10 Unforgettable Sports Stories - (Part Three)

3) Goran Ivanisevic vs Patrick Rafter -Wimbledon (2001)

It is extremely risky to bet on someone who is a wildcard entry to go past the first round at Wimbledon. Goran however, ranked 125 that year, went all the way, and in doing so, became the first and only wildcard entrant to win at Wimbledon. He beat Patrick Rafter in an emotional final in five sets, and thus finished a tale of heartbreak with the sweet success of victory.

Losing a final is never easy. Losing the final at the same event is never easy. Goran had lost Wimbledon thrice. In 1992, to Andre Agassi, in 1994 and 1998 to Pete Sampras. Being undoubtedly talented with a bazooka of a serve, the lanky (and cranky) Ivanisevic always came with a self destruct button. In a game like tennis, which perennially requires the highest amounts of mental strength, patience and calm, Goran would always be an example of how you could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Breaking racquets, abusing oneself, following odd superstitions, looking like a bunch of nerves when in pressure, none of them helped. They cost him 3 titles.

Which is why, during that final in Wimbledon, even though Goran had taken out Britain’s own son Tim Henman, (who never made a final) most of the neutrals rooted for him. They couldn’t bear to see him heartbroken again. They just wanted him to win it this time. I’m sure somewhere deep down, Pat Rafter too shared the same emotions.

And when Ivanisevic went down on his knees after finally winning it, there were just two emotions Wimbledon was going through, joy and relief.

2) Roger Federer’s record equalling 14^th title – French Open (2009)

Roger Federer was already, arguably the best tennis player ever. But after the French Open in 2009, there was no argument. He had conquered clay, and in doing so, became just the sixth man in history to complete a career grand slam. He also equalled Pete Sampras’ record of 14 slams, and Ivan Lendl’s record of 19 slam finals.

But setting statistics aside, Roger’s game itself is so compulsive, flawless, mesmerising and addictive (that was a lot of adjectives!), that it just oozes class. Apart from this, he has a head as cool as that of an eskimo, that it just seems unfair to his opponents. For more than a couple of years, between 2004 and 2008, until Nadal’s emergence, Federer was the record breaking machine, the epitome of consistency, and the pinnacle of excellence. Again, as I like to put it, the Federer script too did a full circle, and he won that elusive clay title at Paris. By doing so, he had something the Sampras story didn’t have (winning the French). And this dispelled any doubts of who the greatest ever player in the history of the game was.

A mere detail that Roger is still going strong at 16 slams, and has over a truckload of records to show for his efforts. Here’s the link for the ridiculous number of records that he’s set and broken: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_career_achievements_by_Roger_Federer

1) Liverpool v/s AC Milan – Istanbul (2005)

It was the mother (and baap) of all comebacks. Liverpool and AC Milan squared off on that historic night in Istanbul, ahead of what was the biggest match in Europe that season, and played their part in a classic.

Destiny said it would be Liverpool’s year. They barely managed to get past the group stage, courtesy of a Steven Gerrard wonder goal against Olympiakos in the dying seconds of the match. Then came the semi-final, where they pipped Chelsea (who under the charismatic Jose Mourinho, were firm favourites to progress) by virtue of the infamous Luis Garcia ghost goal. And now they were within touching distance. They however had to overhaul a strong Milan side with the terrific trio of Kaka, Crespo and Shevchenko, and as with all the legendary Milan sides, this one was as mean in defence as ever.

Right from the word go, Liverpool was put to the sword. Milan were 3-0 up at halftime. It was getting embarrassing. All the Kop hoped for, was damage limitation. Fans were already planning the long trip home.

Enter Steven Gerrard. The man, who time and again had resurrected lost causes, popped up with a brilliant header in the 54^th minute to restore same parity. Then the turnaround. Six crazy minutes had passed. The scoreline was 3-3. Suddenly, as it happens so often, the tide had turned. Liverpool genuinely started to believe that this was going to be their year. Probably Milan did too. After the otherwise erratic Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek miraculously denied Andriy Shevchenko twice in extra time (and people still don’t know how Shevchenko didn’t score), the game went to penalties.

Luckily for the faint of heart, there wasn’t the drama of a sudden death and Liverpool won the shootout 3-2.

It was one of those moments when everyone wished he was a Liverpool fan. The lucky ones said they didn’t have words to describe the feeling. To win is one thing, but to win when the chips (and everything else possible) are down, when you have no hope whatsoever, at the biggest stage of them all, is obviously and entirely a whole other thing. Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez summed it up well by saying “My problem is that I don't have words to express the things that I feel at this moment”.

As for Milan, the loss would have knocked the stuffing out of them. It would have taken a long time to recover. Defeats like this can be extremely painful. And to perhaps ease some of that pain, this story once again did the full circle.

Two years later, once again, in the champions league final, Milan faced Liverpool. They went on to win the far less dramatic match 2-1.

Here are a few more scripts that just missed the cut:

Usain Bolt took the world by storm, sprinting his way to break the world record for the 100m race, clocking in at 9.69 seconds, consequently becoming the fastest man on the planet.

He later bettered his feat, and his record time stands unmatched at a staggering 9.58seconds.

The Sampras- Agassi rivalry- One of tennis’ greatest rivalries, until a certain Swiss maestro and a ruthless warrior from Spain came along, concluded in an epic match at the 2002 US open, where Sampras defeated Agassi and put paid to the long lasting rivalry by bowing out of tennis and having had the last laugh.

Sampras leads Agassi in their 34 meetings, 20-14.

P.S. If and when Sachin Tendulkar made it to a hundred centuries, most of the occupants of the list would move down a rung.

10 Unforgettable Sports Stories - (Part Two)

7) Sir Lancelot – Lance Armstrong.

Pretty sure every sports fan would know this guy. If not for the sport he is involved with, or the number of astounding records he has set, people would know him as a fighter, a warrior, a true epitome of the never say die spirit, something we all admire, and wish we had. Lance Armstrong is a professional cyclist, who won the gruelling, energy sapping Tour de France, a remarkable seven consecutive times, and all this after he nearly lost his life to the dreaded disease of cancer.

He was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer in October, 1996. The cancer, by then, had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. He was given a 40% survival chance. He survived, and against all odds, went on to write one of most awe inspiring stories ever. His haul of seven Tour de France wins still stands as a record. Back home our own cricketing hero Yuvraj Singh, took inspiration from Armstrong’s autobiography “Its not about the bike”, in his personal battle against lung cancer. As have millions of others.

Lance may not have the most popular surname ever, (that might belong to a certain Neil), but has left his indelible mark on cycling, sports, and subsequently, life.

6) Bob Beamon - Mexico Games (1968)

Most of the moments in this list, would have had a build up. People wouldn’t be sure, but somehow they would have a strange feeling of what was coming. They would want to admit that they never saw it coming, that it was completely unexpected, but somehow, in the remotest corner of their minds, would be a spoiler alert.

But nobody thought they would see Bob Beamon fly. It was the ’68 summer Olympics at Mexico City. Bob Beamon was an American long jumper who was among the favourites to clinch gold. But when he did the run up and leapt, it seemed as if the world had stopped moving. It looked as though time was taking a break. It was all in slow mo. The world saw as he leapt a distance of 8.90 meters (29.5 feet), and in doing so, breaking, no, shattering the then existing world record by nearly 2 feet. In a sport where records took a tumble more than Manchester United’s Nani (skilful player nonetheless), Beamon’s behemoth number stood for no less than 22 years.

After the leap, a few of the comments he received were, “You have destroyed this event”, “you’re the man who saw lightning”, and even has a book after the moment named, “The perfect jump”.

5) South Africa vs Australia -Johannesburg (2006)

As Mark Boucher smashed Brett Lee for a four down the ground, the cricketing world erupted to have witnessed match the likes of which had never been seen, heard or expected. Neither team deserved to lose that night.

That probably is the greatest tragedy about sport. The significance of the word ‘better’. However brilliant you are on a certain day (you might even be at your best), but the only thing that matters is that you have to better your opponents. The Australians were good. Hell, they were brilliant. Ricky Ponting was outstanding in his innings of 164. Batting first, they blew away the record for the highest score in an innings. They amassed 434 runs, and in doing so, were the first team to break the 400 run barrier. But the script had to be complete. It had to come full circle. South Africa, unbelievably, chased it down, and appropriately enough, as the world’s most entertaining commentator, Tony Grieg, put it, “The South Africans at the Bullring today have seen the best one day international ever played.”

4) Wilt Chamberlain - Pennsylvania (1962)

On a cold, rainy Friday night in 1962, only 4,124 spectators paid to see the basketball game in Pennsylvania. The 8000 capacity stadium was half empty (Yes, I’m a pessimist). There was no video coverage of the game. The world would miss something truly remarkable.

The game was between Philadelphia Warriors and New York Knicks. The Warriors’ fans were expecting a lot from their star center, Chamberlain. Little did they know, he would go on to become the first, and only person to score 100 points in a single NBA game. Considering that teams as a whole, in modern day basketball find it difficult to notch up three figures, the record set by Wilt Chamberlain truly proves what an extraordinary night that was.

After 3 quarters, Chamberlain had scored 69 points and thought he was in line to overhaul his previous record of 78 in a single game. He did that with nearly 8 minutes left on the clock. This sent the crowd into frenzy and they bore down chants saying “Give it to Wilt!” and “100! 100!”. The moment came with 46 seconds left. Chamberlain got free from the five Knicks, jumped high and put the ball into the basket to hit the century mark. The arena then, went nuts and over 200 spectators stormed the floor, wanting to touch the hero of the night. The closest he ever came again was at 73 points the next season.

The overall score on the night was Warriors 169-147 Knicks, but yeah, who cares?

10 Unforgettable Sports Stories - Part One

Don’t you just love it when out of nowhere, teams or individuals churn out results against all odds. Be it because of limitless reserves of mental energy, fighting spirit, or even pure luck, the following are moments that made us shed tears of joy, tears of being precariously close, and upon revisiting them, make us feel honoured that we were around to witness such moments of pure emotion:

10) Diego Maradona in the 1986 FIFA World Cup- It was a story waiting to happen. He had been the golden boy of Argentine soccer for a couple of years prior to his inspiring exploits. Diego Maradona was Argentina’s captain at the tournament in Mexico, where they were one of the pre tournament favourites.

Maradona scripted his own fairytale as he almost single handedly carried his team past the finish line. His breath-taking goal against England in the quarterfinals where he left six opposition players in a heap, was aptly named the “Goal of the Century” by FIFA, and is still viewed by millions across the world in awe. However, being the bad boy of football that he always is, he is also credited to have scored the infamous “Hand of God” goal, in the same match, a goal which was scored by an illegal but unpenalised handball. He notched up a total of five goals and five assists in the tournament to walk away with the world cup and the golden ball.

People to this day, even in nations as tiny and distant as Bangladesh, hold him up in the highest regard and even reverence for his contributions to sport.

Here’s the link to that famous goal - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk-kXwjASEE

9) Brian Lara’s 400 not out- The same venue. The same opposition. Exactly ten years apart. It was dejavu. Brian Charles Lara (as Tony Grieg says), batting on 374, lifts the ball high into the skies, and over the stands, to tie the record for the highest individual score in a test match. The 34 year old then goes to reclaim the record that he had set a decade earlier by becoming the first ever batsman to score a quadruple century in test matches. Its one of those moments you look back upon and wonder, Gee, destiny, is that stuff really true?

Lara, incidentally is also the only batsman ever, to have scored a quintuple century (501), in first class cricket, which beyond doubt, puts the West Indian legend in the category of absolute, unadulterated and sheer genius.

8) Michael Phelps at the Beijing Olympics in 2008- Upon being asked about his chances, all he had to say was, “I am going to prepare for that meet just like I do every other meet”. We didn’t see it coming. We wonder if he saw it coming. But it came. In fact they all came. 8 of them came. The American swimmer did the unthinkable by winning 8 gold medals, out of a possible 8. At the world’s biggest and most competitive stage. They tested him for steroids, they couldn’t find a thing. They said he was a freak of nature with a unique body constitution. He didn’t care. BY the end of it all, Michael Phelps had recorded a truly great story in the history of sports.

He swept opponents away, collected heaps of golds along the way, a process wherein records tumbled all around, and when that eighth and final medal came his way in the men’s 4×100 m medley relay, he had not only broken Mark Spitz’s jaw dropping record of seven golds at Munich ’72, but also ensured that his 100 % record could only be matched at best, but never surpassed.