The five most memorable sporting moments I've witnessed live

We love our sport in this country. It’s a source of national pride, and Victorians take it more seriously than most.

While London was officially, as far as these things go, named the sporting capital of the world in 2014, it’s an honour that Melbourne has won several times.

And let’s be honest, it should really just be a perpetual trophy in our name.

UrbanDictionary.com describes a Melbournian as “a person who was born or raised in Melbourne, Australia, usually partial to fish and chips and a good Saturday footy match”. That sounds like me, just add a steady diet of cricket and horse racing too.

With that in mind, here are my top five most memorable sporting events (two of which actually took place outside my own borders, if you can believe that).

Australia vs England, Boxing Day Test, MCG, 2002
If you love your sport as a kid, it’s as a teenager when you really start to take ownership of your knowledge and opinions, and the relationships formed in those impressionable years stay with you long into adulthood.

It can’t be a coincidence that my two favourite sporting heroes of all time both made their debut in 1993, the year I turned 13.

As a lifelong Richmond fan, Matthew Richardson was one, among the best players of his era and, significantly, as passionate on the field as the Tiger hordes in the stands he represented. He could frustrate and thrill in equal measure, but there was never any question about where his loyalties lay.

My other sporting hero was Justin Langer, debuting in the famous Adelaide Test against the West Indies, where he top scored in the second innings, steering Australian from 1/5 to 9/144 when he was the second-last man out as Australia fell two runs short.

From that point on, I followed the highs and lows of Langer’s career as only a cricket-obsessed teenager can, every failure like a pin-prick to the heart, every success leaving me giddy and proud.

I cried when he made a hundred at The Oval after replacing Michael Slater in the last Ashes Test in England in 2001, even if I admit I may have been a few beers in at the time.

But the one moment I will never forget, that has stayed with me above all others, was on Boxing Day, 2002. Langer had only passed 50 once in his previous 10 innings, and I cared little about Australia being 3-0 up in the series, because the pressure was on.

He had some tough times early, but persevered before unleashing his devastating combination of drives, glides, pulls and cuts. He was on 91 when he chipped off-spinner Richard Dawson over his head to move to 95.

The very next ball, he threw the kitchen sink at a full, flighted delivery. As an MCG member, I was in the Southern Stand that day, due to the MCG being under construction, and because a quarter of the grounds stands were missing the populated areas were packed.

I have no video proof, but no-one can tell me I wasn’t the first person on their feet in the Southern Stand that day as the ball sailed high and long for six. My arms reached for the sky as the roar around the ground reached its crescendo.

Langer ended up making 250, securing man of the match honours, a 4-0 lead for the Aussies, and a place in my memory that will never be forgotten.

Collingwood vs St Kilda, drawn grand final, MCG, 2010
It’s no surprise that the MCG figures again for another memorable moment.

While the match itself was as tough and hard-fought an epic as the final scoreline suggested, it also contained some stunning performances and memorable highlights.

Chief among these was Lenny Hayes’ herculean efforts to get his team across the line, but the stand-out moment for me was late in the last quarter when scores were level. Hayes propelled the ball forward from just inside the 50-metre mark on tired legs, high but short, the ball travelling maybe 35 metres in all.

Steven Milne, to be involved in his own unforgettable moment only minutes later, and Harry O’Brien stood under the ball. Brendon Goddard came in from the side and launched himself over the two of them for the classic ‘specky’ (which is a spectacular mark for the non-AFL initiated).

He calmly went back and slotted the goal, putting St Kilda in front for the first time all day, with less than seven minutes left on the clock. Everything about the mark and goal simply screamed “match-winning moment”. In fact, it must surely be best match-winning moment that wasn’t.

Saints and Tiger fans are kindred spirits in heartbreak and suffering, so perhaps I felt an emotional connection. More than likely I was cheering through my wallet, having backed the Saints at good odds. But rarely, if ever, have I felt a high like it at the footy. The match and the moment encapsulated everything that is good about our great game.

Makybe Diva’s third Melbourne Cup, Flemington racecourse, 2005
The Melbourne Cup is famously the race that stops a nation, and is fast-becoming the race that stops the world as international raiders increasingly, and rightly, take more of a stranglehold on our most prestigious event.

The day itself is wonderfully festive at the best of times, a cacophony of the best of Melbourne sounds – laughter, drinking and enthusiastic chatter. On this particular day, in the lead-up to Makybe Diva’s third Melbourne Cup, these feelings were heightened in a way that occurs when a sporting public has a common goal. It was phenomenon that also happened every time Black Caviar took to the track in her last few years.

Jockey Glen Boss gave the great mare the most perfect ride, settling her on the fence and basically giving her a cuddle for two-thirds of the race, only asking her to move into it as they were entering the home straight.

I still get chills watching the replay, right around the time that Greg Miles, in his greatest call, raises his voice with “Here’s Makybe Diva… a nation roars for a hero”. Listen to the roar of the crowd. A champion becomes a legend. Unforgettable.

Port Adelaide vs Richmond, elimination final, Adelaide Oval, 2014
Port Adelaide has been the feel-good team of the AFL over the last two seasons, but their move to the Adelaide Oval for the 2014 season propelled their story to another level.

The Power played an addictive, fast-moving, hard-running brand of football, complemented by a fan-base and home-ground atmosphere that set a new standard the envy of all. Their home games in particular became must-watch events, and every AFL fan put watching a game in this new-found cauldron at the top of their bucket list.

When Richmond were scheduled to play the elimination final there after winning nine in a row just to make the finals, it was an opportunity too good to pass up. Thousands of my Tiger brethren obviously felt the same way, and cars, buses, trains and planes, all bound by a common hope and dream, carried our black-and-yellow army across the border.

The result? A Power blitzkrieg of the most perfect football ever played in an opening quarter of a final. Four goals up after 10 minutes. Six goals up after 15. A 42-point quarter-time lead that felt like 142 to a suddenly punch-drunk Richmond fan-base.

Memorable? Sure. But for all the wrong reasons.

New York Yankees vs New York Mets, Game 3 of the ‘Subway Series’, Yankee Stadium, 2011
I have a running joke with Roar colleague Ryan O’Connell about my lack of interest, knowledge and care about American sports. Frankly, I’ve never understood how Australians ignite their passions in these sports, and can’t for the life of me work out where they find the time to devote themselves to them.

But to show Mr O’Connell that I am open to new sporting experiences, I’ll throw my day at Yankee Stadium on this list.

The baseball itself seemed to meander along for the most part, and the Yankees were down 1-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, if my lingo is correct. They then peeled off eight runs in that inning, a reasonably rare event from all reports, which sent the adoring home crowd into raptures.

There was a lot of singing, dancing and chanting, especially when Derek ‘Captain Clutch’ Jeter and Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez either hit the ball or crossed the home plate.

The atmosphere was great, it was fantastic mixing with the locals and trying to compare cricket to the great American pastime. But, even better than all of that, I can tell Ryan that I’ve been to one more Major League Baseball game in my life than I have of either rugby league or union.

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