Sports is about memorable moments. Hockey fans still talk about Paul Henderson's goal in 1972 or or the 1982 Miracle on Ice. Mookie Wilson's dribbler that found its way through Bill Buckner's legs in the ninth inning of game 6 of the 1986 World Series is ingrained in the minds of baseball fans everywhere. Basketball fans will never forget Michael Jordan's game winning shots over Craig Ehlo in 1989 or his push off against Byron Russell in the 1998 NBA Finals. No matter what sport you watch or what team you follow, there are moments that you will remember forever.
Over the past two weeks and a bit, sports fans have been left with many memories from the 2010 Olympic games. Looking back here are five great moments I will remember forever...
BEST MOMENTS
1. The Wizard of Croz
Its obvious and cliche, but Sidney Crosby's overtime goal to defeat the USA for the gold medal on the last day of the games is the moment I will remember and the moment that everyone will talk about for many years to come. Canadians had been talking about this game literally for years (although the Russians were expected to be the opponent). Energy levels were at an all-time high. It is rare that an event with so much hype lives up to expectations, but this one did...and then some.
2. Rochette's Resolve
I don't watch figure skating. Ever. But I stayed up past midnight on a weekday to watch Joannie Rochette deliver one of the most courageous performances in Olympic history. Anyone would have excused the Canadian skater for deciding to return home after her mother died suddenly only a couple of days before her competition was to begin. Instead, she stayed, she competed, she won a bronze medal, and she carried the Canadian flag at the closing ceremony. Incredible.
3. Bilodeau Breaks the Ice
Going into the Vancouver games, all of the talk was about who would be the first Canadian to win a gold medal on home soil. A television commercial asking that very question started airing more than a year before the games even started. Would it be Jennifer Heil in the moguls? Maybe Charles Hamelin in short track speed skating? How about Canada's greatest Olympian of all, Clara Hughes? In the end it was Alexandre Bilodeau, the ever-smiling and always gracious freestyle skier who defeated all comers on the wet slopes on Cypress Mountain on the evening of Day 3. The only thing better than the gold medal was the hug Bilodeau gave his brother when the two finally met after the competition.
4. Majdical Performance
When Slovenian cross-country skier Petra Majdic slid off-course and into a ditch during a practice run, I honestly thought she might be dead. I was amazed when I heard that she intended to compete later that same day despite broken ribs and a punctured lung. When she won a bronze medal in the individual sprint after qualifier, quarterfinal, seminal and final races, I was flabbergasted. She was in so much pain that she needed help getting up on the podium to accept her medal.
5. Mighty Montgomery
I am not much of a luge fan. Sure, its exciting to watch people fly down a track made of ice on their bellies at speeds in excess of 160 km/h but, really, there is not a whole lot to it. However, everyone will remember the 2010 skeleton competition for one reason: Jon Montgomery. Of all the medalists in Vancouver, none was more genuinely elated to win than the Canadian skeleton-er. His medal ceremony, interviews and, of course, march through the streets of Whistler where he promptly downed half a pitcher of beer handed to him by a fan will never be forgotten.
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