best and worst sports memories

good and bad are really two sides of the same coin, and i think you will find that some of my sweetest memories are strongly related to some of my worst. that's what keeps us coming back to sports, though, right?


BEST MEMORIES:

-2002 ncaa tournament. jay williams choked, maryland rocked everyone - including kansas and indiana in the final two games - to take home its first-ever men's basketball national title. amazing. (and let's not forget the women's title in 2006.)

-2002 nlcs. after edging past the braves, the giants embarrass the cardinals in five games to clinch a spot in the world series. bonds is homer-ific, benito santiago is rocking the house, and robb nen is a closer extraordinaire. life is good.

-2005 u.s. open. gilles muller, a native of luxembourg, rocks the tennis world by upsetting andy roddick in the first round. yes, he loses in the second round, but at least it's to a half-luxembourger in robbie ginepri.

-2008 u.s. open. muller is back again, and this time he's even better, making a run all the way to the quarters before falling to eventual champion roger federer. what a beast.

-san jose sharks, any recent regular season. 2008-09 is a prime example, but the sharks have been the team to reckon with over the past few seasons. sure, they're not the red wings, but the sharks have been able to pair solid goaltending with serious offensive firepower for years now.

-dallas mavericks, most recent regular seasons. the jason-kidd-for-devin-harris-and-the-kitchen-sink-trade aside, the mavericks have been one of the better teams in the nba in the 2000s, including a run to the finals in 2006 and the best record in the league in 2006-07. no matter what your allegiances, you can't tell me you don't enjoy watching terry, nowitzki, and howard light up defenses - and, for howard, the occasional joint - night after night.


WORST MEMORIES:

-maryland, any season since 2002. gary williams has never been known for his recruiting, but especially since he got his title and waved goodbye to steve blake, juan dixon, chris wilcox, and co., he's thrown in the towel when it comes to getting good players to campus - and keeping them there. sure, maryland's likely to throw up a good upset every season, but without a big man and with serious academic issues, the terps no longer are a threat for the acc title like they were in the early part of the decade.

-2002 world series. in game 6, dusty baker hands russ ortiz the game ball in the 7th inning, and then all hell breaks loose. the rally monkey kicks ass, troy glaus gets the big hit off the injured robb nen, and those almost engraved rings are tossed out and emblazoned with halos instead. i don't eat dinner for two nights in a row.

-2003 nlds. you never want to end your season because you don't pinch-run for j.t. snow. especially when this is the last time you will make the playoffs for the rest of the decade.

-2008 tour de france. after several luxembourgers make runs at the yellow jersey, frank schleck establishes a solid lead heading into the final days of the race. but, of course, carlos sastre steals it away at the very end, denying schleck (and luxembourg) its well-deserved glory. no 'roids reported yet, but just you wait.

-san jose sharks, any recent postseason. i just can't explain it, but the sharks can't finish when it comes to the big-time. year after year, they lose to teams that have been playing worse than them. but after their four-overtime loss to dallas to exit stanley cup contention last season and todd mclellan's arrival in san jose, the sharks look like they may finally have what it takes to translate regular-season success into postseason glory. but that's what i thought last year, too.

-2006 nba finals. with a chance to go up 3-0 in the series, dirk (of all people!) misses a free throw, and the mavericks collapse. dwayne wade becomes a star, shaq gets another ring, and dallas blows its best chance to win a title.

-2007 western conference quarterfinals. you know how you ruin an amazing regular season? by losing to the eighth-seeded warriors in the first round.

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sunday night sports digest

that dirk is such a maverick! this one reaches back a few weeks, but it's worth pointing out for those of you who missed it back then. ever imagine what it would be like to have sarah palin as president? let's just say that nowitzki has a prominent role in the oval office. click on the picture frame behind palin's desk...

dangerous waters. we're just a few weeks into the NHL season, and san jose is running away with the pacific division. i should be excited, no? well, given the sharks' recent run as regular-season dominators and postseason underwhelmers, even an 80-win season wouldn't be enough assurance come springtime. one thing's for sure: todd mclellan is not coaching like a rookie.

unbeaten, but still boring. after sneaking past the bears on the road, the titans are 9-0, more than halfway to a perfect regular season. but there isn't a hint of the drama that surrounded the pats as they made their run last year. why? because tennessee just isn't that good. kerry collins at QB and a running game that produced just 20 net yards against chicago? let's just say the titans' destiny isn't exactly etched into stone quite yet.

psu really smells like poo, poo, poo. as if penn state didn't already have things hard enough playing in the unimpressive big ten, they went and crapped the bed against iowa to thoroughly eliminate any chance of making the bcs championship game. (note to self: i should probably avoid making absolute statements this year when it comes to college football. oh well.) so can we expect bama-red raiders come january? eh... not so fast. each will have a pretty significant hurdle in its championship game, and alabama didn't exactly look stellar against LSU. teams that have faded from the national spotlight (USC, anyone?) may still have a shot at getting back into the big game.

JJ is within reach. after grabbing the pole in phoenix, jimmie johnson is poised to take his third straight sprint cup title. what are you doing reading this?! flip over to ABC to check out the action! and no, you don't have to live south of the mason-dixon line to appreciate JJ's talent.