Great topic with a lot of great answers. Mine would have to be baseball related - maybe Jackie Robinson's first major league game. I would imagine that there was a lot of tension in the air that day. Lou Gehrig's farewell would also be be very compelling. I guess those would be two events in which the sporting event is really secondary to a greater human drama.
Being in the stands at the 1980 Olympic Hockey team's victory over the USSR would be the peak of jingoistic, er patriotic ecstasy I could imagine. (and I don't understand hockey at all)
Going with the morbidness... I'd like to see a gladiatorial fight in Rome. They had their Moochies too I'll bet...
I would have loved to have seen the 1926 World Series in person between the Yankees with Ruth against the Cardinals with Rogers Hornsby. Other events: 1) The night that Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points 2) Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston I 3) The Ice Bowl between the Packers and Cowboys - but no way in hell would I want to be there in person; I would want to watch it on TV 4) Any baseball game that had Roberto Clemente in it, mainly the 1971 World Series against the Orioles at the top of the list
I would go to one of the 1986 NBA Finals games in Houston game 3,4, or 5 doesn't matter, even though I already know the outcome of each game.
would i get to forget the outcome once i choose the event so that it seems new and i get to actually experience the emotion of the event? if so, i think i'd choose the Miracle on Ice. an amazing upset against your biggest rival in the olympics with a home crowd. it would be amazing. if i knew the outcome, probably game 7 agains the knicks. getting to go crazy with all the fans in the summit as we win our first title. honorary mention: secretariat at the belmont. i've always liked secretariat and this race in particular. they say people were crying as he came down the backstretch. had to have been an amazing atmosphere.
I would go back to 1983 NCAA finals and tell GVL to tell Akeem to box out or put a body on that dude.
I was already at that one event - The Fiesta bowl when OSU beat Miami. I'd still love to goto a Superbowl sometime, sp perhaps Dallas vs. Pittsburg III would have been fun.
1 - Wilt scores 100 2 - Game 7 of the 1969 Finals (Bill Russell's last game) 3 - The Thrilla in Manilla 4 - Any Super Bowl featuring Joe Montana I only picked these because I was at game 7 of the '94 Finals.
the media attention was amazing. the country shut down. the president stopped a cabinet meeting to tune in. 40K fans packed Pimlico...had there been arbitron ratings back then, it likely would have topped any radio "show" ever. and the race didn't disappoint. he had a huge lead...and then slowed down intentionally to "break" War Admiral. and he did, big time. wow...seriously, i think that's my #1. if i could go back and see any sporting event, that would be it.
