History Awesome / Sports

* 2010 UsefulNotes/{{Wimbledon}}: John Isner defeated Nicolas Mahut after 11 hours and 5 minutes of play. The match took '''three days''' to finish, with a final score of 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–3), '''70–68''' for a total of 183 games.

* There's a page on Website/ThatOtherWiki called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_goaltenders_who_have_scored_a_goal_in_an_NHL_game List of Goaltenders Who Have Scored a Goal in an NHL Game.]] This is a feat so rare that it's notable enough to merit its own Wikipedia page in the first place. As of 25 February 2023 only ''thirteen'' goaltenders have a goal credited to their name, of the sixteen goals listed nine of them were shot by the goaltender himself (the rest were own goals credited to the goalie since he was the last opposing player to touch the puck), and of those thirteen goalies Ron Hextall has ''two'' of those goals and Martin Brodeur has ''three''.

** Side note to the 2016 World Series: The Indians also became the fist team to win an ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays, and fail to convert that into a World Series title.

* The ending of the 1993 World Series. In the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 6, the Toronto Blue Jays' Joe Carter came up to bat after Rickey Henderson walked and Paul Molitor hit a single off the Philadelphia Phillies' closer Mitch Williams, who was nicknamed "Wild Thing" for how unpredictable he could be when he took the mound. After falling behind 2–0 to Carter, Williams managed to work the count even. Carter then proceeded to blast the 2–2 pitch over the [=SkyDome=]'s left field wall for a gigantic game- (and Series-) winning home run, which made 52,000 Jays fans unleash one of the loudest fan explosions in MLB history. To date, it is still one of only two times a World Series has ended on a walk-off home run (with the other being the Pittsburgh Pirates' win in 1960, discussed in more detail below), and the ''only'' time it has happened with the home team trailing.

* The ending of the 1993 World Series. In the last of the ninth inning of Game 6, the Toronto Blue Jays' Joe Carter came up to bat after Rickey Henderson walked and Paul Molitor hit a single off the Philadelphia Phillies' closer Mitch Williams, who was nicknamed "Wild Thing" for how unpredictable he could be when he took the mound. After falling behind 2–0 to Carter, Williams managed to work the count even. Carter then proceeded to blast the 2–2 pitch over the [=SkyDome=]'s left field wall for a gigantic game- (and Series-) winning home run, which made 52,000 Jays fans unleash one of the loudest fan explosions in MLB history. To date, it is still one of only two times a World Series has ended on a walk-off home run (with the other being the Pittsburgh Pirates' win in 1960, discussed in more detail below), and the ''only'' time it has happened with the home team trailing.

* As they went into Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates trailed the mighty New York Yankees in every offensive category except for games won: the series was tied at 3. Game 7 seesawed back and forth throughout; the Pirates took an early 4–0 lead on a 2-run shot by Rocky Nelson and a 2-run single by Bill Virdon in their first two at-bats. The Yankees finally got on the board in the fifth when Bill "Moose" Skowron led off the top of the inning with his second home run of the series. Then in the top of the sixth, Mickey Mantle hit an RBI single that drove in eventual Series MVP Bobby Richardson. Yogi Berra followed that with a 3-run shot to right that was so close to going foul that Mel Allen had to correct himself, since he said it ''was'' going to be a foul ball at first. The Yankees added two more in their half of the eighth on an RBI single by Johnny Blanchard, then an RBI double by Clete Boyer. Then the Pirates had ''their'' half of the eighth. After a pinch-hit single by Gino Cimoli, Bill Virdon hit a ground ball to Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek. However, the ball took a bad bounce and hit him ''in the throat'', which forced his departure from the game. Dick Groat then hit an RBI single to make it 7–5 New York. The next batter, Roberto Clemente, hit a ground ball toward first base; however, due to Skowron and Jim Coates both trying to get the ball at the same time and Clemente's speed, the only thing Skowron could do was hold it as Virdon scored to make it 7–6. Hal Smith then [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoisw4EjnGc hit a 3-run shot]], Pittsburgh's second of the game, to give them a 9–7 lead and set off a delirious celebration in Forbes Field. In the top of the 9th, Richardson and pinch-hitter Dale Long both hit singles that forced a pitching change. Mickey Mantle hit another single to drive in Richardson once again and make it 9–8 Pittsburgh. Yogi hit a grounder straight at Rocky Nelson, whose momentum led him to step on first base to retire Berra; Mantle dove back to first since he knew that he had no chance to beat a play at second (he also thought the ball had been caught in the air).[[note]]Also worth noting is the fact that Mantle was ''not'' forced to go to second since Nelson had already stepped on first to retire Berra.[[/note]] He barely avoided Nelson's tag (which would have ended the series) while Gil [=McDougald=] (who was pinch-running for Long) raced home to tie the game at 9–9. The Pirates came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning. Leading off was the Pirates' #8 batter, the great-fielding but weak-batting Bill Mazeroski. On the 1–0 pitch, he hit a home run to become the first batter in World Series history ever to win the series with a game-ending homer.[[note]] Before the home runs that Nelson and Smith hit earlier in the game, Mazeroski had hit their only one way back in Game 1, which was an example of BookEnds, since it was (obviously) the Pirates' last in the series and the game.[[/note]]

* Only 15 players in the modern era of MLB have pulled off an unassisted triple play, making three putouts all at once. Bill Wambsganss of the Cleveland Indians did it during a World Series game in 1920; as of 2023, it's still the only triple play in World Series history.

** Side note to the 2016 World Series: The Indians also became the 1st team to win an ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays, and fail to convert that into a World Series title.
* Only 15 players in the modern era of MLB have pulled off an unassisted triple play, making three putouts all at once. Bill Wambsganss of the Cleveland Indians did it during a World Series game in 1920; as of 2022, it's still the only triple play in World Series history.

* The ending of the 1993 World Series. In the last of the ninth inning of Game 6, the Toronto Blue Jays' Joe Carter came up to bat after Rickey Henderson walked and Paul Molitor hit a single off the Philadelphia Phillies' closer Mitch Williams, who was nicknamed "Wild Thing" for how unpredictable he could be when he took the mound. After falling behind 2–0 to Carter, Williams managed to work the count even. Carter then proceeded to blast the 2–2 pitch over the [=SkyDome=]'s left field wall for a gigantic game- (and Series-) winning home run, which made 52,000 Jays fans unleash one of the loudest fan explosions in MLB history. To date, it is still one of only two times a World Series has ended on a walk-off home run (with the other being the Pittsburgh Pirates' win in 1960, discussed in more detail below), and the ''only'' time it's clinched a come-from-behind win.

* As they went into Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates trailed the mighty New York Yankees in every offensive category except for games won: the series was tied at 3. Game 7 seesawed back and forth throughout; the Pirates took an early 4–0 lead on a 2-run shot by Rocky Nelson and a 2-run single by Bill Virdon in their first two at-bats. The Yankees finally got on the board in the fifth when Bill "Moose" Skowron led off the top of the inning with his second home run of the series. Then in the top of the sixth, Mickey Mantle hit an RBI single that drove in eventual Series MVP Bobby Richardson. Yogi Berra followed that with a 3-run shot to right that was so close to going foul that Mel Allen had to correct himself, since he said it ''was'' going to be a foul ball at first. The Yankees added two more in their half of the eighth on an RBI single by Johnny Blanchard, then an RBI double by Clete Boyer. Then the Pirates had ''their'' half of the eighth. After a pinch-hit single by Gino Cimoli, Bill Virdon hit a ground ball to Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek. However, the ball took a bad bounce and hit him ''in the throat'', which forced his departure from the game. Dick Groat then hit an RBI single to make it 7–5 New York. The next batter, Roberto Clemente, hit a ground ball toward first base; however, due to Skowron and Jim Coates both trying to get the ball at the same time and Clemente's speed, the only thing Skowron could do was hold it as Virdon scored to make it 7–6. Hal Smith then [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoisw4EjnGc hit a 3-run shot]], Pittsburgh's second of the game, to give them a 9–7 lead and set off a delirious celebration in Forbes Field. In the top of the 9th, Richardson and pinch-hitter Dale Long both hit singles that forced a pitching change. Mickey Mantle hit another single to drive in Richardson once again and make it 9–8 Pittsburgh. Yogi hit a grounder straight at Rocky Nelson, whose momentum led him to step on first base to retire Berra; Mantle dove back to first since he knew that he had no chance to beat a play at second (he also thought the ball had been caught in the air).[[note]]Also worth noting is the fact that Mantle was ''not'' forced to go to second since Nelson had already stepped on first to retire Berra.[[/note]] He barely avoided Nelson's tag (which would have ended the series) while Gil [=McDougald=] (who was pinch-running for Long) raced home to tie the game at 9. The Pirates came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning. Leading off was the Pirates' #8 batter, the great-fielding but weak-batting Bill Mazeroski. On the 1–0 pitch, he hit a home run to become the first batter in World Series history ever to win the series with a game-ending homer.[[note]] Before the home runs that Nelson and Smith hit earlier in the game, Mazeroski had hit their only one way back in Game 1, which was an example of BookEnds, since it was (obviously) the Pirates' last in the series and the game.[[/note]]

* The World Series has been won four times by teams who hadn't won a title in over 85 years - in three cases, since before the NHL, the NFL, and the NBA ''even started play''.[[note]] The exception: the Red Sox's 1918 World Series win came after the first NHL season.[[/note]] The first came in 1980, by which time all of the original 16 UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball teams had won at least one World Series... except the Philadelphia Phillies, who couldn't even claim a championship from the pre-World Series era, despite having joined the National League in 1883. They had only reached the World Series twice, losing to the Boston Red Sox in 5 games in 1915 and the New York Yankees in a sweep in 1950. To rub salt in Philly's wounds, the New York Mets, a 1962-expansion team, won the World Series in 1969.
** At the end of a regular season that saw so many narrow victories that they were nicknamed "the Cardiac Kids", the Phillies went to Montreal for a three-game series against the Expos, with whom they were tied at the top of the NL East; victories in the first two games (the second in 11 innings) handed Philadelphia the division title by a single game, and they faced the Houston Astros in the NLCS. The series went the full five games, with the last ''four'' going to extra innings; Garry Maddox was the hero for the Phillies in the tenth inning of Game 5 in the Astrodome, hitting a double that drove in Del Unser and put the Phillies ahead 8–7. Dick Ruthven retired the Astros in order in the bottom of the 10th to give the Phillies their first pennant since 1950.

* The ending of the 1993 World Series. Saturday, October 23, 1993. The Toronto Blue Jays' Joe Carter comes up to bat after Rickey Henderson walked and Paul Molitor hit a single off the Philadelphia Phillies' closer Mitch Williams, who was nicknamed "Wild Thing" for how unpredictable he could be when he took the mound. After falling behind Carter 2–0, Williams managed to get the count even. Carter followed that by hitting a gigantic home run on the 2–2 pitch over the [=SkyDome=]'s left field wall, which made 52,000 Jays fans unleash one of the loudest fan explosions in MLB history. To date, it is ''still'' the only time that a come-from-behind home run helped a team win the World Series, and one of only two to end with a walk-off home run (the other being the Pittsburgh Pirates' win in 1960, discussed in more detail below). And Joe Carter still gets to say that he's the only one who's done that.

-->'''Tom Cheek[[note]]Then radio announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays[[/note]]:''' Joe has [[HilariousInHindsight had his moments]]. Trying to lay off that ball, low to the outside part of the plate, he just went after one. Two balls and two strikes on him. Here's the pitch on the way. A swing and a BELT! Left field, way back, BLUE JAYS WIN IT! The Blue Jays are World Series Champions, as Joe Carter hits a three-run home run in the ninth inning and the Blue Jays have repeated as World Series Champions! Touch 'em all, Joe, you'll never hit a bigger home run in your life!

* While [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballPower5Conferences TCU's victory over Wisconsin]] in the 2011 Rose Bowl was pretty cool in its own right, the true SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome came ''off'' the field, with an epic TakeThat [[http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5998053 to E. Gordon Gee, president of the Badgers' conference rival Ohio State]], in reference to some disparaging remarks he made about the quality of opponents faced by non-AQ schools such as TCU and Boise State.

* The [[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballConferences Appalachian State Mountaineers]] upsetting the heavily favored #5 ranked Michigan Wolverines in the opening weekend of the 2007 season counts. Appalachian State dominated early and had to hold off a furious rally from the vaunted Wolverines to win the game 34-32. Michigan tumbled out of the AP Top 25 after the game, marking the first time an AP Top 5 time had fallen out of the top 25 after a loss. Michigan as a program was reeling from this loss for more than a decade, as their next Big Ten championship didn't come until 2021, whereas Appalachian State went from being an FCS powerhouse to the FBS Sun Belt Conference, winning a bowl game every year from 2015-2020.

* While TCU's victory over Wisconsin in the 2011 Rose Bowl was pretty cool in its own right, the true SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome came ''off'' the field, with an epic TakeThat [[http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5998053 to E. Gordon Gee, president of the Badgers' conference rival Ohio State]], in reference to some disparaging remarks he made about the quality of opponents faced by non-AQ schools such as TCU and Boise State.

* Appalachian State upsetting the heavily favored #5 ranked [[UsefulNotes/UniversityOFMichigan Michigan]] Wolverines in the opening weekend of the 2007 season counts. Appalachian State dominated early and had to hold off a furious rally from the vaunted Wolverines to win the game 34-32. Michigan tumbled out of the AP Top 25 after the game, marking the first time an AP Top 5 time had fallen out of the top 25 after a loss. Michigan as a program was reeling from this loss for more than a decade, as their next Big Ten championship didn't come until 2021, whereas Appalachian State went from being an FCS powerhouse to the FBS Sun Belt Conference, winning a bowl game every year from 2015-2020.

* The World Series has been won four times by teams who hadn't won a title in over 85 years - in three cases, since before the NHL, the NFL, and the NBA ''even started play''.[[note]] The exception: the Red Sox's 1918 World Series win came after the first NHL season.[[/note]] The first came in 1980, by which time all of the original 16 Major League Baseball teams had won at least one World Series... except the Philadelphia Phillies, who couldn't even claim a championship from the pre-World Series era, despite having joined the National League in 1883. They had only reached the World Series twice, losing to the Boston Red Sox in 5 games in 1915 and the New York Yankees in a sweep in 1950. To rub salt in Philly's wounds, the New York Mets, a 1962-expansion team, won the World Series in 1969.

* The 2004 ALCS. The Red Sox were down three games to none after a ''soul-crushing'' 19–8 loss to their hated rivals, the New York Yankees. Down by one run and facing Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, they rallied to force extras (Kevin Millar walked and Bill Mueller drove in the pinch-runner Dave Roberts, who immediately stole second) and won it in the twelfth (off the bat of Sox slugger David Ortiz). Then, they took Games 5 (in '''14''' innings, again off the bat of Ortiz), and 6, and finally pulled off the MiracleRally in Game 7, becoming the first team in MLB history to rally from a 3–0 series deficit in the process and creating indisputably the single greatest series comeback in the history of the sport. They went on to sweep the World Series in four straight games - and brought the title home to Boston for the first time since '''1918'''. Considered by most the greatest moment in baseball history, and surely the greatest eight-game run by any baseball team.

** Better still, the Red Sox winning the World Series was sandwiched between two back-to-back Super Bowl victories by the New England Patriots (only two/three years after their first-ever Super Bowl victory), and later followed up by both the Boston Celtics (2008) and Boston Bruins (2011) taking home their respective championship trophies, for the first time in over 20 years and nearly 40 years, respectively. The eleven-year period between 2001-2011 saw ''all four Boston teams'' banish a collective '''192 years''' of drought with seven championship wins. The closest range of the three (non-NFL) Boston teams winning it before that? ''32 years''. (Bruins in 1972, Celtics five times from 1974–86, [[labelnote:*]]the Patriots in 2001, 2003, and 2004,[[/labelnote]] and the Sox championship of 2004).

** Though that victory would be tarnished in 2020 when it came out that the Astros had devised a scheme to use live video feeds of games to steal pitchers' signs.[[note]]It's an accepted part of the game for a team to try to steal signs if it can get a runner on second base, giving him a direct view of the catcher, but it's very much against the rules to use technology to steal signs in real time.[[/note]] That being said, commissioner Rob Manfred would not strike either the Astros' 2017 World Series or the Red Sox's 2018 World Series (who had some personnel from the 2017 Astros) from the record books... though their wins can still be considered black eye wins like the Cincinnati Reds' World Series win over the Chicago White Sox (a.k.a. the Black Sox) from 1919.

** In 2013, the final saw Manchester City, the previous season's Premier League winners, taking on a Wigan Athletic deep in a Premier League relegation battle, who had only joined the Football League in 1978. Once again, although Manchester City had more shots on target, Wigan goalkeeper Joel Robles kept a clean sheet, and Ben Watson's 91st-minute header gave Wigan a shock 1-0 victory.

*** 18 April: After three straight wins, the Foxes are off the bottom—but still sit in the drop zone in 18th.

* Super Bowl XXXVI. The Patriots were tied with the heavily-favored Rams at 17 after the Rams had scored on a touchdown drive with 1:30 left on the clock in the fourth quarter. The Patriots had no time-outs left, and JohnMadden was recommending they run out the clock and win in overtime. After returning the kickoff, Tom Brady threw three passes to get to the Patriots 41-yard line with 33 seconds left. An incomplete pass, a short post pass to the tight end, and a 6 yard rush put the Patriots on the Rams 30 yard line, where Brady spiked the ball to stop the clock. There was time for literally one more play (3 seconds left on the clock), and the Patriots call in Adam Vinatieri, the kicker, who boots it as the clock runs out. The ball ''just barely'' splits the uprights, and the Patriots win the game at the latest possible moment, beating the ''14-point spread'' against them for the biggest upset in football history, and making the New England Patriots a force to be reckoned with in American Football for the next ''two decades''.

* The 2002 Super Bowl. The Patriots were tied with the heavily-favored Rams at 17 after the Rams had scored on a touchdown drive with 1:30 left on the clock in the fourth quarter. The Patriots had no time-outs left, and JohnMadden was recommending they run out the clock and win in overtime. After returning the kickoff, Tom Brady threw three passes to get to the Patriots 41-yard line with 33 seconds left. An incomplete pass, a short post pass to the tight end, and a 6 yard rush put the Patriots on the Rams 30 yard line, where Brady spiked the ball to stop the clock. There was time for literally one more play (3 seconds left on the clock), and the Patriots call in Adam Vinatieri, the kicker, who boots it as the clock runs out. The ball ''just barely'' splits the uprights, and the Patriots win the game at the latest possible moment, beating the ''14-point spread'' against them for the biggest upset in football history, and making the New England Patriots a force to be reckoned with in American Football for the next ''decade''.

* The Nebraska Cornhuskers, mentioned several times in the "American Football" folder, had one of these in another sport on August 30, 2023. That spring, the Huskers announced an event billed as "Volleyball Day in Nebraska". The plan was for two matches at Memorial Stadium, with a court set up near one end zone. The opener was an exhibition between two in-state Division II schools—Nebraska–Kearney (one of the Huskers' sister campuses) and Wayne State.[[note]]Wayne State College, not to be confused with Wayne State ''University'', a Division II school in Detroit.[[/note]] The main event would see the Huskers take on the Omaha Mavericks, which represent NU's ''other'' sister campus. Initially, 82,000 tickets were put on sale. They lasted ''three days''. More tickets were put up for sale, the weather eventually cooperated, and the final attendance was ''92,003''. This was not only the attendance record for Memorial Stadium, but also the verified attendance record for ''any women's sporting event''.[[note]]The final of an unofficial Women's World Cup in 1971 in Mexico City, involving Denmark and Mexico, reportedly drew 110,000, but that figure was never officially verified.[[/note]]

* The 1995 Sands Regency Open finals between Efren Reyes and Earl Strickland: in a race to 13, the score is tied at 12, and Efren turned what was supposed to be a safety shot into sinking the 8-ball via the 5-ball. With the 6-ball and 7-ball in the way, Efren looks like he shot himself into a corner... and then we find out why he's called "The Magician", hitting two rails and pocketing the 5-ball in what's now known as the "Z-shot".

** And even if it was a year late, [[Film/BackToTheFuture Marty McFly's]] prediction came true after all.

** Biles also introduced two brand-new (and absolutely insane) elements in her routines: a triple-twisting double back on floor, and a double-twisting double back dismount off the balance beam. The former was given an unprecedented "J" rating, meaning it's worth a full point in difficulty value (previously, the highest-rated skill in the code, the "Moors" on floor, had an "I" rating, worth 0.9 points).

--->Left the flagstick in, with the Maple Leaf Flag. [putt struck, crowd noise builds] Good pace... Are you serious?... [ball drops into the cup] Oh, my goodness! Glorious and free![[note]]This last phrase is taken directly from "O Canada", the country's national anthem.[[/note]]\\

--->[crowd noise builds] Good pace... Are you serious?... [ball drops into the cup] Oh, my goodness! Glorious and free![[note]]This last phrase is taken directly from "O Canada", the country's national anthem.[[/note]]\\

* While Boston and Denver won their following series in the Conference Semifinals, the upsets did not stop as the Heat and the Lakers faced off their respective rivals:

*** Ultimately, Boston ''could not get it done,'' as no Celtics player managed to score past 20 points, and once again Jimmy Butler led Miami in points in Game 7, along with Caleb Martin scoring 26 points and Bam Adebayo with a double-double en route to a dominant 103-84 clincher. The reverse sweep dream in the NBA playoffs continue to be just that for now as Miami secured themselves a ticket to the NBA Finals for the second time in the last four seasons, creating a first-time ever finals matchup with Denver for the Larry O'Brien trophy, along with being only the second-ever 8-seed to make the NBA Finals since the 1999 New York Knicks.