I’d have to say Nadia Comaneci at the 1976 Montreal summer Olympics. I was an aspiring gymnast a few years before; unfortunately, in 73 I had my first (of many) dislocated left knee. I know I probably would not have ever gone very far, but I loved the sport and was in awe of her performance.
So, what were you most proud of this past year, and what’s your goal for next year?
Thanks for the Maui restaurant recommendations- I’ve been to a couple on your list, and will make a stop at one or two that I haven’t tried when we visit in the near future! Happy new year John and family!
For me the first event that came to my mind was the 1936 Olympics when Jesse Owens turned in one of the most immaculate performances the Olympics has ever seen.
I remember playing hockey with my brothers in our garage using broom sticks to hit the round metal jar lid we used as the puck. Did anyone else do this I’m wondering?
Greatest sporting event in U.S. history - unified the country for many weeks at a time (like today) when the country badly, almost desperately, needed to be unified.
100% this. All I wanted was to watch some hockey (we didn't get many televised games in Corvallis). Then our boys went and won the whole thing. Still chokes me up. For sure my favorite sports memory.
Are you from Minnesota?! I moved there in 1982 and became a rabid Twins fan. I had season tickets in 83 and 84 and got to see the eventual World Championship team come up from the AA minors in Ft Myers to become the core of that 87 and 91 WCS team. I remember this little outfielder (he was skinny then) Kirby Puckett who slapped the ball all over the field before he filled out and became a home run hitter. He was everyone's favorite, along with home town hero Kent Hrbek at 1st base and scrappy Gary Gaetti at 3rd. That team was great because it was homegrown and underappreciated. It was not "bought" like all the Steinbrenner Yankees championship teams. I could not afford WSC tix back then, but watched every Series game at the local sports bar with 500 other screaming fans. 1987 was a highlight reel with the series going 7 games and every game a barn-burner
I remember watching at least one of those championship series games with my grandmother (and the rest of my family). It was so funny to me how excited she was getting during that game. She started out with exclamations like "Gosh" and ended with "Jesus Christ!" That is when she caught herself and settled down a little. Lol. I was nine at the time so that definitely shocked me coming from a pretty religiously conservative family.
That was my choice, too. I was a student at OSU during that series, finishing finals and watching the games with buddies at the frat house. It was insane!
I was a Junior in high school. We were decorating the gym for Jr.-Sr. prom during the Western Conference finals. We had 4-5 portable battery radios set up so we wouldn’t miss it. Rip City indeed😊
Why ducks receive more press than the Beavers.... Everyone wants to be a winner and when it comes to the ducks they have a lot of dingleberries or dags (New Zealand talk for the stuff cleaning to the backside of sheep) as fans. Uncle Phil has a lot of money to throw around and the ducks do a good job of showing off the bling. I had several ducks sitting behind me at the civil war. Based on their lack of basic football knowledge and terrible grammar, I doubt they even earned GEDs. Even Therese Bottomly commented why ducks are not listed alphabetical, but rather at the top, on the pull down menu online for the O--they get more clicks. Anyway a lot of folks with not much going on in their life need to be attached to something that makes them feel like winners. Life isn't fair and I'm fine with that. Our mascot actually wears pants and our University prepares a far better group of people to participate in society than whatever degree holders UO is pushing out the door.
So you are sticking up for your son who sits in Section 26? I think the duck who sat behind me paid more for his civil war ticket than your son spent on his entire season ticket in section 26. Glad to see you have such a great sense of humor.
I deleted my comments. I was offended by your description of U of O graduates. I need to remember it’s your opinion. I don’t support it but coming from an OSU graduate I am not surprised. You need to remember that not all people you come in contact with represent what you have described. Have a great New Year!
John. Happy New Year to you and especially to your OSU Beaver daughter . Beaver Nation is proud that she selected OSU over the other Pac 12 schools ! Certainly she could have gone to any of them !
It will be very interesting to watch DJ run the OSU offense next Fall IF he actually beats out Gulbranson and the other OSU QB’s ! It will be fun to watch DJ and Nix compete next year ! Gonna be an exciting 2023 season , and a BIG BIG thanks to you for facilitating the high interest in our Beavers and DuX with your great articles each week ! Our OSU hats are off to you !!!
I watched the Tennessee - Clemson game and my take away impression is that there is only one pass play in the book, heave it down the sideline as far as you can, and hope one of the cluster of players around where it comes down happens to be your guy! Go Texas Christian University, win one for the gipper (Dan Jenkins, who was captain of the golf team in his day). And speaking of Uncle Phil, does anyone remember Big Ed Booker, who wore a purple suit and bankrolled the Horned Frogs (and people worry about a Beaver on the hats?)
Event in sports history I wish I had attended: Baltimore Colts vs. NY Giants in the 1958 Championship Game of the Century. My Dad went to the game but since I was seven he said I was too young to go. And in the days of the blackout I had to listen to the entire game on the radio. Yech!
My answer to the question posed has to do with experiences. My daughter caught bare handed a homerun off of Carl Yastrzemski during a game in Seattle. She was 12. She's 55 now. I ran into Slick Watts of the Supersonics while having a beer in downtown Seattle. I told him both daughters played basketball and he went out to his car which was parked out front, brought back into the bar two jerseys that he autographed for them. I was at the Seahawks headquarters when they were in Kirkland with a friend. He worked for the company that serviced the hot tubs and other equipment. We were in the locker room chatting it up with Rusty Tillman and a bunch of players. Dave Krieg the QB and I had a long chat about salmon fishing in lake Washington. Another time I was walking across the parking lot of the headquarters and was nearly run over by Brian Bosworth. He stopped and bent over backwards in apologizing. The truck he was driving had tires the size of a semi truck. Taking my dad to the only game he ever attended at Husky Stadium to see the Beavers play the Dawgs. Dad was personal friends with the great pumpkin Dee Andros, coach of the Beavers growing up. Those are my memories that come to mind.
‘78 Rose Bowl Washington upset over #4 Michigan. Warren Moon and Coach James. Road tripped from Seattle with my friend Jon Horn - EPIC 💪🏼🏈💪🏼
Next best;
1984 Final Four in Seattle. Udub is the host school, venue was the Kingdome, and my momma is working in the athletic department as AD Mike Lude’s executive secretary. She got me a ticket to the games and an invite to the press dinner at the President’s table.
Met Rollie Massimino, John Thompson, and Bill Russell to name only a few, as they dropped by our table to visit…totally starstruck.
Great question about what sporting event do you wish you had attended. For me, it's not even close: 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics and the U.S.A. 4-3 victory over the U.S.S.R. in hockey. Nothing electrified and unified the entire country like that hockey game...nothing has come close.
Good catch! Warren Moon is doubly appreciated as an excellent Vikings QB during their peak in the late 1990s with Anthony and Chris Carter and Randy Moss's rookie season.
LOL!! Now we are going back to the 40s and 50s. If we do that, we need to remember Oregon State's Terry Baker, who was the #1 NFL draft pick in 1963 and the Heisman Trophy winner. Van Brocklin, the Flying Dutchman, was the first Minnesota Vikings Head Coach, so connected in that way too for me.
Not going to Michigan Stadium and the Horseshoe. l lost my dear Duck wife of 58 years 2 years of high school and two years of college (she was on rally squad) and 54 married. We went to all but a few Bowl games and have been at all PAC 12 team fields and courts
At Auburn Natty I still feel we won. When we stripped and scored Newton the refs gave him forward progress but he definitely retreated in his own volition …. Lock at the tape.
Love you sharing about family which seems only second to mine….ha
Sports history? 1960 World Series, Game 7. Pirates vs Yankees. Bill Mazeroski's walk off homer. Or December 23, 1972 Steelers vs Raiders. The "Immaculate Reception". (Yes, I'm a native Pittsburgher)
I’d have to say Nadia Comaneci at the 1976 Montreal summer Olympics. I was an aspiring gymnast a few years before; unfortunately, in 73 I had my first (of many) dislocated left knee. I know I probably would not have ever gone very far, but I loved the sport and was in awe of her performance.
So, what were you most proud of this past year, and what’s your goal for next year?
Thanks for the Maui restaurant recommendations- I’ve been to a couple on your list, and will make a stop at one or two that I haven’t tried when we visit in the near future! Happy new year John and family!
Good call. Absolute transcendent performance and athlete. 10.0, 10,0, 10.0.
Haven't been there in forever but sad to see that Kimo's no longer has the teriyaki steak. One of the few to get it right.
For me the first event that came to my mind was the 1936 Olympics when Jesse Owens turned in one of the most immaculate performances the Olympics has ever seen.
That would have been amazing I agree.
The Miracle On Ice. I was in 6th grade. Still gives me goosebumps.
I remember skating around my parent's linoleum floor in my socks, holding a broom, thinking I was a hockey player.
I remember playing hockey with my brothers in our garage using broom sticks to hit the round metal jar lid we used as the puck. Did anyone else do this I’m wondering?
Greatest sporting event in U.S. history - unified the country for many weeks at a time (like today) when the country badly, almost desperately, needed to be unified.
100% this. All I wanted was to watch some hockey (we didn't get many televised games in Corvallis). Then our boys went and won the whole thing. Still chokes me up. For sure my favorite sports memory.
Game 6 of the '87 World Series is a close second.
Are you from Minnesota?! I moved there in 1982 and became a rabid Twins fan. I had season tickets in 83 and 84 and got to see the eventual World Championship team come up from the AA minors in Ft Myers to become the core of that 87 and 91 WCS team. I remember this little outfielder (he was skinny then) Kirby Puckett who slapped the ball all over the field before he filled out and became a home run hitter. He was everyone's favorite, along with home town hero Kent Hrbek at 1st base and scrappy Gary Gaetti at 3rd. That team was great because it was homegrown and underappreciated. It was not "bought" like all the Steinbrenner Yankees championship teams. I could not afford WSC tix back then, but watched every Series game at the local sports bar with 500 other screaming fans. 1987 was a highlight reel with the series going 7 games and every game a barn-burner
For those who want a little insight to that game / series in 1987, here is an interview with Kent Hrbek by the late, great Sid Hartman: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/twins-win-1987-world-series-remembering-that-day-35-years-later-with-kent-hrbek/ar-AA13nd7J
No, not from Minnesota, I just remember that series as being ridiculously good.
That's what immediately came to mind for me.
Then to find out it had already happened , it was one of the best
Pepsi, John, really? And I thought I liked you. I may have to cancel my subscription!
Have great New Year and thanks for the stories.
My thoughts exactly! lol
I agree. And you didn't even share your spaghetti sauce recipe~!
I will give you the sauce recipe in 2023.
Would have loved to experience the Blazers 1977 championship. The other would be the Miracle on Ice.
Happy New Year to you and your family, John!
I remember watching at least one of those championship series games with my grandmother (and the rest of my family). It was so funny to me how excited she was getting during that game. She started out with exclamations like "Gosh" and ended with "Jesus Christ!" That is when she caught herself and settled down a little. Lol. I was nine at the time so that definitely shocked me coming from a pretty religiously conservative family.
That was my choice, too. I was a student at OSU during that series, finishing finals and watching the games with buddies at the frat house. It was insane!
I was a Junior in high school. We were decorating the gym for Jr.-Sr. prom during the Western Conference finals. We had 4-5 portable battery radios set up so we wouldn’t miss it. Rip City indeed😊
Why ducks receive more press than the Beavers.... Everyone wants to be a winner and when it comes to the ducks they have a lot of dingleberries or dags (New Zealand talk for the stuff cleaning to the backside of sheep) as fans. Uncle Phil has a lot of money to throw around and the ducks do a good job of showing off the bling. I had several ducks sitting behind me at the civil war. Based on their lack of basic football knowledge and terrible grammar, I doubt they even earned GEDs. Even Therese Bottomly commented why ducks are not listed alphabetical, but rather at the top, on the pull down menu online for the O--they get more clicks. Anyway a lot of folks with not much going on in their life need to be attached to something that makes them feel like winners. Life isn't fair and I'm fine with that. Our mascot actually wears pants and our University prepares a far better group of people to participate in society than whatever degree holders UO is pushing out the door.
Typical Beaver response . . . Get over it. U had a good year, be happy. Your fans can be just as nauseating.
And I quote "Life isn't fair and I'm fine with that." Nothing to get over but thanks for responding with a typical condescending comment.
So you are sticking up for your son who sits in Section 26? I think the duck who sat behind me paid more for his civil war ticket than your son spent on his entire season ticket in section 26. Glad to see you have such a great sense of humor.
I deleted my comments. I was offended by your description of U of O graduates. I need to remember it’s your opinion. I don’t support it but coming from an OSU graduate I am not surprised. You need to remember that not all people you come in contact with represent what you have described. Have a great New Year!
YAWN. Next case. Oregon is an AAU member institution. OSU?
One of only two land, sea, space and sun-grant universities in the United States, with a scientific research budget that dwarfs Oregon's.
Wilts 100 pt game: March 2nd, 1962
Good one. Won't be broken.
Speaking of Secretariat, and having watched all his races on TV,
I watched the Belmont with my ex wives grandfather, who had been a horse man in his youth.
He told me, Tommy, I watched Man O War, and this horse is better!
I think it was one of the greatest sporting events I have ever seen
John. Happy New Year to you and especially to your OSU Beaver daughter . Beaver Nation is proud that she selected OSU over the other Pac 12 schools ! Certainly she could have gone to any of them !
It will be very interesting to watch DJ run the OSU offense next Fall IF he actually beats out Gulbranson and the other OSU QB’s ! It will be fun to watch DJ and Nix compete next year ! Gonna be an exciting 2023 season , and a BIG BIG thanks to you for facilitating the high interest in our Beavers and DuX with your great articles each week ! Our OSU hats are off to you !!!
Rand W.
OSU ‘67 GiantKiller Alumn
I watched the Tennessee - Clemson game and my take away impression is that there is only one pass play in the book, heave it down the sideline as far as you can, and hope one of the cluster of players around where it comes down happens to be your guy! Go Texas Christian University, win one for the gipper (Dan Jenkins, who was captain of the golf team in his day). And speaking of Uncle Phil, does anyone remember Big Ed Booker, who wore a purple suit and bankrolled the Horned Frogs (and people worry about a Beaver on the hats?)
Event in sports history I wish I had attended: Baltimore Colts vs. NY Giants in the 1958 Championship Game of the Century. My Dad went to the game but since I was seven he said I was too young to go. And in the days of the blackout I had to listen to the entire game on the radio. Yech!
that's a throwback. good one.
That was the game that jumped the NFL over CFB in term of fan interest and broadcast $.
Still a Giant fan
Before this season I renamed them the Midgets. I might take that back now.
Ha, Ha, , Just to get into the playoffs, (if we do) It's finally on the way back
That’s one of the first events that came to my mind
My answer to the question posed has to do with experiences. My daughter caught bare handed a homerun off of Carl Yastrzemski during a game in Seattle. She was 12. She's 55 now. I ran into Slick Watts of the Supersonics while having a beer in downtown Seattle. I told him both daughters played basketball and he went out to his car which was parked out front, brought back into the bar two jerseys that he autographed for them. I was at the Seahawks headquarters when they were in Kirkland with a friend. He worked for the company that serviced the hot tubs and other equipment. We were in the locker room chatting it up with Rusty Tillman and a bunch of players. Dave Krieg the QB and I had a long chat about salmon fishing in lake Washington. Another time I was walking across the parking lot of the headquarters and was nearly run over by Brian Bosworth. He stopped and bent over backwards in apologizing. The truck he was driving had tires the size of a semi truck. Taking my dad to the only game he ever attended at Husky Stadium to see the Beavers play the Dawgs. Dad was personal friends with the great pumpkin Dee Andros, coach of the Beavers growing up. Those are my memories that come to mind.
Most memorable in-person event;
‘78 Rose Bowl Washington upset over #4 Michigan. Warren Moon and Coach James. Road tripped from Seattle with my friend Jon Horn - EPIC 💪🏼🏈💪🏼
Next best;
1984 Final Four in Seattle. Udub is the host school, venue was the Kingdome, and my momma is working in the athletic department as AD Mike Lude’s executive secretary. She got me a ticket to the games and an invite to the press dinner at the President’s table.
Met Rollie Massimino, John Thompson, and Bill Russell to name only a few, as they dropped by our table to visit…totally starstruck.
Thanks mom
GO DAWGS
Great question about what sporting event do you wish you had attended. For me, it's not even close: 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics and the U.S.A. 4-3 victory over the U.S.S.R. in hockey. Nothing electrified and unified the entire country like that hockey game...nothing has come close.
Your top QB list includes Akili Smith, but excludes NFL Hall of Famer Warren Moon?
It does now.
Good catch! Warren Moon is doubly appreciated as an excellent Vikings QB during their peak in the late 1990s with Anthony and Chris Carter and Randy Moss's rookie season.
Warren Moon played at UW and not Oregon, right?
The Oregon QB missed was Norm Van Brocklin.
Don't forget George Shaw, my childhood idol.
LOL!! Now we are going back to the 40s and 50s. If we do that, we need to remember Oregon State's Terry Baker, who was the #1 NFL draft pick in 1963 and the Heisman Trophy winner. Van Brocklin, the Flying Dutchman, was the first Minnesota Vikings Head Coach, so connected in that way too for me.
Thanks. I am an old dude with bad reading comprehension; I thought that John was referring only to Ducks QBs?
Not going to Michigan Stadium and the Horseshoe. l lost my dear Duck wife of 58 years 2 years of high school and two years of college (she was on rally squad) and 54 married. We went to all but a few Bowl games and have been at all PAC 12 team fields and courts
At Auburn Natty I still feel we won. When we stripped and scored Newton the refs gave him forward progress but he definitely retreated in his own volition …. Lock at the tape.
Love you sharing about family which seems only second to mine….ha
I was blessed to be in the Big House with my daughter, a junior at CU at that time and mow a pediatrician, for the Kordell Stewart Hail Mary pass.
Also watched Neon Deion play against Elvis in the BH when Elvis Grbac QB'd Michigan. Michigan lost that game too.
Sports history? 1960 World Series, Game 7. Pirates vs Yankees. Bill Mazeroski's walk off homer. Or December 23, 1972 Steelers vs Raiders. The "Immaculate Reception". (Yes, I'm a native Pittsburgher)
yes on Maz, NO ON THE ILLEGAL RECEPTITION jOHN MADDEN SAID SO
At least those were televised in my neighborhood.