The Best Seat in the House

Tonight men’s college basketball championship between UConn and America’s darlings, Butler University, should be the perfect ending to another exciting March Madness. It will be tough to top last year’s championship, unless the half court shot to win the game goes in this time. There is something special about a championship game, an elimination and/or decisive winner take all matchup. Thousands of fans, millions of viewers watching to see who will be the new hero and who will crumble under the pressure. What will be the next story, the team that builds on its dynasty or the Cinderella story that defies the odds and pulls off a minor miracle? Naturally most people will have the knee-jerk reaction of saying that nothing can top the Super Bowl and in most cases, that person could be right, since it’s one game for all the marbles and other sports play as many as 7 games to decide the championship. So, let’s establish some criteria to have a level playing field in choosing the best of the best.

a.       It must be a decisive game or day, meaning that by the end of the day, a winner or champion will be crowned

b.      No overtime, extra innings, etc. Naturally if Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals goes to triple overtime, it’s probably going to be one for the ages and thus not on the same level of others

c.       US soil, ice, etc. Sorry in advance to Wimbledon, British Open and other amazing events around the world, but we are going to keep this in our country

d.      This may be tough to achieve but you have to imagine these events as if your favorite team is not in the final game. That is the true test to a classic game or event, not having an emotional attachment to any combatant and still loving the competition

e.      Money is no object. You will have the best seat in the stadium/arena. Nothing will be blocking your view and your seat is absolutely better than your living room sofa

f.        Clear skies, the weather for outdoor sporting events is exactly what you prefer, day or night

Now that the lines are drawn, here are the top 10 sporting events to watch in person

10. Little League World Series Championship game – Most of us played baseball as a child and most of us had our ups and downs on the field. Now, put yourself in their shoes, a big hit or a big error and the world is watching you at age 12. I give a lot of credit to the boys and girls who have had the poise of mature and talented adults. My heart goes out to the ones who have won and to those who have shed tears in defeat. And while money is no object, you really can’t beat the prices of admission and food.

9. Sunday at the Ryder Cup – Picture Tiger Woods draining a 20 foot putt for birdie on the 18^th green to win the Masters by a single stroke. Now, picture him doing it to give his teammates the last point needed to clinch victory for his team. To me, that’s the reason golf is on this list. You have a bunch of competitors who normally rely on no one except themselves and maybe their caddies. Plus, how many professional athletes lay it all on the line for pride and pride alone? The winners receive no money.

8. Summer Olympics men’s 100 meter final – Another group of people who are laying it all on the line for pride, going for the gold and fulfilling a life-long dream. And while this sport and event has had a black eye at times with illegal performance enhancing drugs, there is still something to be said in watching, albeit for less than 10 seconds, the world’s fastest man in the oldest sports setting on earth.

7. NCAA Men’s basketball championship, Division 1 – I went back and forth with this one and then I remembered the day after Duke narrowly defeated the Butler Bulldogs. There was so much talk about, “can you imagine if that shot went in?” Everyone loves to see David beat Goliath and if you’re lucky enough to see it in a last second shot, this event has to be on the list.

6. NCAA Football Championship Bowl Game, Division 1 – Notice how I didn’t say BCS Bowl Game. However, if you can see the last game of the season and have the clear cut #1 vs the clear cut #2 (example, USC vs Texas in a setting like the Rose Bowl in 2006) it has to be magical. But the BCS is the reason that this event isn’t higher, we don’t always get the clear cut #1 vs #2.

5. Game 7 Stanley Cup Finals – Say what you want but have you ever really thought about the physical and emotional pain hockey players go through every game? Now throw in playing in the longest post season format on every other night and the last one standing gets the oldest trophy in American professional team sports. I still get chills watching the tradition after the end of a series when the 2 teams line up and shake hands. I always look for the ones who spend the most time with a player on the opposing team, because it’s usually that player who had a great impact on the series. I can’t even begin to put into words what that would be like watching from center ice.

4. Men’s World Cup final – Talk about tradition, what was it like back in the day when Pele exchanged jerseys with someone like Franz Beckenbauer? I hate it when people have nothing but negative things to say about the World’s most popular sport. I think back to the 94 cup finals between Brazil and Italy in the Rose Bowl. Can you imagine if Ronaldo or Roberto Baggio had a moment like Landon Donovan’s goal in stoppage time? This is a no brainer.

3. Game 7 NBA Finals – Even if you weren’t a fan of the Lakers or Celtics, you had to love the 2 biggest names in the sport, West vs East, blue collar Boston vs Hollywood entertain us and go down to the wire. That game could only be topped by a game and series winning shot by Kobe Bryant or Paul Pierce.

2. Super Bowl – Who wishes they were there when Joe Montana found John Taylor in the end zone, capping a 92 yard drive for the winning score? What about seeing Scott Norwood missing a game winning field goal at the end of the closest Super Bowl in history? How about Adam Vinatieri splitting the uprights just months after 9/11? It is currently America’s top sport and now it is the most watched TV show in history. Having a ticket in the front row on the 50 yard line and watching these hulking and superior athletes celebrate like little kids makes this event a close second.

1. Game 7 World Series – In my opinion, there are no two more intense words in sports than game seven. And with baseball, part of the suspense is the second before the pitch is thrown, the time between the ball leaving the bat and the ball maybe going fair or foul, maybe staying in the park or reaching the fans in the stands. And what gives this moment the slight edge over #2 is that growing up, most red blooded American kids dream of winning the World Series with a homerun on a full count, 2 outs in the bottom of the 9^th with the bases loaded. There is no bigger or better moment that we dream about and to be there to watch behind home plate has to be the ultimate. Couple that with the fact that there is not always a game seven in the world series, and that is why it is the top sporting event to watch live.

Let the debating begin…