Five for Friday, Vol. 4: Memorable Sports Moments
The 1-3 football Hogs are off this weekend, so let's reflect on some fond sports memories. This edition of the list (and one of these days I'll get back to doing it on Friday) is devoted to the top 5 favorite sports events I personally witnessed. In each case, I was there...in the stands...cheering my team on to victory.
1. Arkansas 106, LSU 92 (March 4, 1992 at Fayetteville): Perched in the student section at historic Barnhill Arena, I saw the Hogs rally for victory over Shaquille O'Neal and the LSU Tigers in Arkansas' first season in the SEC. LSU jumped out to a 51-36 lead. But then the triple threat of Todd Day, Lee Mayberry and Oliver Miller took over. Mayberry pumped in the 3s while The Big "O" kept O'Neal in check - blocking Shaq's last-second shot to force OT. Mayberry his a then school record 9 three-pointers, and the Hogs ran away in OT. I screamed so hard I was hoarse the next day.
2. Arkansas 45, Houston 39 (Oct. 28, 1989 at Little Rock): Freshman year at UA, and had just seen the Hogs lose to Texas the previous week. I almost told my parents I didn't want to go to War Memorial to see the ground-oriented Hogs face the Run-and-Shoot Houston Cougars, with Heisman Trophy-winning QB Andre Ware. I feared a butt whuppin'. I went to the game and sure enough, the Cougars took the opening drive straight down the field and scored. Here it comes. But then the Hogs, led by QB Quinn Grovey and WR Derek Russell, answered. And answered again. And took the lead. And never looked back. I'm glad I went to the game.
3. Arkansas 27, Kentucky 20 (Oct. 8, 1998): Houston Nutt's first year and the Hogs were 3-0 coming off a convincing 42-6 win over Bama the week before. Now they faced stud QB Tim Couch and the pass-wacky Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky took the lead but the Hogs put on a second half comeback and withstood a last-minute drive by Kentucky that was for naught. Boy, War Memorial was loud.
4. Dallas 5, Anaheim 4 (Dec. 31, 1999): And on the last night of 1999, I was in the stands at Reunion Arena on the last row in upper decks with my six-month-pregnant wife and some friends to see the Golden Brett, Dallas Stars winger Brett Hull become the 12th NHL player to reach the 600-goal mark. He scored two goals as the stars beat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 5-4. The next day I stayed at my buddy's in Dallas (while he was at the game) and watched the football Razorbacks whip the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl (woo-pig!).
5. Malvern 20, Lake Hamilton 9 (November 1992): In the Class AAA State Championship, played in a torrential downpour at War Memorial Stadium, All-State RB Madre Hill scored two TDs on long runs in the second half to break open a tight game. The weather held Lake Hamilton's passing game in check and my high school alma mater won its first (and so far only) state championship, avenging one of its two regular season losses. They had avenged the other the week before in the semi-finals as Hill led a second half comeback to beat Magnolia in a game played in frigid temperatures. Hill went on to be a star RB with the Arkansas Razorbacks, setting a freshman rushing record, but then tore his ACL in the 1995 SEC Championship game. He bounced to finish a strong college career but never quite made it in the pros. Today he coaches RBs at the University of South Carolina.
1. Arkansas 106, LSU 92 (March 4, 1992 at Fayetteville): Perched in the student section at historic Barnhill Arena, I saw the Hogs rally for victory over Shaquille O'Neal and the LSU Tigers in Arkansas' first season in the SEC. LSU jumped out to a 51-36 lead. But then the triple threat of Todd Day, Lee Mayberry and Oliver Miller took over. Mayberry pumped in the 3s while The Big "O" kept O'Neal in check - blocking Shaq's last-second shot to force OT. Mayberry his a then school record 9 three-pointers, and the Hogs ran away in OT. I screamed so hard I was hoarse the next day.
2. Arkansas 45, Houston 39 (Oct. 28, 1989 at Little Rock): Freshman year at UA, and had just seen the Hogs lose to Texas the previous week. I almost told my parents I didn't want to go to War Memorial to see the ground-oriented Hogs face the Run-and-Shoot Houston Cougars, with Heisman Trophy-winning QB Andre Ware. I feared a butt whuppin'. I went to the game and sure enough, the Cougars took the opening drive straight down the field and scored. Here it comes. But then the Hogs, led by QB Quinn Grovey and WR Derek Russell, answered. And answered again. And took the lead. And never looked back. I'm glad I went to the game.
3. Arkansas 27, Kentucky 20 (Oct. 8, 1998): Houston Nutt's first year and the Hogs were 3-0 coming off a convincing 42-6 win over Bama the week before. Now they faced stud QB Tim Couch and the pass-wacky Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky took the lead but the Hogs put on a second half comeback and withstood a last-minute drive by Kentucky that was for naught. Boy, War Memorial was loud.
4. Dallas 5, Anaheim 4 (Dec. 31, 1999): And on the last night of 1999, I was in the stands at Reunion Arena on the last row in upper decks with my six-month-pregnant wife and some friends to see the Golden Brett, Dallas Stars winger Brett Hull become the 12th NHL player to reach the 600-goal mark. He scored two goals as the stars beat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 5-4. The next day I stayed at my buddy's in Dallas (while he was at the game) and watched the football Razorbacks whip the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl (woo-pig!).
5. Malvern 20, Lake Hamilton 9 (November 1992): In the Class AAA State Championship, played in a torrential downpour at War Memorial Stadium, All-State RB Madre Hill scored two TDs on long runs in the second half to break open a tight game. The weather held Lake Hamilton's passing game in check and my high school alma mater won its first (and so far only) state championship, avenging one of its two regular season losses. They had avenged the other the week before in the semi-finals as Hill led a second half comeback to beat Magnolia in a game played in frigid temperatures. Hill went on to be a star RB with the Arkansas Razorbacks, setting a freshman rushing record, but then tore his ACL in the 1995 SEC Championship game. He bounced to finish a strong college career but never quite made it in the pros. Today he coaches RBs at the University of South Carolina.
posted by JP at 3:49 PM
2 Comments:
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Did you mean only football? Because even though I was only 5 or 6 years old at the time, for me the most memorable Hogs sporting moment is still the U.S. Reed half-court shot that beat Louisville by one in the NCAA tournament. I think it was 1976. The look of deflation on the Cardinals' bench and the players on the court was just priceless.
That even beats the National Championship victory for sheer nail-biting memorability for me.
(And in those days, the half-court shot still only counted for 2.)
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