My 4 greatest sports events, what are yours?
spacehayduke
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We are now in the home stretch leading to the greatest event in sports each year. The most watched sport in the world for those 3 weeks, and around 1 million people are watching it live and on the road each day for 21 days. No annual sporting event has higher attendance (Olympics and World Cup every 4 years might have tho'). Yup that is right, the Tour de France. It will start in late June, this year a week earlier so that it ends prior to the Paris Olympics. In fact, for the first time in decades le Tour will not finish on the Champs Elysees but in Nice to accommodate the Olympics. I remember when I was on the Champs in 2006 for the final stage. The greatest avenue in the world, closed off for a bike race. Incroyable, oui! We watched much of it across from L'Orangerie with the Seine at our backs. The peloton would be turning right off the Champs along the Place de la Concorde, then a quick left Quai des Tulleries at 40 miles per hour. And we were there at that corner. Amazing. Later on we moved up to the finish line on the Champs and were able watch Thor sprint at 50 miles per hour to win the stage!
The 4 greatest sports evens to me are-
- le Tour
- Super Bowl
- Masters
- Paris Roubaix (Hell of the North)
During the next 3 weeks, we will watch and see where the contenders are in fitness. For all but Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark), we will see them at le Dauphine Libere starting tomorrow. Without Vingy there, the big 3 are Primoz Roglic (Slovakia), Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), and Tadej Pogacar (Slovakia). These 4 are total studs - super humans. Vingy, Primoz, and Remco all had a nasty crash together at 60 mph down a steep hill around a bend and into a concrete ditch in a race 6 weeks ago. For all but Vingy, they were able to recover enough to make the Dauphine. Vingy is back to training - he had multiple broken ribs and other bones and a collapsed lung in the crash, taking longer to recover.
Two Americans, on the same team (Visma Lease a Bike) as Vingy, Sepp Kuss (Durango) and Matteo Jorgenson (Boise), are in the Dauphine as co-leaders of their team. If Vingy makes le Tour, they will ride support for him if he is in winning form. If not, they need to see where both are. Matteo won Paris-Nice this year, and one of the major classics, GC Kuss won the Tour of Spain in September. Both are expected to be amongst the contenders in the Dauphine and le Tour even if riding support for Vingy. We will see how they are going starting tomorrow.
You can watch the Dauphine and le Tour on the Peacock network. Alternatively, NBC sports has an in depth recap every day on youtube, still riveting. If you are on Netflix you can watch the Tour de France series (1 season, season 2 upcoming), which shows you what it is like to be in the race and how much suffering there is.............
What are your favorite sports events?
Best, SH
Comments
For me it may change from year to year depending on who is competing. For instance the 2015 World Series was number 1 for that year but has not cracked number 1 since then.
Penn State national football champions 1982 season
Philadelphia Eagles 2017 season Super Bowl winner
Philadelphia Phillies 1980 season World Series winner
Wimbledon
French Open
Australian Open
College football bowl season/playoffs.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
Ignore list -Basebal21
Sort of a bit different than my other three choices, but the USA Olympic hockey team beating the Russkies and winning the gold medal in 1980 was pretty dam good.
Super Bowl
AFC/NFC Championship
Patriots Playoff games
Red Sox Playoff games
As much as I'm a Boston New England guy I just don't get excited I er the Bruins, I'm starting to enjoy the Celtics since they have been pretty good the past few years and I like that they have young super stars
nothice no mention of the Seattle MAriners or Sacramento Kings
these 2 fanchises are so pathetic that a 5th grader could of ran these franchises the last 45 years with more
success
Attended the last game Wayne Gretzky played of his career in my city up here in Canada.
College baseball playoffs, particularly Omaha
College football playoffs
Army Navy Game
I guess the World Series is still my 4 at the moment but I dont like how MLB has different rules for the playoffs and regular season which has soured me on it a bit.
Honorable Mentions
Talladega for the insane tailgating/partying
Kentucky Derby
LSU home games at night when theyre good. No other team in the country has small earthquakes getting recorded because the stadium is going so crazy
Missouri 14 OSU 3
Jim
I could have mentioned 1986. That was great as well.
One nice thing about Penn State, there was usually a friendly rivalry between the Philly and Pittsburgh students, at least where I resided. However when it came down to Penn State football or anything Penn State, it was all for one, one for all. Always united! 😊
Agreed - one of my WORST events as a Pirates fan was the Sid Bream game. Not only was it a heart-breaking ending, I had to endure a walk home in State College with many Philly fans screaming out the windows in absolute joy
Jim
I didn't arrive until 1 week after he was traded in 88. But I did get to see him live for the Kings in the playoffs against the Oil in Northlands....................
Even in his last year when I saw him on the ice live he knew everything that was going on just like if it was slow motion for him and he was in super fast mode. He found all the places where no one was and used it to his advantage. His hockey IQ was off the charts. I can't imagine seen him in the 1980's with Edmonton.
Well I'm not going to speak for those Philly fans. Where I resided there were a number of hard core Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins fans. I was never "anti" towards any of those teams.
Yes, Pittsburgh fans rooted passionately for their teams, particularly the Steelers. I can see how some might find that annoying. However it never bothered me. They were just being good sports fans in my view.
My favorite part about Philly is arriving at the airport to depart.
2nd favorite is driving through scenic Chester.
Sadly, downtown Philly has deteriorated like basically all major cities these days.
At least we're not Oakland.