What games have you attended that were most memorable for you?
For most of my life, I’ve tuned into all games by way of radio and television. Until I was 15, I’d listened to Super Bowl’s on the local radio station in Gillette, Wyoming. I celebrated the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers huddled inside the Super Tunnel Car Wash maintenance room hoping cars would stop showing up that Sunday night. It wasn’t until college I experienced the excitement of a sports game in person, when I visited family here on the East coast and attended my first professional sports game. I was in the stadium when the Detroit Lions defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012, 26-23. To experience in person the excitement of a play and a stadium of fans roaring as Michael Vick found Jeremy Maclin wide open for a 70-yard touchdown was a real treat.
Not long after I watched the Colorado Avalanche defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-2, and breaking the Blackhawks’ greatest start in NHL history. The Avalanche went on to be the worst team in hockey that year and the Hawks won the Stanley Cup.
Today’s Question of the Day
What is the best game you’ve been to?
Kyle Barber: Flyers vs. Penguins 2015 was the best sports atmosphere I’ve experienced. I never realized how dedicated fanbases could be until I sat at the Wells Fargo arena and listened to 18,000 fans boo any time Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin touched the puck. It was comical, petty and awesome.
What made it better was goaltender Steve Mason of the Flyers standing on his head for 46 saves, stonewalling the Pens. The moment that always sticks with me is the Flyers going on a power play with 44 seconds remaining. I was talking about how I was happy just to seal the game as they were up 3-1 and ready to get out of there. Then, the Flyers strike one final time, as penguins goaltender Thomas Greiss lets a stray cat slip through with 10 seconds left and the entire stadium roaring to life with one final celebratory cry.
So, Beatdown readers, what is the best game you’ve been to?