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

[supafly]

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!"

Same here. Right around the same age, maybe 8-9.

The kicker was the Miami's QB was our local hometown hero, Bernie Kosar, so naturally everyone was rooting for him.

 

[pazrul72]

For me it's simple... "Aaaaand it's good! It's good! The patriots are super bowl champions!!! The patriots are super bowl champions!!!" the pure raw emotion of that call gives me goosebumps every time I hear it without fail. No other moment in my entire fandom gets me every time the way that perfectly called FG splitting the uprights does. It sums up exactly what it meant to be a pats fan and how incredible unbelievable amazing that season was.

 

[obgod3]

Yeh gotta be 2001..I remember falling to my knees screaming....then running into the street out front screaming.....yep...crazy neighbor

 

[PatsFanInVa]

YES!

This.

36 too, but if that gave Madden goosebumps, he probably had subterranean wood in SB 51.

 

[PlainOldEd]

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.

Isn't it awesome that the list is this long?

 

[RobertWeathers]

#5 G7 04 ALCS
#4 G4 04 WS
#3 1980 US/USSR
#2 SB 51
#1 SB 36

 

[Bradyking12]

For me it's simple... "Aaaaand it's good! It's good! The patriots are super bowl champions!!! The patriots are super bowl champions!!!" the pure raw emotion of that call gives me goosebumps every time I hear it without fail. No other moment in my entire fandom gets me every time the way that perfectly called FG splitting the uprights does. It sums up exactly what it meant to be a pats fan and how incredible unbelievable amazing that season was.

Bu bu no timeouts, teh field position, they should play for overtime, I don't agree with what the Patriots are doing, I think they should just run the clock out and play for overtime

 

[condon84]

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.

Yep.

That Falcons comeback was slowly building but you could sense it was coming.

In SB49, after the Baldwin catch and then they took it down the goal line it felt inevitable that they would score and the outcome sealed. Utter disbelief we would be so unlucky again to lose a SB in that fashion. But then the most unexpected thing happened. I went from the bottom pits of depression to the peak of disbelief elation.

Seeing videos on YouTube of other Pats fan reaction to that play still gives me goosebumps.

 

[signbabybrady]

You are all wrong.

THE NEXT ONE!

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Sorry, but the '04 Sox will always be #1. Having lived through '75, '78, '86 and '03. Those 4 days were like a weird religious experience.

Yeah, the Game 4 & 5 marathons were surreal...all of it.

Malcolm is special. Right up there.

Beating the Sixers in Game 7 in '81 was just amazing...

The Game 4 comeback wins in LA in '84 & '08 were so much fun.

I was on cloud 9 after Hendu's homer in Game 5 in Anaheim for the remainder of the game. I told my dad, "Win or lose, this is the most amazing game I ever saw."

 

[bormio]

I was on cloud 9 after Hendu's homer in Game 5 in Anaheim for the remainder of the game. I told my dad, "Win or lose, this is the most amazing game I ever saw."

A strike away from losing the ACLS, a strike away from winning the World Series ..... has to be the Sox.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

I felt euphoria but I also felt relieved. I must be greedy because I want the Patriots to blowout an opponent during a Super Bowl.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I felt euphoria but I also felt relieved. I must be greedy because I want the Patriots to blowout an opponent during a Super Bowl.

You're not the only one.

It's really amazing that every game has been close. The "biggest blowout" so far was a 3 point win over the Eagles where we trailed 7-0 and never led by more than 10.

 

[1960Pats]

- 69 Celts (Russell ends his player/coach career with a game 7 win in LA)
- 01 Pats (Brady's first year and the Pats first Lombardi trophy. I watched it with my two teenage sons as we reminisced about their grandfather.)
- Do you believe in miracles? Yes!

 

[Kontradiction]

Those of you that were in your adult years for 36 are fortunate. Somewhat, I guess. I was 14 at the time and the memory of watching that game gets more and more fuzzy with every year I age.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Since you said sports in general...

1. Miracle on Ice
2. SB36
3. 1981 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, Games 5-7
4. SB49
5. SB51
6. 1981 NBA Championship Series
7. 2008 NBA Championship Series

 

[Jlaff]

That was classic.

I am still amazed by that sequence to this day. The refs were probably stunned and left unprepared for that thinking maybe they should be calling a penalty but then never having seen such a weakling non-reaction in their lives. They had no previous experience to draw from to determine how to handle it.

 

[The Boston Patriot]

Well, nothing beat the euphoria of the ménage à trois I had with the women's equestrian team, but yes, these SB's were "in the neighborhood."

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

SB36 mainly because of the years prior...

I was a teenager in 86 and watched the Pats win 3 road playoff games in making an unlikely Super Bowl appearance, watched an all-time great Celts team win the title and watched the Sox come oh so close to breaking their curse. I easily took for granted that such title contentions would be commonplace. I had no perspective...

The 87 Celts put on a valiant title defense, but we're too broken down and too thin and slowly slid down the ranks until the big 3 were gone for good. Reggie Lewis appeared to be the new face of the franchise until one day he dropped dead. The franchise floundered for years thereafter.

Lead by Ray Bourque and Cam Neely, the Bruins made Cup runs in 1988 and 1990, but ran into the Edmonton buzzsaw each time. They looked like they could still be title contenders in the early 90s, but Mario Lemieux's Penguins became the new buzzsaw, as did Ulf Samuelson's cheapshot on Neely. The Bruins' window shut for years thereafter.

The Sox followed up their near miss in '86 with postseason appearances in 88, 90 and 95...losing all 11 games they played. They finally won a game in 98 and had an 86 ALCS-like comeback against the Indians in 99 before getting punked by the hated Yankees in the next round. This team just seemed destined to always come up short.

And then of course there were our Pats. The AFC title defense ended with Rulon Jones sacking a turtling Eason for a safety and things went downhill from there...all the way to 1-15 and 2-14. The 1996 team gave us a thrill...until Desmond Howard and Reggie White killed our hopes. The Pats slid once again under Carroll, culminating in a 2-6 finish in 99 and his dismissal. Belichick took over a thin roster and had a great December in 2000 to give hope for 01, but as Parcells famously said, "You are what your record says you are" and the Pats were 5-11.

This is why SB36 was so euphoric. My time on earth had doubled since those naive days of 86 and I was becoming cynical. I was becoming jaded. I never questioned my fandom, but I wondered if I'd ever experience again what winning a title felt like. 01 confirmed that it indeed was worth never giving up. And of course the epilogue was the ridiculous success of all the local teams in my next 15 years.

Regards,
Chris

 

[neali]

Seen some Celtics mentioned, but not the triple OT game 5 against Phoenix from the 75-76 season. Watched that alone from my parents TV room in B&W. THAT was a basketball game.