Some of the great feedback from those who were at Ascot Saturdy got me thinking. Many people described it as an "I was there" moment, so I was wondering: What is the most memorable Sporting moment you have witnessed live (i.e. you were actually at the event, not just watching on TV)? Hopefully alot of these will be horse racing related given our forum population, but feel free to list any events which weren't horse racing related. I'll start: As I've led a sheltered life and have followed Sheffield Wednesday football club there is nothing to be had there so I would have to say it would be Hurricane Fly winning the Champion Hurdle. A horse that had frustratingly failed to make Cheltenham previously due to injury, who looked imperious on home soil but could not yet be declared the champion, at last lining up at Cheltenham. For every true champ their is a vanquished hero and Peddlers Cross filled that role admirably in that tremendous battle up the hill. But ultimately the winners performance needs no more summing up than the Sporting Life form summary: "held up in mid-division, headway from 3 out to track leaders going well 2 out, challenged approaching last and led at hurdle, driven and edged right under pressure flat, in command last 50 yards" So much faith and hope had been invested by the Irish in this horse (not to mention a good few Euros) and he delivered the goods on the day with a stunning victory. Let's be having you greatest sporting memonts (remember you must have actually been at the event, not just seen it on telly).
FA Cup Semi Final 1997 - please log in to view this image Sat behind the goal that the infamous goal that the Etonian twerp missed On a racing note, I was at the scene of the three cheers after this epic finish please log in to view this image Remember it very fondly indeed!!!
Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal (I also went to the 5-1 against Sunderland but there's something about the 4-4, the atmosphere, the intense euphoria, the 3 day buzz ect).
Now that was great - I was sat here in Berlin watching the match with 3 Bayern Munich fans ..................... talk about laugh
Not sure I have one outright winner: Ribot winning the KG &QEII at Ascot Grundy beating Bustino in the KG &QEII at Ascot Wycombe 4 Preston 2 in the League 2 Play-off final at Wembley
Ashes tour of Aus 94/95 (birth of the barmy army) Lords and Oval tests 09 Ashes First NFL game in US But my two favourites are probably horse racing, Best Mates third Gold Cup bettered only by Istabraqs third Champion hurdle
Jeez Oddy, what a good one to pose... But, it was more of a year than one moment as i had an exceptional year following Liverpool one year. The 2000-01 season i went to 49 of the 63 games that they played that year. The 4-3 defeat at Leeds, Viduka scored all 4 goals...!!! The Gary Mac 35 yard free kick that won the Derby game in the last minute...!!! Danny Murphy's free kick at the mancs for a 1-0 win...!!! In fact ive been to old trafford 3 times and not seen Liverpool lose yet... 1-0, 1-0 and a 0-0... Im not going again now to keep my record intact... hahahaha... The loss to AS Roma in the UEFA Cup at Anfield but we went through 2-1 on agg but one of the best atmospheres ive been to... The Gary Mac penalty to beat Barcelona in the 2nd leg of the UEFA Cup semi for a 1-0 agg win... I went to all Liverpools 3 finals in 2001, Cardiff twice, FA Cup v Arsenal, League cup v Birmingham. Then Borussia Dortmunds ground for the UEFA Final versus Alaves. The Gary Mac's 'golden goal'... well actually it was technically an own goal... For the never to be forgotten, well for me anyway, 5-4 UEFA Cup final win... That was some trip...!!! Sorry to turn it into a football fest but i dont think i will ever have a better year watching Liverpool or football...
I will certainly always remember watching Frankel at Ascot, though I think I'd rate his explosive Guineas win as a more heart-pounding experience. When he hit the front and started to pull away there was a collective murmur in the crowd "What's he doing? Has it all gone wrong?" Then we realised something special was unfolding... The one race that sticks in my mind though, and sadly I watched it on tv rather than live, was the 2001 Irish Champion Stakes. Round 2 of Fantastic Light v Galileo. I was working for Darley at the time and my housemate and I roared Fantastic Light home and as he passed the post in front my housemate let rip with a cry of "Up yours Ballydoyle!" Good times! Only 2 races have reduced me to tears: Dubai Millennium's annihilation of the Dubai World Cup field and Sea the Stars' Arc.
I'm going to cheat here and take 4 swings, and dodge the being there thing. The day America lost the America's Cup for the first time, and the three Ali - Frazier fights. But of those few that I've actually seen, watching a dog Called Top Simbi, an animal most will not have heard of, smashing all comers to his home track at the Gabba in Brisbane. He was a freak around the place. He showed up on only the second night of racing at the new complex in 1972. From 24 starts, he won 20 and was second three times. He was a dog that couldn't get close to the paint. He'd explode from the boxes, and never get inside the inner width of the track on any corner. A lot of the time he'd go to the start as a 1-10 favourite. Just to show you how useless I am at the punt. On night two of the Gabba racing, two maiden semis were staged. Top Simbi had gone in as a very warn favourite in his semi, and in the other, a dog called King Elk did the same. They had easily been to two fastest qualifiers for the semis. Both won easily, in about the same time. The next week in the final, I was on King Elk. Top Simbi killed him. The latter went on to be an all time great, the former sank into oblivion. I've been luck enough to see a few good horses in the flesh, but this greyhound has a warm place in my heart.
And also on the doggie theme, my whippet Hattie, always the bridesmaid and never the bride. She had an infuriating tendancy - no, insistance more like - to dive to the left rail. In greyhound racing runners with this trait are seeded, but in whippets they just have to take their chance. She threw away 4 consecutive chances of becoming a Racing Champion because of not getting the inside draw, but then on one unforgetable day in 1998 at the ripe old age of 6 and running as a veteran, she flew from trap 2 and no one could catch her. I'll admit to tears. Damn, did I just say that? I probably had something in my eye RIP Hattie, remembered always
I think i was one who described Frankel was an i was there moment and that would be my one for horse racing. Saw KS win his second tingle Creek and special as that was it would be a distant second. In other sport it would be England beating the All blacks at Twickers in 1993 and, really showing my age here, Ed Moses running at Crystal Palace in 1979.
Frankel in the Guineas is a performance and an occasion that will live long in the memory. Like Princess i would rank that just above his QEII romp. The Guineas was so highly anticipated where as the QEII was expected. It was the stunned awe and eventual realisation of the Newmarket crowd that something very special was unfolding before us. I would also pay an honourable mention to Big Buck's third World Hurdle. That was terrific too, and the 2011 Gold Cup, seeing Denman and Kauto Star going head to head down the hill was a sight to behold.
Without a doubt, Blackpool's 3-2 victory against Cardiff City in the 2010 Championship playoff final at Wembley.
2001 Champions League win by FCB in Milan. Although I could not get a ticket for the match I took my mother to Munich for the final and watched the game in a small Italian restaurant. The win was more than poignant because of the late loss two years earlier. Scotland 2 Sweden 1 in Genoa during 'Italia 90' Racing: The Fellow finally winning the Gold Cup. The atmosphere at Longchamp with the Deep Impact fans in 2006.
1967 Football League Cup Final, Wembley: WBA2 QPR3. Rangers were 3rd Div. side and were 2-0 down at half-time. Lucky for me was at the end where all five goals were scored. Was exactly in-line to see Rodney Marsh's billiards shot equalizer (in-off the post; to this day I think he meant it!). Have to be honest and say that Mark Lazarus's winning goal would almost certainly not have been allowed nowadays, i.e. definitely a foul by QPR's Hunt on the WBA goalkeeper. Other than that, a fantastic game, and thankfully, I was there having travelled down from Gt.Yarmouth where I was working at the time. Happy days!
I'd agree with PN that Frankel's Guineas win will probably go down as his most famous race to date, the 2000 guineas will never be won in that manner again. I've seen him a few times, I watched him in the Royal Lodge, at Royal Ascot, and the Sussex stakes. I was going to go on Saturday, but I didnt want to miss the racing from Cheltenham, so I decided to stay at home and watch both meetings on the tele. The greatest "I was there" moment in horse racing history, is without doubt Shergar in the Derby, and that is further endorsed, by the fact it was the only horse racing moment to be listed in the greatest sporting moments of the 20th Century, and ofcourse I was there. I don't realy attend many other sporting events, though I was at the 1999 Open Championship, when Jean Van De Velde, lead by 3 shots, and then triple bogeyed the last. He then lost out in the play off to Paul Lawrie. It is recognised as the most dramatic finish to a major championship ever
