Back in 2005, at my annual Ryder Cup golf tournament in Radium, my buddy made this putt to win a playoff...a putt he had no business making. This is the first hole at Radium Resort...probably the most difficult green in the world. He's about a 20 handicapper and made this for a birdie, in front of a crowd of 15 or so. An impressive feat...it's a difficult birdie hole for the best of players. The yelling was so loud it was probably heard in Invermere.
1997, Monday night football, watching my (at the time) favorite 49'rs kick Carolina's butt.
Same week the UAW GM 500 at Charlotte, NASCAR was still alright then. The whole week I toured shops, raced a truck, met a few drivers including my fave Rusty Wallace.
Anytime the Warriors make the playoffs is great at the crushed can, but when they made the finals was extra special.
Back in 93 or 94 I saw the return of Joe Montana when they played the Lions....Montana, Rice and Barry Sanders. It was pretty cool to see them all in their prime.
I think that my favourite was back in 2001 I went to an FA Cup 3rd round match between Norwich City and Sheffield Wednesday. We drove from Norwich to Sheffield in a rented van to catch the game, and the brakes on the van started to fail as we got close to Sheffield. We soldiered on and got to Sheffield in time to wonder around a bit before the match. We received all sorts of heckles and even some threats. Got into the stadium and it was sobering experience because the away fans are seated in the area just above where everyone was crushed at the infamous Hillsborough disaster back in 1989. Kind of gave me the chills.
Even though Norwich (predictably) were destroyed by Wednesday, it was a fantastic experience. The Sheffield Wednesday band were playing their hearts out. The Norwich players saluted us for making the trip even though they got blown out of the water. The singing and the chanting made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. There's something special about joining 3,000 other away fans travelling to a game that your team is almost certainly going to lose and singing and cheering throughout, even as the goals against rack up.
Once the game was over, we got out of town and finally had to call for roadside assistance for the brakes because the van was no longer safe to drive. So we found some roadside pub in Barnsley and sat there for hours waiting for a towtruck and a replacement vehicle. Had many pints and was completely blitzed by the time we got picked up and taken back.
Being a born-and-raised Canadian but with all of my extended family being in England, it was an amazing experience to get involved in the football culture over there, especially as an away fan. The novelty and uniqueness of the experience made it definitely most memorable for me.
Mine would have to be my first ever live NFL game.
Colts vs Chargers in San Diego. Nov 11, 2007.
For those who have never been to a live NFL game, I highly recommend it. The atmosphere is nothing but electric and the fans and tailgating were epic.
Sproules returned the opening kickoff for a TD and also a punt later in the game. Manning picked off 6 times!
Hilights from the game.
Second best would probably be the Suns vs Lakers game I went to in 2008.
Watching Kobe, Shaq, and Steve Nash all on the same court was wicked. (Shaq is massive!)
In addition to the basketball game, it was very entertaining watching the fans interact. The trash talking from the latino and black Lakers fans was hilarious.
I was at the 94 Molson Indy Toronto. At the height of CART in NA, Paul Tracy (a Canadian for those who don't know) was 2nd or 3rd until he pulled off a like 7 second pit stop and came out first. The entire crowd went nuts and sure enough he went on to win. What made it better is that I had super sweet club seats.
This years Grey Cup. Even though the Riders lost, it was one hell of an experience until the final 2 minutes.
Honorable mention goes to the Telus Skins game out in Banff or wherever. That was pretty damn cool seeing those guys like 10 feet away.
