The World Cup....the whole thing. What a spectacle!
Puget Sound Senior Baseball League, semifinal game, my underdog Diablos vs. consensus favorite Timber Rattlers. Winner goes to play in the final in Cheney Stadium. We're up by two, bottom of the ninth. Batter fouls back a 2-2 forkball, I spring out of my crouch, fling off my mask, all my fielders are yelling "It's out of play! Out of play!". I'm not so sure, I track it back to the fence then follow it as it drifts right in front of our dugout, at the last second sticking out my mitt and the ball pops into it, I look up and have about one second to catch my breath and realize we've won before I'm engulfed by my pitcher and first baseman. The pig pile and celebration happens on top of me. (We went on to beat the Zephyrs in the final...) My second favorite would be telling our pitcher that not one batter in the Timber Rattler's lineup was expecting changeups, they were all looking for fastballs and curveballs, and sure enough he pitched 5 innings of no-hit ball, striking out 7 with an absolutely devastating change-up.
My alma mater, East Rutherford (NC) High School, winning the 2A state baseball title. Far and away the best moment for me this year.
Okay, so they didn't quite get it done this year, but that Patriots win in the Superbowl was amazing. Hell, the whole run of dramatic wins to get there was great, too.
The double gold medals of Canada's Olympic hockey teams is probably the most exciting moment(s) of the year for me. Watching Barry Bonds demolish major league pitching for another year (and in the playoffs especially) was an extended moment I enjoyed. Getting up at ridiculous times on work days so I could watch as many World Cup games as possible was probably the most fun I had this year. That Hail-Mary-touched-by-4-
players-touchdown pass for the win by LSU was probably the most unbelievable moment of the year. I could also include watching Barry Bonds hitting that MONSTER home run off Percival in Game 2.
I'll agree with the Candian Golds. Beautiful stuff, especially on the men's side (no offense to the ladies, though). My favorite playoff series of the year was the Mavs/Kings conference semis. That was the most fun I'd had watching pro basketball ever. The World Cup was cool, but paled in comparison to '98 when I was in Southern France when they won. But nothing short of my wedding day or birth of a child may ever compare to that night.
Yeah, you're wedding night was fun too Ufez! Man, did we party!
but i'm not married.....I don't think
Salon Premium picks and ESPN.com Page 2's The Year in Sex & Sports Just recently I really enjoyed seeing ex-Minnesota Viking Cris Carter say "He can't kick it that far" on the Miami Dolphins sidelines just before the Vikings' Gary Anderson kicked a 53-yard field goal to beat the Dolphins (and helped knock them out of the playoffs).
I'm just going to add this one: In the final game of the final day of 2002, the Toronto Maple Leafs played and won the gutsiest game I have ever seen. With 4 of their top 6 scorers out (Mogilny, Sundin, Renberg, Antropov (after getting injured in the first period) and being down 3-1 to the healthy Canucks in the first period, the Maple Leafs rallied to win 5-3. Belfour held them in it as Vancouver had 5 different breakaways and scored on ZERO of them. No one would have blamed them if they had just packed it in after falling behind on the road on NYE, but they didn't. That makes my list of one of the best sporting moments of 2002 for me.
Have to agree with Fat Buddha. Carter's penalty could well be the most memorable moment of my life so far. Which is a little sad. (Carter steps up to the area. "Oh fuck, it's Carter for Christ's sake he's only a kid. Come on Darren, come on my son, come on...........Yesssssssssssssss
sss. Fucking yes.") 
