Monday, December 28, 2009

(My) Best Sports Moments of the Decade

Today at SN, the lead of my column was co-opted by a TSB-wide conceit to name our biggest sports event of the decade, with an emphasis on the personal. Mine was obvious. You can read about it here, but it inspired me to name...

My 10 Biggest (Personal) Sports-Related Moments of The Decade:

*The night I met my wife and converted to Florida fandom.
You have all seen how much this made an impact on my life.

*The first morning the Daily Quickie ran on ESPN.com.
Launched mainstream media's first-ever daily national sports column.

*The afternoon I launched my TV "career" on Around the Horn.
Career record: 0-4. Not bad for someone with no prior TV experience.

*The last day of the Quickie -- and first day of DanShanoff.com.
Couldn't comprehend how amazing the blog would be.

*Making the decision to obsessively cover Tim Tebow.
600-plus posts. Was it worth the time and energy?

*Being published on Page 2 for the first time.
Simmons. Wiley. Thompson. Halberstam. Shanoff?

*Being invited to join The Sporting Blog.
Hall. Shoals. Tunison. Levy. Shanoff?

*Getting my first byline in the New York Times.
Actually, seeing my son's picture was more thrilling than the byline.

*Muffing the opportunity to work on Deadspin with Will Leitch.
He and the site were infinitely better for not having me around.

*Florida's national titles in football (06, 08) and hoops (06, 07).
Remember those losses in '06 and '08 nearly as much as the title-game wins.

Also receiving votes: Finishing my first screenplay (a sports movie); finishing (at least) two book proposals (both about sports); my first time walking into The Swamp; my first post on Deadspin; watching "Northwestern 54, Michigan 51"; recieving an encouraging email from Ralph Wiley, which I keep in my wallet to this day; my unborn first child finishing in the Top 10 out of 10,000 entries in the Daily Quickie Readers Bracket Challenge in 2006.

Coming throughout the rest of the week: More decade-in-review stuff.

In the comments: What was YOUR personal best sports moment of the decade?

-- D.S.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

New York Giants: 17, New England Patriots: 14.

I made so much noise during the 4th quarter I half expected my neighbors to call the cops on me.

I still get chills watching the Double Miracle* on YouTube to this day.

(*Let's face it, "The Helmet Catch" is only half the play.)

Eric said...

My best moment and game:

Matt Leinart's Touchdown reception (from Mike Williams) in the 2004 Rose Bowl vs. Michigan. He also threw for 300+ yards and 3 TDs.

More impressively, USC's defense had nine sacks against a Michigan O line that had only given up (I think it was) 6 all season.

I know its not the utter domination of OU in the Orange Bowl and that it resulted in a controversial AP National Championship, but this was the singular standout game for me in the 2000's.

Richard K. said...

5 events stick out:

1. Giants @ Dolphins. By "@" I mean in London. An English guy in front of us during the game asked (in responce to a jumbotron ad celebrating 35 years since the 1972 season) "Do all Americans brag about things that happened in 1972?" My dad's response: "Are you kidding? We're still bragging about 1776."

2. Will Bynum's layup to beat the Cowboys in 2004. I like to forget the following game ever happened.

3. Turning down a free ticket to a Braves game to study for a test. Why? The game was aginst the Diamondbacks. The pitcher was Randy Johnson (go to wikipedia and type "Perfect Game" to read about it). It's the worst/dumbest sports moment of my life, but it definately stands out.

4. Chan Gailey getting fired from Georgia Tech.

5. Getting laid on Florida Field.