we realized they have like 8 new college level players. We only lost 6-2, but we were physically and emotionally dominated. Our team was cheated. That boiled over in our Flag Football league about half hour later when our team lost and I dropped multiple passes. I came home almost in tears and at 10 at night I went for a run to blow off steam. I broke down in the middle of a random neighborhood and cried.

Im going to throw in a 6^th:  When my Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl, I was overcome with happiness and shed a few tears while all my friends and I were jumping around going crazy. See YouTube video for that

So is there crying in sports?  The answer: Absolutely, but save it until after the game Please!!!!!

Do you have an memories of a moment in sports; of a personal experience or something you watched that brought you to tears?

comment below if you do I would love to read about it

Thanks for reading if you got this far, subscribe to me if you want to get more blogs. Also tune into my sports talk radio show every Wednesday at 8pm.