Definitely (a few of) the Best (Chicago) Sports Moments of the Decade.
1. Game 3 of the 2005 American League Division Series, Chicago White Sox v. Boston Red Sox
It was an early game, on a rainy Friday evening. The game was being played in Boston, but it was raining there too. I had somewhere to be, but I wasn’t going to leave until the game was over because I just wasn’t going to leave in the middle of a tight playoff game. In the sixth inning, the White Sox were ahead, but it didn’t look good. The bases were loaded with Red Sox and there were no outs. Ozzie Guillen called El Duque, Orlando Hernández, who had been a starter for much of the season came into the game, out of the bullpen to try and minimize the damage.
I have never seen a moment as tense as those next ten minutes in all of the sports I’ve ever watched, but somehow, some way, the base runners stayed where they were. The first two batters popped up and then Johnny Damon struck out swinging. The inning was over, amazingly, and the White Sox still had the lead. Of course, The White Sox went on to win the game and the series and the World Series eventually, but better than the four game sweep of the Houston Astros or the dropped-third-strike-stolen-base by A.J. Pierzynski against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or the home runs by Scott Podsednik and Paul Konerko or the four consecutive complete games pitched by Mark Buerhle, John Garland, Freddy Garcia and José Contreras was the inning when the seemingly impossible feat of holding with no outs and the bases loaded was accomplished.
2. Game 6 of the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs, Chicago Bulls v. Boston Celtics
The one Bulls game that I made it to last season was certainly the best Bulls game in the post-Jordan era to date and was part of what will go down in history as potentially one of the best first rounds ever played. Granted, had Kevin Garnet been healthy, the Bulls wouldn’t have stood a chance, but he was injured and the the teams were as evenly matched as they could have been. Four of the seven games in the series went into overtime and on this particular night, at the United Center, there were three overtime periods played and everyone in the building was standing and screaming for the entire time. It was a game of buzzer beating three point shots, hard fouls, clutch steals ands all around great basketball. When the Bulls finally edged out the win, the on-court television reporter handed Joakim Noah the microphone but instead of talking about the positive or negative aspects of the game, he jumped onto the scorers’ table and belted out a high-pitched scream into the microphone, thanking the fans for the night and essentially for the season, as it would be the last time that the Bulls would appear in the United Center that season. In Game 7, in Boston, the Bulls weaknesses finally showed and they were eliminated from the playoffs. But, that night it didn’t matter what was going to happen the next day. The energy inside of that building was as if the Bulls had just won the entire championship.
3. Super Bowl XLI 2007, Chicago Bears v. Indianapolis Colts
The 2006-2007 NFL season was a strange one in Chicago. Rex Grossman was our quarterback and after every win, we were left looking at each other, wondering if we were dreaming or if Rexy was actually in the process of leading the Bears to the Super Bowl. Well, the Bears were underdogs from the onset, no questions asked, but Devin Hester had been blazing by just about everyone, returning just about every kick for a touchdown all season, so maybe there was a chance. Maybe. We bought into it anyway. Chicago stopped its normal activities on February 4, to watch the two teams play in the rain in Miami. Whether we were at bars, saving seats in front of a television for hours or whether we were at a party with friends or relatives or whether we were at home nervously munching on spinach balls, not saying much at all for fear of jinxing something, we were all watching. We were all watching when the ball was kicked off to start the game and we were all watching and screaming and cheering at whichever TV was the closest while Devin Hester returned the opening kick for a touchdown. What a pace setter. What a game changer. Even if Rex was our quarterback, we had Devin and that was enough. Maybe. But, the rain kept falling and that initial lead was lost with injuries to our number one running back, Cedric Benson, and a Colts team that wanted it more. Eventually the game was lost and there was no joy in Chicago that night, but Devin Hester’s electric abilities were reason enough for just a little bit of hope and excitement.