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Another devastating Packers loss this past weekend. That goes toward the top of the other list. Ah well. Time to think of happier times.
Top 10 Most Exciting Wins as a Sports Fan
10. 1996 NLCS Game 4, Cardinals beat Braves 4-3 and take a 3-1 Series Lead
The Cardinals trailed 3-0 going into the bottom of the 7th. They scored 3 in that inning with the help of a Dmitri Young triple and then Brian Jordan hit a solo home run in the 8th to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead. Pandemonium broke out in Busch Stadium and in the basement of my house as the Cardinals rallied. Dennis Eckersley saved the game and the Cardinals were 1 win away from the World Series. Let's not go into what happened after that.
9. Brett Favre's Monday Night Miracle game against Raiders after the death of his father (December 2003)
The Packers needed a win over the Raiders in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. Favre's father died the same weekend and it was unclear whether or not he would even play. He decided to play and led the Packers to 41-7 win and had one of the gutsiest performances by a quarterback. I remember getting a ride home from college for winter break and listening to the radio as the Packers dominated the first half. It was a special night. (Here's a great video tribute to the game featuring Brian Burwell of the St. Louis Post Dispatch).
8. Packers Beat Vikings in Overtime on Monday Night Football (Antonio Freeman Miracle Catch) November 2000
Another Monday night miracle with playoff implications and against division rival Minnesota. I have no idea how Antonio Freeman made the catch after it bounced off the defender and his back or how the ref didn't blow the call, but I remember watching this game on the small black and white television in my kitchen. I was staying up late on a school night and watching the game with my dad and uncle (both Wisconsin natives). Neither of them were going to tell on me for staying up and we shared a great moment of celebration when the Packers won.
7. Blues Win Series and Game 6 Over Toronto 2-1, 1996 First Round of Playoffs
One of the first playoff series wins that I really remember. I watched this at a friend's house who was having a party for the game. I just remember it being a really good night and an exciting win.
6. Blues Win Game 7 Over Phoenix 1-0 in overtime, 1999 First Round of playoffsThis game was on late into the night and I fell asleep for parts of it (it was another school night). However, Pierre Turgeon scored the game winner in OT and the Blues won the 7 game series after trailing 3-1.
5. Cardinals win 2004 NLCS over Astros (games 6 and 7)
Game 6: Jim Edmonds walk-off home run    Game 7: JIm Edmonds amazing catch, Scott Rolen gets the best of Clemens Neither player is a Cardinal 3 1/2 years later. Thanks for the memories. First trip to the World Series in my life. Let's not go into what happened next.
4. Cardinals Win 2006 NLCS over Mets Game 7
Probably should be number 1 in terms of excitement. This game had everything. Even the ridiculous Endy Chavez catch made the game that much sweeter when Yadi went deep and then Wainwright froze Beltran to end the game. Ridiculous. I have video of this game that I watch every other day. (I can't link straight to the videos, but here is a page with all the highlights from that magical October). 3. Rams Win Superbowl in 2000 over Titans / NFC Championship Game against Buccaneers
The final minutes of both of these games were pretty spectacular and immortalized Ricky Proehl, Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce, and Mike Jones. Amazing stuff. 
2. Packers Win Superbowl in 1997 over Patriots
First time one of my teams won a championship in my lifetime. I will never forget the name Desmond Howard.
1. 2006 Cardinals Win World Series over Tigers (Game 5)
Simply amazing. I waited 21 years for that moment. What a game! I don't think I heard any of it though because I was in a bar filled with screaming Cardinals fans. Perfect.
Honorable Mention:
Packers beat Seahawks in Overtime in 2003 after Hasselbeck coin toss
Women's World Cup 1999 Final (Chastain P.K.)
Men's World Cup 2002: U.S. vs. Portugal, U.S. vs. Korea, U.S. vs. Mexico
I'm sure there's games I'm forgetting.
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Back from my two month hiatus. Writing for another blog took up my time and then I just plain got neglectful of this one. Sorry to the people who took the time to chastise me for the lack of productivity. So the big Mizzou win last night over Kansas made me nostalgic. As Kansas started to make a game of it, I was reminded of some of the heartbreaking losses I have endured as a sports fan. Here is my top ten list for most heartbreaking losses, complete with video links that are almost unbearable to watch. (Thank God Mizzou held on last night. My next list will be best moments as a sports fan). 10. 2004: Cardinals lose World Series to Boston Red Sox: The only reason that this is not higher on the list is because the Cardinals didn't exactly lose this series in heartbreaking fashion. They got so thoroughly pounded, that as a fan, I never really got my hopes up. Sure it was the first time in my sports' conscience lifetime that the Cardinals had made it to the World Series and I had high hopes, but I don't think the Cardinals were ever leading in the series. It still stung though and I will never see that crappy Jimmy Fallon movie about that season. 9. 2001: Cardinals lose to Arizona Diamondbacks in first round. It was a five game series that went down to the wire. In the final game, Matt Morris went pitch for pitch with Curt "Everyone cares what I have to say" Schilling. In a pitching battle, the Cardinals found themselves down 1-0 in the 8th when J.D. Drew popped a solo home run to tie it. The momentum had swung the Cardinals way. In the bottom of the 9th however, Tony LaRussa inexplicably pulled Morris out of the game and put in Dave Veres. Throughout the season, Veres had found ways to frustrate me. He only had one pitch, a splitter in the dirt. If the batter didn't swing at it, he would walk. Most hitters figured this out and so Veres was constantly behind in the count and forced to throw his weaker pitches over the plate. I almost turned off the TV when Veres came in. He proceeded to serve up a walk-off series-ending single to Tony Womack. Well done. 8. 2000: Blues lose to 8th seed San Jose in first round of the playoffs in seven games after winning President's Trophy in regular season. This was the year that the Blues were supposed to win the cup. They had the best record in the regular season. Surely they would steamroll the lowly Sharks and finally beat the Red Wings and Avalanche in the later rounds. Nope. Once Marc Begevin THREW THE PUCK INTO HIS OWN GOAL in game 2, it was clear that it wasn't the Blues' year. 7. 2002: Rams lose Superbowl to Patriots on last second field goal by Adam Vinatieri. This was a painful one. Even though the Rams are my second-favorite NFL team, losing at the last second in a Superbowl is particularly heartbreaking for a fan. Watch it if you can bear it.God I hate the Patriots. 6. 2003-2004 Packers lose to Philadelphia Eagles in second round after improbable run to playoffs. Occasionally I will be watching a game and after some series of unfortunate events for an offense, it will be 4th down and 26 to go. Just hearing those numbers hurts me today. The Packers had the Eagles in a 4th and 26 with the game on the line, and they let them convert. It was a crushing end to an incredible season. 5. 1997 Packers Lose to Broncos in Superbowl. The Packers were pretty heavily favored in this game, but they couldn't stop Elway or Terrell Davis. The Broncos made a drive to take the lead with under two minutes remaining. Allegedly the Packers let the Broncos score from the 1 so that they could get the ball back. Needless to say, the strategy did not work. This was the first time in my life that one of my teams made it to the championship and lost. It was devastating. 4. 1996 Cardinals lose NLCS to Braves after leading series 3-1. This was supposed to be the Cardinals' year. Ozzie Smith was retiring and had to go out with a bang. After the Cardinals won Game 4 in dramatic fashion, they seemed to be on the brink of greatness. However, they got pounded in the next three games and lost the series. This was hard to swallow. 3. 1995 Tyus Edney. Mizzou Basketball was 4.8 seconds away from one of the biggest upsets of all time and a trip to the sweet 16. All they had to do was prevent UCLA from going the length of the court and scoring in 4.8 seconds. They were unable to do that.2. 1996 Blues Lose Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals to the Red Wings in Double OT. I really thought the Blues were going to finally beat the Red Wings. They took the series to 7 games and were playing their hearts out in overtime. Then Wayne Gretzky lost the puck to Steve Yzerman who fired a laser from the parking lot to beat backup Blues goalie John Casey over the shoulder and end the game. Crushing.1. 1997 The Kick. Mizzou Football had suffered enough losses at the hands of Nebraska. Year after year, they were crushed by the Cornhuskers but this year appeared to be different. Mizzou managed to play with Nebraska and had a late lead. Nebraska took one last shot for the endzone and the ball was swatted by a defender and bouced around. The fans were already pouring onto the field and celebrating. But wait. Somehow the Nebraska receiver had unintentionally kicked the ball to keep it from hitting the ground and a teammate caught it in the endzone. Nebraska tied the game and went on to win in overtime. The video is grainy, but if you are familiar with the play it will seem like you are reliving it as you watch it. That was the definition of heartbreaking. Honorable Mention:
1985 Cardinals Lose World Series after blown call: I was two months old when this happened so I can't say it affected me too much. 1998 Packers lose playoff game to 49ers when Young hits TO for game winner. The 49ers drive should have been over after a fumble that was called improperly. Not that I'm still bitter. Looking forward to my next list and happier memories.
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Watched Back to the Future tonight. It inspired this list. Top Ten Movies I Liked Before I Turned 10
10. Peter Pan starring Mary Martin - I know this one may seem a bit bizarre, but hear me out. When I was about five I absolutely loved this movie. It was a made for T.V. movie from the 60's that my family had on tape for some reason. Apparently it wasn't unusual for me to watch it 4 or 5 times a week. Some of my siblings still make fun of me today for how I would always go up to my mom and say, "I wanna watch Meerwy Mahtin!" Screw them. It's brilliant. I'm going to find that tape.
9. Big - A classic. I remember watching the giant piano scene and being completely amazed. This movie is probably the reason I took piano lessons for a summer.
8. The Wizard of Oz - Amazing movie that is completely timeless for kids. Anyone who doesn't like this movie deserves a football to the groin.
7. Star Wars Trilogy - I probably saw this for the first time when I was about six. I thought it was awesome. As a kid, I probably liked Return of the Jedi the most, because I remember watching it several times. The opening half-hour of that movie with Jaba was just amazing to my 6-year-old brain. As a kid, I also remember confusing the actual movie with its spoof Spaceballs. A regrettable error.
6. Beauty and the Beast - Aladdin - Lion King - Another trilogy of sorts in my opinion. The early 1990's were a great time to be a kid. All three of these films came out when I was at the perfect age to enjoy them. The Little Mermaid could have also been included in this group but definitely not Pocahontas.
5. The Princess Bride - Another "children's" classic. The great thing about this movie is that I enjoyed it more and more as I got older. I think this film has the same amount of appeal to me as an adult as it did as a kid. When I was a kid I enjoyed the fairy-tale aspects and the sword-fighting. Now I enjoy the humor more and the cleverness of the film. However, as a kid and as an adult, I hate the scenes with Fred Savage and his grandpa Columbo.
4. The Goonies - (James Lipton voice): "Truly one of the defining films of a generation." This movie has everything that a kid could want: treasure, pirates, bad guys, a freakish monster named Sloth, adventure, booby traps, and the truffle shuffle brought to you by Chunk. Apparently the guy who played Chunk hasn't acted since 1991 and he's a lawyer now. I guess you can only be the funny little fat kid for so long. Sean Astin of Rudy and Lord of the Rings is really the only success that emerged from this movie, unless you count Corey Feldman or the kid who was Short-Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom a year before he was the gadget-wielding Asian in The Goonies.
3. Indiana Jones Trilogy - speaking of Indiana Jones, I loved these movies. These movies were the first ones that I watched and thought to myself, "I really liked the music from that." Besides the music, the adventures were pretty engaging. I didn't understand half of what was going on, but each of the movies had scenes that I watched again and again. Raiders: the opening scene with the big ball. Temple of Doom: the heart removal scene and the Short-Round driving scene. Last Crusade: motorcycle chase and the last half hour. As I got older I appreciated the entirety of the films more and they remain my favorites to this day.
2. The Rocketeer - I watched this a lot as a kid. There was just something about it that made me love this movie. It had just the right amount of humor (a lot), action (a whole lot), and romance (a little) for a 7 year old. This movie was my #2 favorite as a kid, but I watched it recently and it has probably fallen out of my top 20. There was a time and a place for it though.
1. Back to the Future Trilogy - My older brothers loved these movies and watched them all the time as we grew up and therefore I loved them. All three were adored, but as a kid I think I liked the third one the best because of its western themes. These movies are so fun to watch, that you don't worry about the dozens of goofs and anachronisms. I think such things just come with the territory when doing a time travel movie. But it realy is a great trilogy and I have probably watched the first film more than any other movie out there, and I still notice new things. Today, I really began to question the Doc-Marty relationship. Why does a 17 year old kid hang out with some creepy mad scientist? He feels free to just let himself into Doc's house early in the morning, and Doc thinks nothing of arranging a midnight rendez-vous with Marty at a mall parking lot. Also, Marty never mentions Doc to his parents, and the principal at Marty's school is suspicious of the Marty-Doc relationship and he warns Marty to stay away from Doc Brown. I want to know how Marty and Doc met and became friends. It just seems so odd that a cool high school kid with a girlfriend would associate with some crazy guy who has no affiliation to the kid's parents. Here's a possible explanation.Honorable Mention: Labyrinth, The Muppet Movies, The Toy (with Richard Pryor), An American Tail. Did I miss any?
And finally. This is a bit random, but I have gotten hooked on this internet prank war that is going on between these two guys. Well, the latest prank was posted today and it was pretty good. I highly recommend checking out the previous pranks if you like this one.
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It's been awhile. I'm surprised LiveJournal hasn't canceled my account. A lot has happened in the past month, but let's not get into that. I think I'm going to change my blog format to a random daily top ten, (inspired more by Nick Hornby's High Fidelity than by David Letterman). It will give me some form to work with and hopefully the ideas will roll in. Top Ten Things I Want Right Now10. To be able to write songs like Bob Dylan. (Explanation: It's pledge week on the local PBS affiliate and they are constantly showing a pretty cool documentary on Bob Dylan. It's called No Direction Home and it's directed by Martin Scorcese. It shows how incredible Bob Dylan was as an artist and songwriter. I haven't caught the whole thing because it's over 3 hours long and is interrupted by PBS employees begging for money, but I'm thinking it's worth a rental, (Or it could possibly be found for free at the library). I'll probably be over my Bob Dylan obsession in about a week, but right now he's the coolest thing since Christian Bale in 3:10 to Yuma. 9. To be able to play the guitar. What's the point of writing songs if you can't play them? 8. Something to do this past weekend besides watching 12 hours of football. I like football. I like watching it. But i was feeling pretty lazy and useless as I ate Fritos and yelled at Stephen Jackson to hold on to the freaking ball.7. A political process in this country that doesn't require hundreds of millions of dollars of support to become president. This is a little more political than I like to get, or feel comfortable getting, but it is crazy the amount of money that is spent 14 months before the election. If all the money that was spent on campaigning across the country was put together, it could do a lot of good being used for something else. 6. To be less ignorant of national and international affairs. I spend a lot of time learning useless information about sports and pop culture. I wonder if I spent more time learning about poverty or health-care in this country or the atrocities in Darfur, would I be able to do anything to change it? Would having this knowledge affect my actions or just make me sadder about the world? Is fear of this sadness a good enough reason to be ignorant? 5. The ability to flawlessly shift from serious issues to the lighter material that I am more comfortable writing about.
4. The time and patience to write a novel, a play, a screenplay, a short story, or even a haiku.
3. An end to car accidents . . . everywhere. Having witnessed a nasty wreck this weekend, (thankfully no one appeared seriously injured), I was reminded of my own nasty wreck several years ago. I have daily reminders, but the crash this weekend shook me pretty good. I just have a lot of anxiety about cars in general and I wish cars were operated by some life forms more intelligent than the average human being. 2. For all the children of the world to join hands and sing in the spirit of harmony and peace... ( Steve Martin? SNL? Anyone?) 1. A job. (Full-time, benefits, doing something I enjoy).
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Day one of JV soccer coaching has officially begun. This is the first week of preseason and the weather forecast for the week is as follows: Mon: High 98 Tues: 100 Wed: 100 Thursday: 103 Friday: 100 (but I'll be on vacation . . . sweet) Factor in the humidity and the air is almost unbreathable. Thank God I don't have to go through all of the physical training that the players do. I am perfectly content to sit out on some of the sweltering runs. Although, I have to admit, that back in high school the summer practices were totally worth being able to play in games. If I could relive every one of my high school soccer games (even the losses) I would gladly do it. There is a certain thrill when playing truly competitve soccer that I have missed over the past few years. I guess those days are gone. Ou sont les neiges? (That's right, that's a Tennessee Williams reference. What? You got a problem?) Can't wait to go to Florida. Must survive this week. Hopefully I can sweat out a couple of pounds before I hit the beach. Story of the week: Apparently my high school suffered an act of vandalism. Someone apparently drove an SUV down a hill of grass, leaving tire tracks and killing grass along the way, and then crashed through the fence that surrounded the track/football field. After doing a couple of laps on the track and burnig rubber onto it's surface, they drove some routes on the football field and did a lot of damage. THen he drove away, but not through the same hole in the fence that he had previously created. He made a new one No worries though. THe police found the guy. He was nearby. Passed out, outside of his car . . . and naked. The suspect? A class of 1994 alumnus who hadn't been taking his medication. Craziness.
THat's all I got for now. I really want to see Superbad when it comes out. I hope it doesn't suck. (Note: the link is to the R-Rated trailer, a bit more vulgar than the tv one) Take it easy
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