Are SB49 and SB51 the greatest rushes of sports euphoria you've experienced?

1980 Miracle, Lake Placid was when I popped my sports euphoria cherry. You first is always special. But re-watching the Russia and Finland endings are the only sports moments that still give me goosebumps OTHER THAN the 5 Super Bowls. Had I been capable, I would have been shooting fireworks in my pants in 1980. But alas, I was only 10 years old.

It's kind of sad. I was a baseball kid (like most of us in New England). However, by 2004 I couldn't give a ****e about baseball.

Marchand ragdolling those creepy Canuck twins still gives me warm feeling too, now that I think about it.

Dingleberry said:

1980 Miracle, Lake Placid was when I popped my sports euphoria cherry. You first is always special. But re-watching the Russia and Finland endings are the only sports moments that still give me goosebumps OTHER THAN the 5 Super Bowls. Had I been capable, I would have been shooting fireworks in my pants in 1980. But alas, I was only 10 years old.

It's kind of sad. I was a baseball kid (like most of us in New England). However, by 2004 I couldn't give a ****e about baseball.

Marchand ragdolling those creepy Canuck twins still gives me warm feeling too, now that I think about it.

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That was classic.

The feeling I got when Butler intercepted that pass will never be topped.

Tony2046 said:

That was classic.

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That whole sequence was like a gif being looped.

My favorite moment as a Pats fan has to be SB 49, even though I went to SB51 and saw it live. For TEN years we had to wait for a 4th lombardi trophy after the heartbreaks in arizona, indy, indy again, and denver. At that time we were longing in the WORST possible way to be on the same pantheon as the 49ers of the 80s and steelers of the 70s and did not know whether we'd ever get there. We were going for another heart break in SB49, then malcolm butler happened.

For me the first one was the biggest thrill. I just remember saying "they won the f#$_-&g game" over and over... As though I needed to convince myself.
For 51 I could never get comfortable, I had a worm in my brain that kept saying "it would suck if they lose after all this" until the coin toss I never felt good about the outcome. I guess Tyree scarred me for life.
It helps that I hit a $500 pool in 01. (I didn't realize it for about 10 minutes)

condon84 said:

The feeling I got when Butler intercepted that pass will never be topped.

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It's e extremely difficult to disagree with that.

The Patriots/Saints game in October 2013 is a sold #3 for me (maybe higher to be honest). It was my 4th Pats game live after 3 previous losses, life was pretty crappy at the time (my Mom was sick for a few years before and passed in Jan 2014) so the trip itself was great to get away from life stuff. After the Saints got the lead late and the Brady INT it was such a punch to the stomach.

I was mad thinking "fourth time seeing them live and another loss" I still remember to this day a female voice a row or so behind me saying "you got this Tom" and next thing you know, the epic ending with Thompkins getting the game winner with seconds left.

It's an amazing moment that I still rewatch on a semi monthly basis if I ever need to put a smile on my face.

36 is still the best for me. My daughter was an infant and I remember taking her out in the stroller a few hours before the game. I remember while we were out feeling down cause it just felt like every time the Patriots went to the SB they always got stuck facing some juggernaut. Bears, Packers. I was happy they made it, but I expected them to get destroyed.

The roller coster was when the Tebucky Jones TD got called back. As he was running it back for a TD it was at that point I was thinking "OMG, they are going to win this". Then I sat there as soon as he scored (like I do every time the Pats score a TD) and held my breath waiting to see if there was a flag. Sure enough, holding on Willie. And it was not like it was a border line call.

I went from "Oh crap, they are going to pull within a TD", to "OMG, we won" to "Are you freaking kidding me." in the span of a single play.

And then when Ricky Prohl tied it, all I could think about was all the Pats history in these games. If felt like the Cinderella story where the Patriots turned back into the Patriots.

It wasn't until the pass to Troy Brown "Now I kind of like what the Patriots are doing" did I start to hope.

When the kick went through the uprights, I stared at the screen in disbelief (especially when they appeared to run the clock to zero when it should have had 2 seconds left).

For me, if I am ranking them
1. 36, Simply because I never thought that day would come.
2. 49. It was a good game most of the way through, and finally snapping the curse of losing on a freakish catch. And the immediate emotion swing from certain defeat to a Super Bowl victory in a fraction of a second.
3. 51. As much as it was an astonishing comeback, it was painful to watch for the overwhelming majority of the game. It is funny when you think that of all the Patriots Super Blow wins, this one was buy the largest margin of victory.
4. 38. Great game, and the irony of Ricky Prohl tying another SB up only leaving Brady too much time on the clock.
5. 39. I love all the Super Bowl wins, but one of them has to be last. This was the one I simply felt the game was not as close as the score let on. And I felt the Pats kept shooting themselves in the foot.

condon84 said:

The feeling I got when Butler intercepted that pass will never be topped.

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Same here. I'll never forget running into the other room, jumping over the couch out of sheer adrenaline, and screaming "he picked it off, he picked it off," over and over.

The win over the Falcons may have been more appreciated in the coming days, weeks, and months, but nothing will ever beat that moment from SB49. As a matter of fact, I was too shocked and mentally worn out to fully appreciate what I was witnessing in SB51.

patsinthesnow said:

To add to the list of moments, did Cundiff's shank get anyone else good?

It was a chip shot kick with barely any time left so you're mentally preparing for OT. Al of a sudden "HE HOOKED IT".

We went from losing the game (Moore breaks up pass to Evans) to entering OT to winning the AFC Championship in about a minute.

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That was a great moment if only for looking at Terrell Suggs' ugly Chiclets teeth as the kick sailed wide.

Easy call for me.....SB36 is #1 for any sporting event in my life...nothing else is even close.....after Vinetieri hit that kick I sat down and cried like a baby.....the fn Patriots had won the fn SB.....it was a long 41 years....

Of the other SB's ....49 is next....I scared the crap out of my wife with my yelling after Butler did what he did.....absolute euphoria....

51 was really very sweet after all the BS of the previous years.....but it was a strange feeling when White went in....unbelievably happy...but not to the level of even 49.....and I can't explain why...

But....nothing tops SB36.....you never forget your first....

Personally I'd have to say no. They're up there, but nothing eclipses 2004 ALCS to me. Sending all the ancient bugaboos to bed and breaking the spirit of a dynasty for the next 5 years was just too delicious. The fact that it was a 7 game series with some of the most epic individual moments in sports history, which culminated in a game 7 that was such a smackdown that most of the game was more like a celebration of what the franchise had achieved than a final showdown just sets that series apart to me.

Somewhere around the same level as the 49 and 51 superbowls is the 2011 Stanley Cup, which again was a great series of games with a lot of storylines and shutting the Canucks down in game 7 created that same kind of celebratory feeling for the last few minutes of the game. The score may have only finished 3-0, but that doesn't paint a real picture of just how crushed the Canucks were. They were outhit, outfought, outscored, outthought, outcoached, outplanned, outplayed, outmanned. They had nothing going on, their leaders were shell shocked, their goalie was traumatized, their fight was torn out of them, and their coach had no answer. It was delicious.

There's a different kind of euphoria between football with its single championship games, and hockey or baseball with their championship series. But in terms of sheer sports euphoria, culminating an excellent and hard fought series with an epic lopsided beatdown, like the Sox did in the 04 ALCS, and the Bruins did in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011, is the greatest feeling of sports Euphoria I know.

In terms of individual moments of elation, though, the Butlerception and Amendola tying the game are right up there with any individual sports moment I've ever witnessed.

No doubt, but for me, Vinatier's field goal in the blizzard, to me, was one of the most epic events I've ever experienced. I literally collapsed on my living room floor and rolled around and cried like a baby, I'm serious, I cried like a new born I wept. I've sat on the metal bleachers at Sullivan stadium with season tickets when they were horrible. It didn't matter because I loved the team so much. Then to finally witness what I saw that Saturday night in January will live with me forever....it started everything we've seen since...

Tony2046 said:

That was classic.

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That was the moment that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Bruins were winning that series. I mean this is the leader, this is one of the major centerpieces of your franchise and one of your on field leaders, and he is literally just sitting there letting a guy a head shorter than him repeatedly punch him in the face and doing nothing about it. Who does that? A guy who's already had all the fight knocked right out of him, that's who.

First time I ever went completely bonkers for a sporting vent result was the miracle in Miami...I was 10 when Flutie hit Phelan and I remember exacctly where I was...

"He did it, Flutie did it, he got Phelan in the end zone!"

My number one sports memory is still from college. My senior year in college, my college won the national championship in hockey. My friends and I attended a ton of games and when they got into the final four we drove 24 hours to watch. It was glorious, the team won it all in OT, and it was really the perfect ending to an amazing season and amazing year at an amazing time in my life. So all other sports events pale in comparison for me.

I would say 51 was the best for me, I think Defamegate was a terrible sham and that 51 should silence all but the most stubborn haters. I actually didn't quite give up on the team either but damn they came back from a long way down. 49, I feel kind of bad for SEA fans because the Pats really should have lost that game and SEA never wins anything. 38 was awesome due to the long winning streak the team was on. 36 was great due to the underdog status of the team, but honestly I thought they were a one hit wonder and after the following year it was starting to look that way. 39 was also amazing, the games Law and Harrison would play were next level too. Just the greatness of these players and staff and organization has been so entertaining to watch that they've really supplanted any other pro sports for me.

But there's something purer about some aspects of some college sports, for me at least, and for me, I would rank that college championship above all the pro ones.

The_Riddler said:

No doubt, but for me, Vinatier's field goal in the blizzard, to me, was one of the most epic events I've ever experienced. I literally collapsed on my living room floor and rolled around and cried like a baby, I'm serious, I cried like a new born I wept. I've sat on the metal bleachers at Sullivan stadium with season tickets when they were horrible. It didn't matter because I loved the team so much. Then to finally witness what I saw that Saturday night in January will live with me forever....it started everything we've seen since...

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My brother and I were sitting at the table in a tavern. We were getting up and putting on our jackets when the ref called the "tuck" rule. I asked, "WTF is a tuck rule?". I had never heard of it. Anyways we sat down and ordered another beer and by the end of the game the entire tavern was elated. What a great moment that was.

Debatable for me. I still think the 2008 celtics may be my favorite team ever. The rushes I got during that postseason were insane. Going to 7 against both the hawks and the cavs. Can the celtics win on the road? Pierce Vs LeBron battling it out in game 7. Having one of the best comebacks in finals history against the lakers before embarrassing them in game 6. Pierce and Garnett getting their first rings and the emotion behind that. I just really loved that team and that year.

2001 Pats #1 ( for me personally)

2004 Red Sox down 0-3 in the ALCS and won #2 I had my head under the pillow on the couch in the 9th in game 4 and 5.. it was amazing to watch.

2014 and 2016 Super 49 and 51 are both tied for 3rd... I can't pick

2003 Super Bowl against the Panthers was a great all around game #4

2004 Super Bowl against the Eagles #5

2008 Celtics Champs #6

2011 Boston Bruins # 7

2007 Red Sox #8

2013 Red Sox #9


1 2 and 3 are so close together though.