Nate’s 9
Here is
one of the prototypes that I am considering for my new blogging style. I want to get more information and opinions
out to everyone, and have fun while doing it.
As some of you may know, and for those of you that don’t, after the
2013-14 sports season, I will no longer be a fan of particular sports
franchises. I have decided, among other
great changes, to go about being a fan in an abnormal way; to cheer for the sport
as a whole, instead of from the perspective of a fan. Outside of death and loss, I do believe it
will be one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but I look forward to
the change, and the trials that may come along the way. As a starter, I would like to share with you
my 9 favorite sports moments up until this point.
#9. Malik Sealy’s shot.
I was in Germany at the time, and didn’t get to see any basketball games
live during my year there. The only
reason I was able to see this shot is because the German sports channel decided
to show it because of Malik’s reaction to the shot. He was one of my favorite Wolves during his
short time in Minnesota. You could tell
he just enjoyed basketball. I never
really had a chance to enjoy it, because the next time I heard his name, some
drunk was driving down the wrong way on Highway 100. That image of him holding the basketball is
all I remember. And I’m ok with that.
#8. Stealing the ball off of Harland in pick-up
basketball. It was always a big moment
for me, if not for anyone else. Harland
Dietrich was probably my favorite basketball player of all-time and I mean that
in every sense. For someone of his size
(he was somewhat of a butterball back then)… you’ve never seen anything like it
in your life. He could pass, shoot,
defend, run the court pretty well – not what I expected the first time we
played. He also knew all of my
weaknesses and took full advantage. So
when my team was winning 14-13 in a game that needed to be won by 2, and I
picked his pocket while he was setting up to make me look silly… I was nervous
on the breakaway even though he was the only defender coming back. I was able to lay it up before he got there,
and it will be my favorite basket that I ever scored, because I finally got
him! I miss you Harland, and thank you
for that game.
#7. Borussia Dortmund v Galatasaray. I got a sense of what
European’s passion for soccer was when I went to my first German soccer game
back in 1999. It was 80,000 strong, and
not many clubs do it like Dortmund. But
when I was offered the chance to see Dortmund play in Europe vs. Gala, a team
from Turkey, it was a whole different force of reckoning. For one, the Turks don’t particularly care
for the Germans and vice versa. Secondly,
well just watch a home Galatasaray match.
To this day, it’s still the greatest atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of
for any game, and when Gala scored their first goal to get that place rocking
for the Turks, well, I don’t know if it can be recreated. A fan’s dream.
#6. Manchester United v Bayern Munich 1999. I still get the goose bumps. Bayern is the
team I have always respected and feared more than any other sports organization
in the world, maybe outside of the Yankees.
But it’s close. They are probably
the only two teams that aren’t satisfied with pure domination. It’s a great trait to have. But for 90 seconds, and 90 seconds only,
United was the better side in a game that could be rewritten as a Hollywood
movie. Sheringham, bang. Turnover, counter, corner kick. Solskjaer, bang. Game.
#5. Green Bay’s Super Bowl win in 1997. If ever there was a
culmination of putting a group of players together to reach a target goal as
one, this was definitely the team. It’s
still to this day, one of the hungriest teams that I have ever seen. They only lost 3 games that year, and each
were relatively close. When Robert
Brooks went down, they brought on Andre Rison(top).
They brought in veterans Seth Joyner, Keith Jackson and Eugene Robinson,
all guys that had yet to win the big one.
Reggie and Brett were hungry. Desmond
Howard returned kicks. I have never been more certain about any championship in
my life, and it felt absolutely fantastic as a fan. It still tasted just as sweet too.
#4. Minnesota Timberwolves games with my parents. I have a few good memories growing up and a
couple of bad ones too. It wasn’t an
easy household to grow up in. But when
the Timberwolves played in the metrodome and the nosebleed seats only cost my
parents $3.50 per ticket, I always had a good time. It was the Timberwolves expansion season, and
I still remember we were able to go to 11 games. The Wolves set all kinds of attendance
records that season, and it was fun to be a part of. Sometimes I sat with my mom, and other times
I sat with my dad. Didn’t matter, I
enjoyed the family time, and my early love of basketball.
#3. My 299 game in bowling.
It wobbled. It wasn’t my best
throw, and I probably didn’t deserve a strike, but the damn 10 pin
wobbled. And that was the most
heartbreaking moment of my sports life.
After about the 8th strike, you start to get really
nervous. After that it’s all just
adrenaline and the rush of bowling. But
for one moment, all my insecurities, my self-doubt, all the struggles that I
had growing up went away. For years, I
had put so much pressure on myself to bowl well, that I couldn’t bowl. I had to quit, and at the time I was really
improving as a bowler. So to come back
years later and overcome those fears from my youth… to have half of the bowling
alley cheering for me when I always use to worry about not having enough
friends… So that 299 game? It meant the
world to me.
#2. Green Bay’s Super Bowl win in 2011. The one that I’m taking to my grave. Of all the sports year’s that I have
experienced, with all of my favorite organizations, this was by far, the one I
enjoyed the most. I would say it wasn’t
my favorite as I ranked it #2, but I really, really enjoyed it. You have to remember, Green Bay was still
bitter about Favre and the Vikings. The
Vikings had almost won it the year before and there was that worry that we
would never get one without him.
Personally, I never worried, and I was ready for Aaron from the start.
He is my Favre, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. But we really didn’t have that good of a
season for starters. Our running game
was absent, and the offensive line was getting Aaron in loads of trouble. We had to win our last two games just to make
the playoffs. We had to win every single
playoff game away from Lambeau Field. We
had to do it with our offense out of sync for most of the ride. And we had to beat a very good Pittsburgh
Steelers team, one that I hold with the highest esteem. And we did all that. And we did it with my quarterback.
#1. Manchester United in 2008. American football had always
been my religion growing up. I used to
make fun of soccer and the people that played it. It took a lot of maturity on my part to
realize just how wrong I really was. And
it took my honeymoon to realize that I loved soccer a lot more than I loved
football. When Chelsea beat United 3-0
to all but wrap up the title, and took Rooney out in the process, I moped for a
long time. On my honeymoon! I realized two things at that moment: Soccer
> Football and Wife > Husband.
With that being said, the greatest sports year of my life was United’s
season in 2008. They won the league
convincingly. They had the greatest
group of attacking players in the world in Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos
Tevez. They probably had the world’s best
defense as well. They reached the same
pinnacle that my Packers achieved in 1997, when they felt that it was their
right to win everything in their path.
As a fan it’s great to see it all come together. – I believe in karma, and all that comes with
it. To win 50 years after Munich, 40
years after United’s first European triumph and to do it when John Terry slips
in the rain, I fully believe it was supposed to happen. I don’t believe there are many instances in
world sports, where a fan of a team can say that the year was meant for their
team. The ’55 Dodgers, the Miracle on
Ice in 1980, the ’85 Bears, Jordan before his father would pass in 1993. Very few.
2008 was definitely for United.
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