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HONOURABLE MENTION
June 22, 1986 Argentina-England World Cup quarter-final
Humiliated in the war over the Falklands four years earlier, Argentina
had the chance to exact revenge against England on the soccer field
in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup. A certain genius named
Maradona and the "Hand of God" ensured the English were vanquished
and Argentina went on to win its second World Cup title.
May 31, 1997 "Bailey-Johnson 150-metre showdown"
Who would be the undisputed world's fastest man? Canadian Donovan Bailey, the 1996 Olympic 100-metre champion, or American Michael Johnson, the 1996 Olympic 200 and 400 champion? After verbal sparring between the pair, a made-for-TV, 150-metre showcase at Toronto's SkyDome was set up to settle the score. In front a huge televised audience, Bailey won $1-million in prize money after Johnson pulled up lame with a quad injury.
Oct. 30, 1974 "The Rumble in the Jungle"
One of the most anticipated boxing matches in history pitted world
heavyweight champion George Foreman against former world champion
Muhammad Ali in a bout held in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic
of the Congo). Hungry boxing fans would have to wait an extra month
for an injured Foreman to be ready. In the end, Ali won by a knockout
in the eighth round to reclaim the heavyweight title. The fight was
so popular, ABC broadcast the fight twice. The second time, in January
of 1975, got the second highest ratings in the history of Wide
World.
Sept. 20, 1973 “The Battle of the Sexes”
This was more than just a game of tennis. Billie Jean King, fighting for women’s equality in sport, defeated a cocky Bobby Riggs in three straight sets in front of more than 30,000 fans at Houston’s Astrodome. It’s been debated that this event was gimmicky (Riggs entered the dome in a carriage pulled by women and King carried in by toga-wearing football players), but regardless, the TV numbers were astounding. An estimated 50 million viewers watched in 37 different countries.
Aug. 16, 2004 “Swim of the century”
No swimming race had ever been this hyped. The 200-metre men’s freestyle final at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games featured the four fastest swimmers in the history of the distance – Aussies Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett, the “Flying Dutchman” Pieter van den Hoogenband, and American teenage phenom Michael Phelps. Olympic ratings went through the roof as the Thorpedo edged out van den Hoogenband at the wall for the gold with Phelps taking bronze.
TOP 1010 Most Anticipated
Sports EventsCBC Sports Online | Oct
22, 2004
You didn't have to be a Red Sox or Yankees fan
to be glued to your seat the past few days watching the American League
Championship Series. The anticipation that built as Boston made its
historic climb back from the brink was felt in homes and bars throughout
North America, and now we look ahead to the World Series to see if
the Sox can break the 86-year-long Curse of the Bambino.
Which got us thinking: what other sports moments have captured the
public's attention to the point that we cancelled meetings, skipped
classes and raced home to watch and listen?
Brian Orser stands second on the podium in Calgary.
Hockey players don't monopolize
on-ice drama in this country, and that was never more true than in
1988. The men's final at the Calgary Olympics was billed the "Battle
of the Brians" between gold-medal favourites Brian Boitano of the
U.S. and Canadian Brian Orser. It was amateur sport at its most gripping,
with both athletes giving their all in to earn an Olympic crown.
Orser, the defending world champion and Canadian flag-bearer, held
the hopes of an entire nation hungry for homegrown gold. Boitano,
his friend and rival, presented a formidable challenge. It all came
down to a nerve-wracking 4 ½ minutes in the long program. Both men,
wearing gold-trimmed outfits, had solid free skates. But a slip during
Orser's triple flip may have cost the eight-time Canadian champion.
Boitano earned higher marks from five of the nine judges to take the
title. Orser claimed the silver.
2. Ben Johnson vs. Carl
Lewis – 1988 Seoul Olympics
Ben Johnson's Olympic celbration didn't last long
The build-up to the Ben
Johnson-Carl Lewis showdown in South Korea was immense on both sides
of the U.S.-Canada border. Lewis was the defending Olympic champion
after winning the 100 at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, along with three
other gold medals. He was the most dominant force in men's track and
field in the early 1980s.
It all changed on a Roman track in 1987. Johnson set a new world record
of 9.83 seconds at the world championships and became an instant celebrity.
The victory came just one year prior to the Seoul Olympics, setting
the stage for what had the makings to be one of the crowning moments
in Canadian sports history. It was – for about three days.
To Indians and
Pakistanis, nothing unifies like cricket. Fans in both countries rabidly
devour all news about their favourite bowlers, batsmen and all-rounders
in preparation for a game that takes five days to play.
Earlier this year, the Indian cricket team visited Pakistan for the
first time since 1989 - a remarkable achievement in itself, considering
the two countries had become sworn enemies, to the point of practicing
nuclear brinkmanship.
But the goodwill tour was wildly popular. Demand for in Pakistan was
so great that police had to be called in to deal with angry fans who
realized there weren't enough for everyone. More people watched the
goodwill series, which India won handily, than in the last few Superbowls
combined. The event was so successful, the tour made millions and
spawned a follow-up series scheduled for 2005.
A new ownership group for the Toronto Argonauts
that included Wayne Gretzky, actor John Candy and Bruce McNall –
coupled with the signing of Raghib "Rocket" Ismail – breathed
new life into the CFL in 1991.
Fan interest in the league skyrocketed, especially in Toronto where
the Argos finished with the best regular-season record before destroying
the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the East Division final. At the same
time, Doug Flutie and the Calgary Stampeders advanced to the Grey
Cup final for the first time in two decades after defeating the Edmonton
Eskimos.
The stage was set for a classic East-West battle (and a rematch of
the unforgettable 1971 Grey Cup final), as 51,985 fans braved the
cold weather in Winnipeg and over 3.5 million Canadian viewers on
television watched the Argos beat the Stamps 36-21.
Joe Louis, left, knocks out Max Schmeling
in the first round to win the heavyweight title.
The second heavyweight
title bout between American Joe Louis and German Max Schmeling in
1938 had socio-political ramifications that went well beyond the ring.
With Adolf Hitler expanding his power in Europe, Schmeling was portrayed
as a symbol of Nazi Germany.
As a boxer, Schmeling added to his aura of invincibility after shockingly
knocking out the previously-unbeaten Louis two years earlier. More
than 70,000 fans jammed into Yankee Stadium to watch Louis-Schmeling
II and millions more tuned in on radio. But the action didn't live
up to the hype.
Louis battered his opponent in 124 seconds of brutality before Schmeling's
cornermen mercifully threw in the towel. Louis earned a devastating
first round technical knockout. Schmeling threw a mere two punches.
The victory thrilled America and some believe Louis' triumph was also
a key stimulus for the civil rights movement in the U.S.
1937 was the year of the little horse that
could, Seabiscuit. The ill-tempered and undersized thoroughbred tore
up the west coast racing circuit, prompting his owner to issue a challenge
to the only other horse that could keep up.
Charles Howard wanted Triple Crown legend War Admiral. He led a whistle-stop
tour across America to goad owner Sam Riddle into agreeing to a match
race, a caballo-a-caballo test to see who was the fastest horse on
the continent.
More than 40,000 people showed up at Pimlico Racecourse in Maryland
in November, 1938, Forty million more listened to the call of the
race on the radio.
The results are now the stuff of book and Hollywood legend. In what
has been called "The Race of the Century," the underdog Seabiscuit
bested his rival by four lengths, even though it was the fastest War
Admiral had ever run.
A nation stood still on
Sept. 28, 1972. Canadians from coast to coast crowded around television
sets and radios for Game 8 of the Summit Series between Canada and
the Soviet Union in the battle for global hockey supremacy.
The Soviets took a 3-1 series lead after five games (Game 3 finished
4-4) and threatened to drape the Iron Curtain over Canada's limp body.
Bobby Clarke's infamous slash on Valeri Kharlamov and the controversy
surrounding the West German referees built the tension to a fever
pitch, as Canada battled back with two straight victories in Moscow
to tie the series and set up the epic encounter in Game 8.
Canadian bars were packed, young children listened to the radio broadcast
in school gymnasiums and the country's largest TV audience at the
time tuned in to see Paul Henderson score in the dying seconds to
give Canada a 6-5 victory. Hockey was never the same again.
Even before Joe Namath "guaranteed" victory
in 1969, Super Bowl III was already being billed as the football game
of the ages between the AFL's New York Jets and the NFL's Baltimore
Colts.
Bragging rights and pride were on the line. Three years after merging
with the long-established NFL, the AFL wanted its first victory in
the big game and was looking for respect. Most pundits believed the
Jets didn't have a prayer and that the NFL champs (favoured by three
touchdowns) would put the AFL pretenders in their place.
Namath further stoked the fires three days before Super Sunday when
he publicly guaranteed the Jets would win against a Colts team that
only lost once during the regular season. Broadway Joe delivered by
completing 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards and was voted game MVP in
a 16-7 victory for the Jets as a new era in American football was
born.
The calendar read Feb. 24, 2002 but you could
hardly have been blamed for thinking it was Sept. 28, 1972. Just like
the epic Summit Series with the Soviet Union, time stood still for
Canadians on that fateful February afternoon when Canada battled the
U.S. for the gold in men's hockey at the Salt Lake Winter Games.
The final pitted a Canadian side that struggled early in the tournament
against a plucky American squad led by coach Herb Brooks, looking
for another Miracle on Ice. Canada grew stronger as the tournament
progressed and by the time the U.S. defeated Russia in the semifinals,
millions of hockey fans in both countries were ready for a war on
ice.
The final, played 50 years to the day an amateur team called the Edmonton
Mercurys won Canada's last Olympic gold, saw the Canadians trump the
Americans 5-2 thanks to a pair of goals by tournament MVP Joe Sakic
and Jarome Iginla. In an instant, half a century of Olympic hockey
frustration came to an end, and Canadians at home, in bars, and on
the streets from coast to coast to coast erupted in celebration.
England's reputation as a soccer superpower
was in tatters in the mid-60s. Seven World Cups had been staged since
1930, and the English – credited with creating the game –
had failed to win the tournament. The 1966 World Cup presented England
the chance to finally emerge victorious on home soil.
After disposing of Argentina in the quarter-finals, England turned
back the challenge of the mercurial Eusebio and Portugal in the semifinals
to set the stage for the final showdown with West Germany – a
game that took on an entirely new meaning for England thanks to the
open wounds of the Second World War.
On July 30, 1966, more than 93,000 fans jammed into London's Wembley
Stadium and 400 million television viewers worldwide watched England
defeat the Germans 4-2 in extra-time in what soccer pundits have called
the greatest World Cup final in history.
