Most memorable sporting occasion you've been to

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Hi guys

I was wondering what the most memorable sporting event or occasion you've been to.

Mine:
Location - Wembley Stadium
Date - 22 October 1994
Match - Great Britain v Australia, Rugby League International.
Result - Great Britain 8 Australia 4

The first test of a three test series against an Australian team being promoted as amongst the best ever touring squads (heck, any team with Maninga and Renoff at centre was going to be good) - turned out to be fairly accurate, given that the Aussies gave us a good hiding in the 2nd and 3rd tests. This though turned out to be a classic performance of unrelenting intensity and determination by the underdog Great Britain side.

From my recollection, after a cagey first 10-15 minutes, disaster struck for GB with Sean Edwards (rightly) sent off for a head high tackle on one of the Aussie 2nd rowers (who was apparently sent for a brain scan after the match - rumours are the result was negative). This happened about 15m from where I was, with GB pinned back in a defensive position - can't remember how the Aussies didn't score, maybe a missed penalty attempt?. However, this was the key incident in the game, prompting the GB forwards, with Karl Harrison and Lee Jackson very much to the fore, putting in one of the greatest defensive performances ever seen on a rugby field.

Having been under pressure for most of the first half, I think GB were 2-0 up from one penalty goal. Then GB had possession deep in their territory in the middleof the field. The ball was passed to Offiah on the left wing, who skinned his marker and made good ground just into the Aussie half. A quick play the ball, the ball moving right and Jonathan Davies dummied to go between the Aussie 13 (Fittler?) and Renoff, before an arcing run to score in the right corner (about as far from me in the stadium as possible).

The Aussies pulled 4 points back with a try in the 2nd half through Renoff, GB scoring with another penalty, but the immense GB defence kept them out for the rest of the match for an epic and totally unexpected victory.

What made it such a great occasion? Unmatched intensity, one of the greatest tries ever and an absolute shock result, especially for a side that was down to 12 men for most of the match

Linebreaker wrote:

Portnoy wrote:1982. Twickenham. Erica Roe.

Now that was memorable...!

Actually Linebreaker, it was mammamiarlyable.

At the time my brother was taking a pee and missed it.

And to do the colouring-in:

A guy came on to centre field dressed in a gorilla suit at half-time.

Erica herself was escorted by a less well-endowed friend.

The week afterwards the Oz team were installed in a hotel in south Wales for a Cardiff match. They got snowed in. But not without Erica.

Erica refused any tabloid enticements to bare herself.

And refused to profit from her notoriety.

Which makes a delicious contrast with these celebrity-obsessed times.

Lurverly jubblies all the same...

I'd have 2:

1) - Munster Hurling Final, July 6, 1997 - Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork
Clare v Tipperary
The first time in my life where the hair stood on my head when the two teams took the field.

Clare got off to a stormer and were 8/9 points up after 20 minutes.
Tipp fought back to within a couple of points.
Clare forged ahead again but couldn't shake off a resilient Tipp.
Ultimately Clare won by a goal in the best sporting contest I've ever been present at and went on to win the All Ireland.
An incredible sporting spectacle provided by completely amateur players.

2) - Munster V The All Blacks at Thomond in 2008.

Only the second time in my life when my hair stood on end!

Munster
Hope there wasn't too much less hair on the second occasion compared with the first

Good stuff so far - love that we've got such diversity ranging from Female mud wrestling via hurling to the 1966 World Cup final.

For me it was Nigel Benn v Gerald Mcclellan. I was working at London Arena that night and got to watch the whole undercard as well which also included Lloyd honeygans last fight and I met Sir Henry Cooper (I think he was just Henry then though). Awesome night

A tad less Dummy but I haven't quite done a Keith Wood yet.

Ryder Cup at Brookline Boston in 1999. Tigers first appearance and the one where there was a riot on 18th on final day when crowds celebrated before final putt was made by Ollie.

My abiding memory was when Colin Montgomerie was getting heckled by the crowd and above all the hubub I heard a voice shout "Come on Monty. Lets get stuck in to these ba**ards".... Priceless

Ryder Cup at Brookline Boston in 1999. Tigers first appearance and the one where there was a riot on 18th on final day when crowds celebrated before final putt was made by Ollie.

My abiding memory was when Colin Montgomerie was getting heckled by the crowd and above all the hubub I heard a voice shout "Come on Monty. Lets get stuck in to these ba**ards".... Priceless

Hayston i have a feeling that was your goodself shouting.
Ryder cup at the Belfry when Stadler missed a tiny putt.Low volume gasp from the crowd.
Hopefuly the best wil be this sunday when my daughter makes her debut for the county badminton team at L'boro uni.

Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul 2005 CL Final one of the best nights of my life (apart from the first 45 mins though)

ireland vs england 2007 rugby Croke Park

wow

As a cricketer I got to see something special. Murali and Shane Warne bowling in tandem in the Boxing Day tsunami fundraiser. Brilliant.

Went to Paris on holiday in 98, during World Cup fever 8)

Dublin v Kerry. All Ireland Semi-Finals - 1977 - at Croke Park. 90,000 baying fans watching GAA football perfection on the field. It still stands the test of time. Best football game I've ever seen. Total GAA football. Deep sporting Joy.

Leinster in the 2nd half of the HC Final at Cardiff. Same ting.

Ulster vs Colomiers, European Cup Final, 1999.

That first win for an Irish province in Europe's biggest competition was a landmark in the development of rugby in Ireland.

It was a swallow, not a summer, but it showed we could compete with the best with the right mentality. It helped change the mindset of the Irish in Rugby.

I was thinking about this and while the one put down was great I think I could have put many more down particularly Cork V Dublin in Croke Park 22nd August 2010. My birthday. Cork down by 3 with 10 minutes to go. Cork win by one against those langers. A great day!

Non rugby was the whole World Cup in Germany in 2006. Quality. Never actually went to a game, but the fan festivals were class. Seeing Ghana fans go mad with their shock wins and then the final in Berlin was out of this world.

Rugby wise, the Heineken Cup final this year was great.

One rugby, one cricket for me. Back in 1999 my flatmates and I did a roadtrip down to Dunedin for the Tri-Nations opener against the Springboks. It'd been billed beforehand as the "Blackout" test - the ABs had been terrible the previous year and finished last. Carisbrook was heaving, all in black. The (decidedly unoriginal) chant "Percy's a soloist" rather unnverved Montgomery and he had a shocker, contributing to a 28-0 win for the All Blacks.

And in 2002 I'd been given a ticket to day 4 of the cricket test between NZ and England at Lancaster Park. At the start of the day NZ needed another 420-odd to win in 2 days, but lost 3 wickets in the 1st session. Nathan Astle proceed to smash a world record 222 off 150-odd balls, and the Barmy Army were getting a little tired of our "25 more 4s to go" song (to the tune of the beer-bottles on the wall song) - in fairness we'd started at 100. I was out on a mate's stag do that night and we wound up roping some Barmy Army lads into joining the pub crawl, we were still going at 7am.

Most memorable event I had a ticket for but didn't attend (it's a long story and, I know, it had better be) was the semi-final Olympic Ice Hockey in Lake Placid at the 1980 Olympics, USA vs USSR, The Miracle on Ice.
Small arena, not many still alive that attended it, still fewer who could've, should've, would've, but didn't.

kwinigolfer wrote:Most memorable event I had a ticket for but didn't attend (it's a long story and, I know, it had better be) was the semi-final Olympic Ice Hockey in Lake Placid at the 1980 Olympics, USA vs USSR, The Miracle on Ice.
Small arena, not many still alive that attended it, still fewer who could've, should've, would've, but didn't.

Saw it live (on TV). Totally agree. Considering the times it was played in, the intensity was palpable. The game incredible.

Istanbull 2005
Liverpool v Milan - What a day, what a night, what an occaision!


Closely followed by

Wembley 2011
Swansea v Reading. Swans promoted

I've seen videos of the Miracle on Ice, and can only imagine what it was like to see it live.

Most memorable for me. I've narrowed it down to two.

The 2010 Winter Classic between the Bruins and the Flyers at Fenway Park was pretty special. Ice hockey on a baseball field. How cool is that? Great atmosphere, a fight and an overtime winner for the Bruins. Bloody freezing too.

And then there's the 1985 rugby league Challenge Cup final between Wigan and Hull. Some have said that it was the greatest final ever; and I find it hard to disagree. I love seeing old clips of it and telling anyone who'll listen, "I was there".

The France vs Czech Republic penalty shootout in the Euro 96 semifinal at Old Trafford was electric, more than made up for a pretty dull game.

The first couple of miles of the Great North Run are pretty special, but nothing beats the atmosphere on the start line of the London Marathon.

I´d go one further Soreshins, the x hours that you run a London marathon for is incredible. The noise from the spectators, the chance to be in the same race as hero´s. You sound like a regular runner?

I actually find the constant noise during the race to be a bit of a distraction to be honest, especially when it's starting to get hard. I need to focus and concentrate to get the best out of myself, but it's difficult when thousands of people are bellowing at you. The start line is different however - the excitement and the buzz is tremendous. Maybe when I'm done with the racing the marathon I'll run one back in the pack with all the slower runners as I'm sure the atmosphere back there must be even better. I have a friend who got injured just before the New York Marathon and ended up run/walking round, and he said he had a great time, much more fun than racing it.

Oh I've got one better than my earlier one

I held Danny Williams title belt on the way out to his fight against John Mcdermott. Crowd were all against us and I just felt so great walking through them holding a belt. Then Danny won

Soreshins wrote:I actually find the constant noise during the race to be a bit of a distraction to be honest, especially when it's starting to get hard. I need to focus and concentrate to get the best out of myself, but it's difficult when thousands of people are bellowing at you. The start line is different however - the excitement and the buzz is tremendous. Maybe when I'm done with the racing the marathon I'll run one back in the pack with all the slower runners as I'm sure the atmosphere back there must be even better. I have a friend who got injured just before the New York Marathon and ended up run/walking round, and he said he had a great time, much more fun than racing it.

Done a few marathons myself and can agree that the noise is offputting at times at London, but it can also be an inspiration. Some of the other big city marathons are quite special, but nothing lives up to London in my experience

Rugby: Twickenham 99 WC France beat NZ
Twickenham 08 Wales beat England

Other: 1993 Indy 500 - the year Mansell won the championship

Bangor City (Wales) 2 v Napoli 0

In the European Cup winners Cup.

We lost 3 -1 in the 2nd leg and had away goals been in then would have won.

Lost in a replay at Highbury. Not bad for a Semi Pro team


Also playing Athletico Madrid in the same comp in the 1980's and just losing 3-0 on agg.

.... and in 1984 being the only Welsh club since Cardiff in 1927 to get to Wembly in the FA Trophy Final. Drew 1-1 with Northwitch Vic only to lose 2-1 in the replay in Stoke.

Pontypridd 33 London Irish 27 - Parker Pen Shield - Kassam Stadium 2002

Wales 2 Italy 1 - Euro Qualifier - Millenium Stadium 2002

Cardiff City 1 Barnsley 0 - FA Cup Semi Final - Wembley 2008

Joe Calzaghe SD over Bernard Hopkins - Thomas & Mack Centre, Las Vegas 2008

France 0 - Scotland 1, Parc des Princes .... James McFadden screamer from about 3,000 yards out!!!

From the 10,000 strong march from the Eiffel Tower to the ground, through to Faddy's cracker, that whole trip was surreal. In true Scottish tradition, of course, having beaten France home and away in the group, we STILL failed to qualify ... but that night was fantastic. The locals were lapping up the massed ranks of the Tartan Army before the game, but you knew they were all thinking ... great spectacle, great support, but we're obviously going to hammer you later on! That made the celebrations all the sweeter after the match.

So many ........ Top 3
Istanbul , Liverpool v AC Milan need i say more

Holiday in Turkey in 1998 hotel owner took me to Galatasaray v Fenebahce ive never been so scared in my life i honestly thought i was going to die !!

England v Australia Test at Headingley in 1981 last sporting event my Dad took me to before he died , Dad loved his cricket and the look on his face after the final wicket will be with me forever Pure joy .

KingKenny.

Superb.

Gibson wrote:KingKenny.

Superb.

Cheers ..... there have been so many to choose from just wish i could of shared the last 30 years of them with Dad . Would of swapped everyone if he could of been in Istanbul with me .