FLASH!

It’s all over; a photo finish burned in your memory that will either haunt you forever, or one you’ll clip out of the morning paper and cherish for a lifetime. Those nail-biting finishes are what we talk about over cups of coffee the next morning, or blog about for the following week and keep us glued to the television, begging for more.

October 15, 2005/ USC vs. Notre Dame-“The Bush Push”

The last three meetings of USC and Notre Dame were 31 point victories by the Trojans and Southern Cal was on a 27 game winning streak, yet all Charlie Weis wanted to do was reclaim Irish pride by flashing green jerseys and declaring a victory. As Irish quarterback Brady Quinn ran in a five-yard touchdown to take the lead, 31-28 in the last two minutes of the game, little did Touchdown Jesus know the world was about to witness a historic college football moment.

Continuing the fabled battle, USC faced fourth-and-nine in the final minute of the game, but a 67 yard reception pulled the team within the 10 yard line. After several failed attempts to break the goal line, USC QB Matt Leinart tried to dive for the end zone. He collided with a Notre Dame linebacker who jarred the ball loose. Thinking the game was over, Notre Dame rejoiced, only to have that folly spoiled when game officials said Leinart fumbled the ball out of bounds and USC had seven seconds left to make one final play.

Seven seconds is a long time…in this case, a historic amount of time. At fourth and goal, USC went for the jugular by opting for a touchdown instead of tying the game with a field goal. Going with the quarterback sneak, Leinart was denied the goal line by the Notre Dame defense, so he rolled left and with a friendly “push” by his man Bush, Leinart scored the game winning goal. Final: USC 34 ND 31

November 27, 2005/ Japan Cup – by a nose

The Preakness, the Bellmont, the Kentucky Derby…the Japan Cup? Each year two teams from the US, England, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Japan are invited to race in the second richest horse race in the world. (The first is the Dubai World Cup.)  

Considering that first place takes home a purse of $2.38 million, it’s surprising the name “Alkaased” doesn’t sound as familiar as “Barbaro.” During the final stretch of the 2400 meter race, Alkaased (USA), Heart’s Cry (Japan) and Zenno Rob Roy (Japan) were all in a dead heat. Crossing the finish line at 2:22.1, 2:22.1 and 2:22.4, it literally was a “nose” that won the race for Alkaased, determined only by the photo at the finish line. 

November 28, 2005/ NYC Marathon – by a foot

Five boroughs, 26.2 miles, and 35,000 people comprise the annual running of the New York City Marathon. Only 172 people ran the first marathon in 1970, but its popularity burgeoned to a point where a lottery system had to be installed to choose who could run the race. Perhaps Paul Tergat of Kenya was wishing his competition, Hendrick Ramaala, had lost the lottery when the two of them came running across the finish line in Central Park last autumn. Hendrick, of South Africa, was the defending champion and Paul was making his rookie debut in the race. With a time of 2:09:30, Paul’s single step in front of Hendrick garnered him the win and made it the closest finish in the marathon’s history.

December 28, 2005/ Alamo Bowl: Michigan vs. Nebraska- the play that got away

The Michigan Wolverines are one of the most successful football programs in the country. They hold the record for the most undefeated seasons in D-I football at 25 with 11 national titles. They have one of the highest winning percentages (.74421) and hold the record for the most total wins in college football history (849), but none of those numbers could help their final play in the 2006 Alamo bowl against Nebraska.

Figuring the Maize and Blue would ravage Big Red, Michigan was stunned when Nebraska overcame a nine-point deficit and claimed the lead, 32-28, in the final four minutes of the game. Literally scrambling to make something happen, the final play of the game had all of the antics to overtake the infamous “1982 Stanford/Cal game” as one of the most unbelievable plays in college football…the only problem was Michigan failed to score.

As the clock ticked down the final seconds, Michigan QB Chad Henne threw the ball to a teammate who then tossed it to another player, who frantically threw it to another Wolverine, who pitched it to someone else, who fumbled the ball, picked it up, and chucked it to another player. Eight lateral passes later, Tyler Ecker caught the ball and sprinted down to the goal line only to get bumped out of bounds to end the game. You have to see it to believe it! 

January 4, 2006/ Rose Bowl: Texas vs. USC – who needs a Heisman?

Texas quarterback, Vince Young, had barely dried his eyes from his Heisman loss when he orchestrated one of the biggest coming out parties of the 2005-2006 college football season. Overshadowed by Trojan boy Reggie Bush, Young’s heroics on the field in Pasadena garnered his team a national title, and him a MVP trophy and a one-way ticket to the NFL.

Hailed as the most impressive single-game performance by one player in the 137 year history of college football, Vince Young tallied 467 yards of total offense. Although he ran for over 200 yards, perhaps it was the final nine yards of his collegiate career Vince will cherish the most. After the Texas defense stuffed USC on fourth and short with 2:09 remaining, the Longhorns took over the line of scrimmage and set up the final drive of the game. Everyone knew Vince would run, but the USC defense wasn’t sharp enough to derail the train Vince was riding. With 19 seconds remaining in regulation, fourth down, and his team one touchdown shy of winning, Vince Young trotted nine yards to the end zone, ending USC’s 35 game winning streak and bringing Texas its first national championship since 1969. FINAL: Texas 41 USC 38

February 21, 2006/ Olympic Winter Games- The bitter 1500m

God bless the pomp and circumstance of the Olympics, but what would the winter games mean if there wasn’t a controversy involved? In 1994 it was Tonya and Nancy, followed by the French judging scandal in 2002, and in 2006, it was men’s speed skating stars Shani Davis and Chad Hedrick.

Davis had faced his own setbacks in the 2002 games and came to Torino focused solely on his three events, thus refusing to join his colleagues in the men’s team pursuit. His reclusive nature sparked a maelstrom with fellow teammate, Chad Hedrick, who needed Davis’s participation in the team event to help win. Without Davis, Hedrick knew the men stood a small chance at medaling. The rift between Davis and Hedrick quickly caught the eye of the media, who elevated the bitter battle to new levels by building up Davis and Hedrick’s hot rivalry in the 1500m. Both skaters had already won medals in separate events, with Davis making history by becoming the first African American to earn a medal in an individual event at the Winter Games.  Now facing each other for the same gold, the 1500m claimed the limelight as one of the most talked about races of the 2006 games. After an extremely tight race, neither American claimed first; it was an Italian who took the gold with a time of 1:45.96 while Davis came in second at 1:46.13 and Hedrick in third at 1:46.22.

April 28, 2006/ Lakers vs. Suns- Who’s Your MVP?

If there was a moment when Kobe Bryant wanted to prove that he should be the NBA MVP, it was when two-time MVP Steve Nash turned the ball over in the final seconds of the fourth game between the Lakers and Suns in the NBA Playoffs. With eight seconds remaining in regulation, Nash lost control of the ball and the Lakers recovered, giving the ball to Kobe who tied the game with seven-tenths of a second remaining. Again, in overtime, a costly mistake by Nash turned the ball over to the Lakers, providing the pivotal moment for Kobe to hit a buzzer-beating shot to win the game, 99-98. Not only did Kobe’s gorgeous jumper provide a victory, it was the knell Phoenix was dreading. With the Lakers storybook triumph, they took a 3-1 lead over the Suns in the playoff picture.

May 27, 2006/ Indy 500-Two Andrettis with a dash by Hornish

Last weekend, the largest single-day sporting event worldwide was held for the 90th time. With roughly 320 million spectators tuning in, the Indianapolis 500 witnessed its second closest victory in the history of the race. The scene was set for the royal family of formula driving, the Andrettis, to win the race. Mario Andretti’s son, Michael, emerged from retirement to make one final attempt at the race, while his son, Marco, made his Indy debut. Michael led the race during laps 194-197, but on lap 198, Marco overtook his dad and grabbed the lead. As the final lap approached, the 300,000+ spectators were poised to see the Andretti family claim first and second place, but blazing from the pack was Penske driver, Sam Hornish, Jr.. Hornish came charging up the lane and passed Marco to steal the lead by less then the length of his car. With a winning margin of 0.0635-seconds, Hornish barely managed to defeat the 19 year old rookie and his father.