As I spent the past week at home (with the baby) I had the opportunity to watch the Chelsea-Man united game on ESPN 2. It was a great match, with an unbelievable ending. Chelsea was so close to win, just think… what if John Terry would NOT have slipped. What if…
What is a "what if" sporting event? Some matches in sports are very decisive. When Man United beats Arsenal 4-0, there is no "what if". Man United was the clear winner, and nothing could have changed that. Unlike that, there are many matches that are decided by one small play, one last minute event, leaving the crowd with an amazing thought: "what if" that exact play wouldn't have happened? The best "what if" matches have an impact beyond the actual game. In the case of the case my beloved Patriots (way back in February), the last Giants drive made the difference between an 18-1 season and a 19-0 season.
When I wrote about the Pats game, Guy Horowitz, an ex-Gemini and a good friend commented about his favorite "what if" moments. His comment inspired me to list my own top 5 "what if" moments. I have been "sitting" on this post for over 3 months, but the game on Wednesday gave me an incentive to finally publish. Anyway, I went through a fascinating process to dig out old sporting events, and talk to people about their own "what if" games. To be honest, I can easily mention 40, 50, and even 100 games. But the focus here will remain on MY OWN top 5.
Event |
Sports Category |
Description |
What if… |
Michael Jordan shoots the winning basket on Game 6 between the Bulls and the Jazz (1996) |
Basketball |
On his last championship game (before the second retirement – out of three), with ~20 seconds to go Jordan steels the ball from Karl Malone and a couple of seconds before the end of the game, hits a 20-foot game-winning jump shot. At that time, it was almost certain that this would be his last NBA shot. How appropriate it was that it was the shot that brought him the 6th championship. |
What if Jordan hadn't stolen the ball or hadn't made the shot? Would that stain Jordan's winner reputation? What effect would that have on the US market? (No kidding, the Air Jordan shoe is still the highest selling shoe) |
Bob Rensenbrink misses the winning goal for Holland during the world cup finals (1978) |
Soccer |
The Orange dream team of the 70's made it to the finals twice: Germany 74 and Argentina 78. In an amazing game that is tied at 1:1, with 2 minutes left to play, Rensenbrink hits the post, sending the game to overtime. Holland breaks apart, and Argentina wins their 1st ever world cup. |
What if Rensenbrink would have scored? Holland would have entered the exclusive club of World Cup champions (instead of Argentina), and would have been the only European team to win the cup outside Europe. |
Buffalo misses a last minute field goal, losing the super bowl to the giants |
Football |
With 10 seconds left on the clock and a 1-point lead for the Giants, Scott Norwood from Buffalo missed a field goal, giving the championship to the Giants. Buffalo lost in their first super bowl appearance. They made it to the super bowl in the next 3 seasons after that, but lost in all their appearances. |
What if Norwood would have scored? Buffalo is also the only team to win four consecutive AFC Championships, though they failed to win any of the subsequent Super Bowls. Maybe Norwood's field goal would have been the difference between the best team in history and the worst team in history. |
Bill Buckner's Error in the World Series vs. the Mets (1986) |
Baseball |
The Red Sox faced the Mets in game 6 of the World Series. Boston led the best-of-7 series 3 games to 2. The game was tied at the bottom of the 10th, when Mookie Wilson hit a ground ball to Bill Buckner at first base. The ball rolled under Buckner's glove, through his legs, and into right field, allowing Ray Knight to score the winning run, forcing a seventh game, which the Mets won. |
What if Buckner had caught the ball? Could the Red Sox win the championship 18 years before 2004? The reality is that Buckner is the symbol of the Red Sox performance (Curse) till 2004. |
Boris Becker almost loses to Joakim Nystrom in the 2nd round of Wimbledon (1985) |
Tennis |
An unknown kid (17 years old) by the name of Boris Becker played the 7th place player Joakim Nystrom. Nystrom served for the match in the 5th set, but Becker managed to break the serve, and win the last set 9-7, later advancing to win the entire championship |
What if Nystrom would have won? Tennis would have lost its youngest Wimbledon champ, and won of its greatest players. I was in London in 1985, and watched the Becker games with high interest. Nystrom would have had a major impact on me… |
Picking just 5 means that there are many great moments that didn't make the list: Derek Sharp's winner shot for Maccabi Tel-Aviv in 2004, Oscar's last minute header saved by Dino Zoff in Brasil's 3:2 defeat against Italy in 1982, Dave Roberts stealing second base in the bottom of 9th of Game 4 of the ALCS, reversing the Bambino curse after 86 years, and Ronnie Rosenthal missing a great opportunity for Israel against Columbia in the World cup qualifying match of 1990.
There are many other great moments like these. All bring great memories and inspire great "what if" dreams.
«Catching your tune»:
what if Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa had not win yesterday?
I would probably just walk around in peace and silence not interrupted by devilish shouts from «ars-subarus» out there.
Posted by: Designfreak | May 24, 2008 at 06:53 AM
Very nice list, Danny :) Here are a few more contenders and memorable "what if" moments:
England vs. Germany, Final of the Soccer World Cup 1966. Did Geoff Hurst’s extra-time goal cross the line? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twYFgixkqJE The linesman thought so… Gave the English team their first and only world cup title….
England vs. Germany, Semi-final Soccer Euro 1996. Paul Gascoigne misses in extra time a Golden Goal opportunity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxFazPI2_PI . Could have helped the English team reach the final and avoided another penalty shootout heartache for his team…
Final of the 1999 Soccer UEFA Champions League Final, Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich. In extra time, Thorsten Fink miss-kicked a clearance for the German team, which fell to Giggs, who’s shot was continued in by Sheringham. The rest is history… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP5mBN1VV2s
Game 6 of the NL Championship Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Florida Marlins at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were up 3-0 and 5 outs away from heading to the World Series, when Steve Bartman, a Cubs fan, knocked a fly-ball away from the Cubs player… Not sure whether that was a catchable ball, but the aftermath was clear: the Cubs crumbled and lost the game and eventually the series…
Superbowl 34 on January 2000 between the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans, 2000. Rams linebacker Jones tackles the Titans wide receiver Kevin Dyson on the one yard line as time expires, preserving a 23-16 Rams victory.
Are trades and lottery picks are also considered under the “what is?” analysis? :-) Even if not, at least 2 are worth mentioning:
- Babe Ruth being sold from The Red Sox to the NY Yankees in 1919 in order to finance a Broadway play…
- The Portland Trailblazers select Sam Bowie as the second player in the 1984 NBS draft, one place ahead of Michael Jordan that was picked by the Chicago Bulls…
Posted by: GB | May 24, 2008 at 05:48 PM
What if I could put together such an impressive list...
Would probably have posted it rather than send it to you by e-mail.
Great list.
One comment regarding that first entry (Jordan). I probably watched that move like 20 times. I'm not sure a "what if" is even viable in this case...
When is your VC "what if" list due? (like: what if Gates had sold Microsoft to IBM for $1M, or what Yahoo bought the search engine offered by those two guys, Brin and Page)
Posted by: Yariv | May 27, 2008 at 03:48 PM
With your permission, a local-patriotic list:
- 1989, Israeli basketball league semi-final. Hapoel Haifa leading Maccabi Tel-Aviv in the last playoff game, 2 seconds from the buzzer. What if the ball did not reach Lavan Mercer? What if he missed that shot? Hapoel Haifa would have gone on to to win the Israeli championship, play in the European Cup and would have probably survived the economic crisis that crashed it in the early nineties. Maccabi would have lost the championship 4 years before it finally happened in 1993.
- 1999, Champions League final qualifying round. Hapoel Haifa (detecting a pattern here?) dominates Valencia, missing opportunities right left and center. What if Talker, Sevillia and Turjeman scored at least one of the great opportunities? What if Dudu Awate wasn't thinking about something else and would have caught the simple ball that passed him and turned into a Valencia goal? Hapoel could have made it to the Champion's league, Robbie Shapira would still be alive, and Hapoel would be the top-tier club it deserves to be. Valencia would not have made it to the champions' league semis, and the finals in the two years that followed.
I've got plenty more (some of them are in the old comment you linked to), but I must admit I am getting more and more frustrated with every word I add. Why isn't there one, just one "what if" moment featuring Hapoel Haifa as the team who stole the victory, snatched the championship, got the winning basket with the buzzer? (Did I hear anyone muttering "losers"?)
Posted by: Guy | May 31, 2008 at 03:20 AM