Was this the greatest sporting moment you've ever witnessed?

Tough question. Not sure I can rank them.

But how lucky are we to have so many incredible sporting events to rank?

I saw a graphic during the SB which compared Boston/NE teams accomplishments to Atlanta's. It was something like 36 to 1. Wow.

The NZ Patriots said:

Can't argue at all with any of these. From what I've heard that hockey game was absurd and I can't even really fathom what it would have been like as a foreigner.

Also despite being a huge Sox fan I think that maybe if I was in MA experiencing the fans, media buzz etc. over those few days it might push for no. 1.

God I love American sports - you guys seriously do it well. Wish I could jet over more.

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While living in Asia I watched a lot of Rugby. That's a fun game to watch as well.

Unquestionably, but I'm not a Sox fan.

Absolutely, by a mile!

European and personal perspective in no order

Liverpool in Istanbul 2005 and United in Barcelona 1999. Both wins out of nowhere
Sox 04
Dublin beat kerry for first time in 37 years 4 points down with mins to go in all Ireland 2011
SB 51

1.) Lake Placid





2.) 2004 Red Sox




some other much lower number) Anything and everything else

From the moment of the Hightower sack-fumble...

it seemed not a pipe dream but rather a tangible dreamable outcome, so that entire time frame, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, whatever it was....

that was the best, ever, for me

As far as one single moment, the Malcolm Butler INT was more incredible- defeat to victory, instantly!

This one, however, built and built and built in intensity. You could see it coming, no matter how improbable it had been, it kept getting less and less and less improbable, then it became possible, then likely, then inevitable!

I guess it's a matter of opinion as to whether that is more enjoyable vs. 2014, but I found it to be!

Tough one. There have been quite a few. I would put in my personal top 5, but we have been so blessed with a lot of great moments. I'll let this one set in for a while and then try.

1976 Celtics triple OT against Suns even Richie Powers was gassed

This was great, but for me nothing will ever match the drama of the 2001 playoffs, culminating in the first franchise SB win. Impossible come back against Oakland, Cinderella win over Pittsburgh, massive underdogs against the Rams and a scrappy win over superior talent.

2001 was the first breathtaking Championship and the precursor for all the Pats teams ever since. I will always love that flawed roster, JAG heros and overachieving spirit.

ask me after i come back down from this high

ALCS 2004 is up there. They basically did it back to back to back across 3 nights to get back in the series.

The NZ Patriots said:

I'm genuinely curious to know whether you all consider SB 51 to be the greatest moment in sports that you have had the pleasure of viewing?

I guess it's pretty dependent on who you root for; I'm trying to rack my brain but nothing comes close. ALCS '04 along with some of the other SB wins would likely fall in my top 5 but most of my other memories are Australian/NZ sport related and they don't come close. I don't think I've ever experienced such a range of emotions culminating in pure satisfaction and reward so for me this takes the cake.

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I want to put an analogy up in regards to the 1980s USA vs USSR hockey upset: that was basically a Duke NCAA team - as good as they may be in some years - going up against LeBron's Cavs, Curry's Golden State, Larry's Celtics or Jordan's Bulls in their respective primes.

While the greatest football comeback I've ever seen, it still doesn't even compare to that hockey team. The Patriots were supposed to win that game by many experts opinions - the Miracle on Ice wasn't even supposed to be on the same rink as that Soviet juggernaut.

mosi said:

If we are just comparing Pats Super Bowls, this is still second to the 2014 game. I mean, once the Pats got the ball back down 28-20, I felt really good they would get it. And when the won the OT coin toss, I cracked open a beer because I knew what was coming.

The 2014 game, I felt terrible. All hope was lost. Seattle was going to score from the one yard line and the Pats snatched it right out from them. To go from complete and utter despair to the joy in knowing that they won. That is still special to me.

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I completely disagree with this.

In the Seattle game there was a minute between Kearse's catch and the interception. I don't care how down or disappointed or shocked you can be, it's still only a minute.

In this game we were down 21-0, then 28-3 which literally spanned 80-90 minutes of hopelessness and despair, and we had to have every single thing get in our favor to win the game. Saying ''once the Pats got the ball back down 28-20'' doesn't describe the situation accurately at all when in their previous drive Atlanta was on the 20-th yard with an easy field goal to make it a 2 possession game with three minutes to go or 4 minutes to go and us with no TO's. They didn't even need to make a play unlike Seattle. They could have taken a knee three times and shoot the FG.

This is the most unlikely win ever. Against Seattle we needed one play to win after we got the lead. Against Atlanta we needed about 20 of them including sacks, a fumble, 2 TD's, 2 two point conversions, winning the coin toss, then scoring another TD.

1981 Celtics Sixers game 7

Yes. The Pats won this game in OT, and had the lead for a grand total of (drumroll) ZERO SECONDS.

Cemented Brady, buried 2007, and can never be duplicated.

Yep

Superbowl 51 is up there but Istanbul was ridiculous. Liverpool vs Milan. Liverpool was such a huge underdog. The team was full of scrubs. I was in Italy at that time. At half time, the whole place was celebrating. By the end, the atmosphere was crazy silent. People were crying in the streets. Milan had kaka, crespo, shevchenko etc. Liverpool had Milan baros, smicer, Gerrard. Nothing compared to Milan.

Such a tough question. I think this was the best game I've ever seen in any sport, as far the outcome. This comeback was legendary, absolutely legendary. A game they will talk about for 100 years. Just the odds, after being down 28-3 was the Pats had a 0.5 percent chance of winning. Let that soak in. Teams were 4 wins 1057 losses when being down 25 points. That's just insane. Such incredible odds against the Pats, yet they complete an improbable, unprecedented comeback on the biggest stage in sports. I think for me, yes, this is the greatest sporting event I've ever witnessed. And I'm old, I've witnessed a lot.

Lake Placid, it meant more to me because of the talent level difference than US vs USSR, countries hating each other, blah blah blah. Sure it added to the intrigue, but I am a hockey fanatic, so the fact that a bunch of college kids beat an allstar team of professionals is what amazed me. Don't get me wrong, I was into beating the USSR at everything lol. But the hockey angle is what hooked me to that game.

resdubwhite said:

European and personal perspective in no order

Liverpool in Istanbul 2005 and United in Barcelona 1999. Both wins out of nowhere
Sox 04
Dublin beat kerry for first time in 37 years 4 points down with mins to go in all Ireland 2011
SB 51

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Ugh, as a Liverpool fan I will never forgive Bayern for choking in that final against the plastic United (Leeds is the real United ).