People love to watch sports, as proven by the unbelievable number of people who watched this most recent Superbowl (106 million people. For those keeping track, that made it the most watched televised event ever.). But why? Is it the competitive nature inside of people? Is it their high school jock trying to relive its glory days? Is it, perhaps, having a team to love and support that brings people back?
These are all perfectly logical reasons to love sports, but in my opinion it’s something more than that. At least for me, the reason I keep coming back to sports is the memories they create.
I apologize for the gap in my posts, but frankly I wasn’t in love with the direction my blog was going. I have an unbelievable passion for all things sports, but I felt like my blogs weren’t tapping into that passion. So I went back to the basics. Why do I love sports?
For me, it’s being able to say “God, I remember just where I was sitting when the Celtics won in 2008” or “Man, I can still remember every expletive that left my mouth when Aaron Boone hit that homer off of Wakefield.” It’s unbelievable how much my capacity for memories opens when it comes to sports. I’ll be lucky if tomorrow I can remember what I had for breakfast today, but for the rest of my life I will remember when the Celtics had their ring ceremony and I got a call from one of my best friends, Sean. It went something (exactly) like this:
Sean: “Hey man, you watching the ring ceremony?”
Me: “Yeah, of course.”
Sean: “….you’re not tearing up or anything are you?”
Me: “ (sniffle) of course not man…”
Sean: “ (sniffle)…..yeah….me neither…(sniffle).”
Now admittedly I’m still very young, and have very little experience in life altering sports moments. I wasn’t around for Buckner letting the ball through his legs. Magic versus Bird was far before my time. Flutie’s Hail Mary looks great on replay, but I didn’t see it live.
So sure, those may be some of the highlights for t he generations before me, but that’s not to say I haven’t witnessed my own life changing sports moments. For the next few blogs I am going to recount some of my sports memories., particularly the things that made the events memorable. Maybe it was the matchup, maybe it was the atmosphere, maybe it was the build up to the event, or maybe it was just my love for that particular team. Either way, blogs are supposed to me insightful on things the writer is passionate about. It doesn’t get much more insightful that feelings about memories of sports for me.
So sit back and I’ll explain exactly why I love sports.
If you really want to know why sports are popular, watch this hilarious ESPY skit by Justin Timberlake.
Sometimes games are remembered for eternity regardless of who is announcing.
Take, for example, the Patriots first Super Bowl win. The Pats were heavy underdogs to the Rams, who had been labeled the “Greatest Show on Turf” because of the ridiculous offensive numbers the team had been putting up all season. The team had 4 Hall of Famers minimum starting on their offense alone in Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, and Orlando Pace, and the Super Bowl was being played in an indoor arena. The Pats, on the shoulders of a kid named Brady, had somehow mad it all the way to the Super Bowl. The game winning kick by Adam Vinatieri will go down as one of the most clutch sports plays of all time.
Hellen Keller could have been commentating this game and it still would have been an instant classic.
Of course there is the other side of the spectrum where the announcer is a huge part of what you remember from a game. People remember “Oh, a spectacular move by Michael Jordan” and “Havlicek stole the ball”, even though the situation of the call might be forgotten.
Every once in a while though, there is a game that is both memorable on its stage and for commentating purpose.
Take for example, the “Miracle on Ice”.
This game had all the makings of an easy win for the Soviet team. They were, at the time, the best hockey team in the world. Viewed by most as undefeatable.
The US squad was made up entirely of amateurs and college players, viewed by most as a long shot to even medal in the tournament.
I don’t need to explain the outcome of the game (the US won, and went on to win gold, for those of you who live under a rock), but what I do want to talk about is the call.
Anyone who’s seen the game, whether live or a replay, knows the famous call.
“Eleven seconds, you’ve got ten seconds, the countdown going on right now! Morrow, up to Silk. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? YES!”
An amazing moment like this deserved one of the most passionate calls of all time, and that’s exactly what Al Michaels gave. Michaels would later reminisce about his famous call and about how it ranked in his other alls during his career.
“When I look back, obviously Lake Placid would be the highlight of my career,” Michaels said. “I can’t think of anything that would ever top it. I can’t dream up a scenario.”
The key to a great call is a great moment, and anyone will agree on that. A magical moment like this deserved a magical call, and that’s exactly what it got.
If there’s one great thing about being home for spring break it’s being able to enjoy sports in the peace and quiet of my own home. That’s no to say it stays quiet (at least not with my yelling at refs and players) but at least it’s quiet at points.
The main benefit of this quiet is being able to hear the commentators. Last week I wrote about the creepiness that is Craig Sager. This week I will turn to a much happier note and talk about my favorite commentator of all time, Tommy Heinsohn.
Tommy is the color commentator of the Boston Celtics. Tommy’s history with the Celts spans much further than just commentating. Tommy was drafted by the Celtics in 1956 and went on to play at an All-Star level until 1965. Heinsohn won eight championships with the Celtics during his career.
After his playing career was over, Tommy took to coaching, taking over the Celtics from 1969-1978. Heinsohn won two championships as a coach.
Once his playing days were over though, the true Tommy came to life. He hopped on as color commentator for the Celtics in 1981 and hasn’t looked back since.
Tommy brings unbelievable knowledge to the booth as a commentator, having been both a player and a coach in his career. It’s really a great privilege to listen to him discuss strategy and thoughts because most of the time when listening to basketball, you hear some guy’s opinion on what should be done, but really, this opinion has no weight because it’s never been tested. With Tommy, he’s been there and he knows exactly what needs to be done.
The thing that Tommy is the most famous for is his notoriously biased calling style and the amount of passion he bring to the booth.
When Tommy sees a Celtics game, in his eyes the Celtics can do no wrong in regards to getting called for fouls. I can’t even imagine watching a Celts game and having never listened to Tommy. People watching that have never heard him before must be blown away because of how biased he is. If a Celtics player clotheslined an opposing player, Tommy says it’s a light foul. The thing is though, if that player even tickled a Celtic, Tommy flips out and complains that the refs are blowing the game.
Looking past the fact that he’s a total homer when calling a game, Tommy’s passion for the game is world-renowned. He screams and he grunts and groans about everything. I swear, sometimes I think the network must mute his microphone because of just how wild he gets. If the Celtics are ever struggling (which is now) at least Celtics fans have Tommy to listen to.
An interesting fact about Tommy is that he has been involved in some way with every one of the 17 championships the Celtics have won.
Craig Sager is one of the more recognizable sideline reporters in the NBA. Every game aired on TNT features “Inside the Huddle” information from Sager. It’s interesting though, because if you watch closely, it’s almost like TNT keeps him around for other reasons than his basketball knowledge.
If you’ve ever listened to Charles Barkley speak, you know he’s not one to hold back what’s on his mind. Because of this he has become one of the most beloved commentators in sports. Unfortunately for Sager, Barkley doesn’t spare him from the lambasting thoughts on his mind.
Barkley loves to poke fun at people for smaller things, like their outfits. Sager is notorious for dressing like a fool. Pink suits, purple suits, red suits, Sager wears it all in hope that maybe he looks more classy than he is. This makes for the perfect combination for Barkley, as he regularly burns Sager during halftime conversation.
So if not for sager’s outfits, he wouldn’t be a total sketch right? Wrong.
Sager basically stands as the lightning rod of being made fun of. There were rumors that he snuck up on Kevin Mchale during a dinner at All-Star weekend and just sat next to him, having never been introduced. Kevin even brought up the dinner during half-time, but was polite enough to admit how creepy it was.
Another one of my favorite Sager moments is when he grabbed Derrick Rose for an interview before halftime. Rose came over because it’s not out of the blue to be interviewed before halftime. Sager asked Rose a few questions, which he responded to, but then took it to another level. After Rose had finished his last response and was about to walk away when Sager, for whatever reason, thought it would be appropriate to go for a hug. Shockingly, Rose rejected and looked pretty freaked out.
Sure, this sounds like a bash on Sager, but he does have some good qualities. He has a relationship with players (though through his terrible wardrobe) that get him more interviews than most other sideline reporters. He also has a very calming voice. Unfortunately, his outfits and knack for being creepy outweigh his other attributes.
Here are two videos of Kevin Garnett making fun of Sager’s outfit.
Here is Phil Jackson doing the same