“Be more positive!” she says.
“Stick to sports!” he chides.
“Too many Top 10 lists!” they decry.
Fine, you win. Today: A warm-’n-fuzzy Top 20
list about sports.
But first, a little background …
I lied to get into the sports media
business. Sorta.
Went down like this:
In 1986, a few months before I graduated
UT-Arlington with a degree in journalism, I caught the eye
and grabbed the ear of an editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“I’ll do anything, for any price,” I begged,
attempting to jam the tip of my toe
into what I perceived to be a sliver of an opening in the door.
“Hmm, okay,” returned the editor. “Do you
follow soccer?”
“Are you kidding?!” I fibbed, having
attended a Dallas Tornado game or two as a kid but not really knowing a goal
from a goal kick. “One of my favorite sports!”
Two nights later I was inside Reunion Arena
covering a team called the Dallas Sidekicks and a sport called the Major Indoor
Soccer League. Orange ball? Walls? A guy who takes his shirt off when he
scores? I was clueless. And I was hooked.
Not
necessarily on the MISL, but on getting paid to attend sporting events.
What a scam brilliant career choice.
I’ve covered sports in the Metroplex for 30+
years, writing/talking about everything from dart tournaments to The Olympics. Today,
with a little prodding and a lot of reminiscing, I pieced together the most
memorable events I’ve attended during 18 years at the Star-Telegram,
seven more at the Dallas
Observer, five at CBS Radio/105.3
The Fan, three more at NBC5 and, since the Summer of 2013, here in my own lil’
corner of the blogosphere.
My initial brain dump birthed 44 memories. I
painstakingly narrowed it to 20. Not necessarily the best moments. Merely the most memorable. (Leon Lett, Brett Hull and Bill Clinton's White House just barely missed the cut.)
Hope you enjoy re-living
them half as much as I delighted in covering them.
20. February 16, 2001; Infield Circus – Assigned to
capture the suds, speed and socializing of the Daytona 500, I drove through the
tunnel at the Daytona International Speedway and immediately saw a woman.
Walking. On her hands. Naked. With grinnin’ guys playing ring toss. Using her
legs as the targets. Swear.
19. April 6, 1997;
Mav-Wrecks – Though
the franchise had bottomed out a couple years earlier with head coach Quinn
Buckner and consecutive 13- and 11-win seasons, the Mavs under the utterly forgettable Jim Cleamons managed only two
points – on a pair of Derek Harper free throws – in the third quarter of a lowly
loss to the Lakers in The Fabulous Forum.
18. Nov 30, 2006; Anna
Nirvana – Got
to play three games of tennis at the T Bar M Racquet Club in North
Dallas against one of the hottest females on the planet, Anna Kournikova.
Nothing really spectacular about the tennis, other than the fact that it was
against one of the hottest females on the planet, Anna Kournikova.
17. June 20, 1987; Sidekicks Celebrate – Down 3-1
with less than two minutes to play in Game 7 of the MISL Championship Series,
the Sidekicks pulled their goalie in desperation. After an improbable two goals
to force overtime, Tatu drilled a shot that Mark Karpun re-directed for the
goal that stunned the Tacoma Stars and 20,000 fans in the Tacoma Dome. Two days
later I covered a championship parade through downtown and around Reunion
Arena. Still pinching myself to this day.
16. Dec. 10, 1989; Bounty Bowl II – After
Cowboys’ head coach Jimmy Johnson had chastised the Eagles’ Buddy Ryan for
putting out a bounty on kicker Luis Zendejas in a Thanksgiving Day game at
Texas Stadium, the payback at
Veterans Stadium was gruesome. Philadelphia beat an infamously futile Cowboys
team, 20-10, punctuated by batteries wrapped in iceballs hurled at the sideline
and even inside CBS’ broadcast booth at Verne Lundquist and Terry Bradshaw.
15. June 29, 1998; Dirk’s Debut – He
stepped off the plane from Wurzburg, Germany all of 19 years old. Chili-bowl, long haircut. Big, gold hoops dangling from his ear. But then Dirk Nowitzki dazzled
us inside the Baylor-Tom Landry Center gym. 3-pointers with each hand. And a
smooth, flowing stride leading to effortless dunks. The Flamingo Fadeway wasn’t
yet born, but just days after the NBA Draft Nowitzki’s eventual Hall-of-Fame star was already rising.
14. Dec. 20, 2008; Farewell, Old Friend – It was
freezing that night. Winter wind whipping through the tunnel at Texas Stadium. But with the
Cowboys rallying and former players lined up to see the last game in Texas
Stadium it would end up warm and cozy. Right? Nope. As Baltimore Ravens’
fullback LeRon McClain rumbled 82 yards right up Dallas’ gut it almost made us
vomit. Then, about 17 months later, an 11-year-old from Tyler pushed a plunger
that imploded my all-time favorite sports stadium.
13. May 14, 2005; Tiger
Prowls – Back
when Tiger Woods was Tiger Goods, I followed his every move at the Byron Nelson
golf tournament. On the 9th fairway
he exited a Port-a-Pot … to a rousing ovation.
12. July 4, 2004;
Fantastic Federer – Only thing more amazing than sitting at Centre
Court Wimbledon and watching Andy Roddick spank 140-mph serves was witnessing
Roger Federer deftly return them for winners with merely a flick of his
legendary wrist.
11. June 17, 1994; The Day The World (Cup) Stopped – International
media from the globe’s four corners descended upon Fair Park to cover the World
Cup, but suddenly we all found ourselves not watching soccer inside the Cotton
Bowl but instead huddled around a TV in the Hall of State’s makeshift
media center gawking at another type of football player. It was O.J. Simpson,
leading Los Angeles police on a low-speed chase.
10. January 17, 1993; How
‘Bout Them Cowboys?! – Candlestick Park. The mud. Major underdogs. Up
24-20 with four minutes remaining, but backed up to their own 10. Get
conservative and work on the clock? Nah. How about Troy Aikman to Alvin Harper
for the most important 70-yard pass play in
franchise history. Cowboys 30, 49ers 20. Hello, Super Bowl.
9. February 28, 1989;
Doomsday Indeed – Only days after he was fired by new owner Jerry
Jones, Cowboys’ coach Tom Landry
went to Valley Ranch and cleaned out his office. Unfortunately, I had to
document every sad detail.
8. June 14, 1998; The Joy
of Six – With
his Chicago Bulls on the brink of losing Game 6 and
having to play a Game 7 in the Delta Center against the Utah Jazz, Michael
Jordan scored, stole the ball from Karl Malone and then deftly shoved Bryon
Russell out of the way before swishing an 18-foot jumper to seal his sixth
title. We forget John Stockton front-rimmed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer.
7. October 22, 2010;
Hello, World Series! – When closer Neftali Feliz struck out Alex
Rodriguez on a nasty curveball, our goose bumps had goose bumps. Yep, after 38
seasons the Texas Rangers were finally going to the World Series.
6. February 8, 1986; Soaring Spud – On
NBA All-Star Saturday at Reunion Arena it was 5-foot-7 Spud Webb who stole the
show by winning the Slam Dunk title. But in the locker room it was Celtics’
legend Larry Bird who chugged a Lone Star beer, loudly burped and then offered
“Excuse me, I’ve got a trophy to win.” He then went out and at one point made
12 straight 3-pointers en route to the Long Distance Shootout championship.
5. July 27, 1996; Olympic
Bombing – During
The Summer Olympics in Atlanta I saw Michael Johnson’s double in the 200/400,
the Dream Team cream everybody and Andre Agassi win gold. But it was 1:30 a.m.
when our bus taking us to our dorms at Emory University abruptly stopped.
Announced our driver, “A bomb went off in Centennial Park.” Still makes me
queasy. I had been there 20 minutes before. And now I was headed back.
4. August 22, 1989; 5,000
– I
was assigned to paint the scene surrounding Nolan Ryan’s historic 5,000th strikeout. Not
Nolan fanning the A’s Rickey Henderson or the ball caught by
Chad Krueter, but more so the scalpers selling box seats for, get this, $150 a
pop. Probably go for $1,500 today.
3. October 27, 2011; Title Tease - One
strike away. Twice. I was lined up with a gaggle of media underneath Busch
Stadium, awaiting the Texas Rangers’ World Series celebration that would never
happen. Plastic was hung from lockers. Boxes of championship hats and
T-shirts were carted past. But after David Freese tripled off Neftali Feliz in the 9th, Lance
Berkman singled off Scott Feldman in the 10th and Freese homered off Mark Lowe in the 11th to end a dramatic, gut-wrenching Game 6, it was
instead our worst case of blue balls. Ever.
2. January 31, 1993; 'Boys Are Back – From Garth
Brooks’ National Anthem to Michael Jackson’s halftime show to Troy
Aikman’s four touchdown passes to the nine turnovers, the Cowboys’ 52-17 romp
over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII will be eternally vivid.
1. June 12, 2011; Finals, Finally – As Nowitzki made a lefty layup to give the Mavs a nine-point lead in the
final minute, I found myself trying to do my job – blog and type and talk –
amidst a stream of tears. Couldn't have been more perfect. In Miami, against the Heat team
and villainous player (Dwyane Wade) that ruined the ’06 party. Favorite moment:
Original owner Don Carter handing the Larry O’Brien trophy to Finals MVP
Nowitzki. Sometimes, if you stick with it long enough, life turns out to be
fair after all.
