My Greatest Sports Moments

The Home Run Derby last monday night was by far the best sporting event that I have ever been to. That's a bold statement and as someone in my fantasy baseball league said "you're either trying to justify the price you paid for the tickets or you haven't been to many sporting events." And while both of those statements may be true there's no denying that Josh Hamilton's hitting display is something that I will never forget. For those 30 minutes or so that Hamilton was hitting moonshot after moonshot I can honestly say that I had never had more fun in my life at a sporting event.

There's just something about screaming at the top of your lungs with total strangers, chanting someone's name with 55,000 of your new best friends, that lends itself to an unforgettable moment. At one point the hot dog vendor even put down his tray and watched a homerun that almost went out of Yankee Stadium! He then turned to me and asked did that go out? We then stood there talking about Mickey Mantle and other great Yankee players that he's had the chance to watch in all his years hawking hot dogs and he said to me he's never seen someone hit the ball like Hamilton. Anytime you can talk baseball with a hot dog vendor whose seen it all that's a good night.

Now here's a look at some of my other memorable sporting event moments:

#2. Rioting in the streets of Boston: I have a friend who loves to riot. He would literally travel to a city if he thinks they have a chance to win a national championship just so that he can take part in their riot as witnessed by his trek up to Syracuse, NY when Carmelo Anthony led the Orangemen to prominence. But even he would admit that's there something special about a riot when it happens in your own city. Luckily for me I was in Boston when the Patriots won the Super Bowl over the St. Louis Rams in dramatic fashion on a last second field goal by Adam Vinateiri and suffice it to say pandamonium ensued. Newspaper stands were kicked over, fireworks were set off, boobies were flashed, cars were flipped, heck even a bus was flipped. The city of Boston was nearly destroyed and it was awesome. At least it was until the riot police showed up and started shooting rubber bullets at people while deploying tear gas. Nonetheless it was unforgettable night.

#3. Playing basketball at Madison Square Garden: When I was at Northeastern I did a co-op assignment for MSG networks one summer. During which I got the chance to play basketball in the World's Most Famous Arena in a tournament for Garden employees. This was a special moment because playing on the Garden floor used to mean something before Isiah Thomas came along and fucked it all up. It still means something to a lot of people and it meant something to me then. To not only be on the same floor that Patrick Ewing and John Starks used to play on but to actually get to play in an organized game was something that I will never forget. Although I'm trying to forget that we lost 21-3 to a bunch of ringers who supposedly worked at the concession stands.

4. My encounter with Mike Timlin: It pains me to say this but one of my greatest sports moments occurred at Fenway Park. I actually got to go down on the field and meet some of the players during a Fan Appreciation Event prior to a game I was attending. At the time I had this really crazy haircut. I looked like a cross between a chia pet and a troll doll. So it shouldn't have surprised me that someone on the Red Sox would take a cheap shot at me. And of course veteran relief pitcher Mike Timlin took the bait coming up to me and saying, "hey man, nice hair. And here I thought Johnny Damon had a bad haircut." Damon by the way was sporting a caveman/Jesus Christ look at the time.