Overshadowed Games and Moments in Sports

[SabresRule]

Last year, I had a thread like this, and it surprisingly got only 3 responses.

Instead of bumping the thread, I want to give it another try- hopefully, it'll do better.

Sometimes, a big sports moment can be overshadowed by something even bigger.

Can you recall any instances where a big sports moment was overshadowed by another one?

BillD had a very good example in 2003 involving the Red Sox and Patriots:

One instance in New England sports stands out in my mind:

Sunday, October 5, 2003

In Foxboro the Patriots are playing the Tennessee Titans.
At Fenway the Red Sox are playing game 4 of their ALDS against the Oakland A's.

The Red Sox won on their last at bat to even their series with Oakland 2-2. (The Sox won the series the next night in Oakland).

Simultaneous to the Red Sox game ending, Steve McNair scored a TD for the Titans tying the game vs. the Patriots. As McNair was crossing the goal line a roar went up in Gillette Stadium (because the fans were following the happenings at Fenway). The stunned look on the players faces (including the Titans) was priceless. This was NOT appreciated by Pats players (I remember Tedy Bruschi, among others, speak up about it after the game). The Patriots 38-30 win over the Titans was the start of their record-breaking 21 straight wins (including postseason).

The Pats didn't lose another game until Halloween Day 2004 in Pittsburgh (they were again overshadowed that weekend by the Red Sox World Series parade the day before).

Here are some examples:

Remember when Clay Bucholz threw a no-hitter in 2007 for the Red Sox? That was on the same day when Appalachian State shocked the world.

November 4, 2007- Adrian Peterson set the NFL single-game rushing-record with 297 yards. That was the same day as the Patriots/Colts "unbeaten vs. unbeaten" game.

June 12, 2009- the Mets and Yankees played in a game with a bizarre finish. On that same day- Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

June 18, 2006- the Miami Heat beat the Mavericks in an epic NBA Finals game 5 that went imto overtime. That was overshadowed by the 18th hole at Winged Foot (the next day was game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but all I heard that day was Winged Foot)

November 13, 1994- Drew Bledsoe had 426 yards on 45 completions out of 70 attempts- both NFL records that still stand- to rally the Pats from a 20-0 deficit to beat the Vikings in overtime; that started a season-ending seven-game winning streak. That fell on the same day as a mega-hyped Cowboys-49ers game.

October 23, 2005- a day of dramatic NFL finishes- Packers/Vikings, Chargers/Eagles, Cowboys/Seahawks, Broncos/Giants- were overshadowed by the dramatic finish to Game 2 of the 2005 World Series.

October 15, 2005- An incredible finish to Penn State/Michigan, Wisconsin blocking a punt to beat Minnesota, a Louisville/West Virginia triple overtime game, and UCLA rallying from 21 points down to beat Washington State in triple overtime- all took a backseat to the blockbuster USC/Notre Dame game.

 

[SandraC]

Goodness, how so you remember all that? The only thing that comes to mind is, this past Fall Brett Favre threw four or six or whatever touchdowns in a game for the Jets. The Green Bay media would have been genuflecting for weeks, but here in NY it was forgotten as that same day the Mets completed another one of their annual collapses by losing at home to the Marlins on the final day of the season.

Oh, another oddity does come to mind. One day the wonderful coach of Camden HS in New Jersey left Dajuan Wagner in a game to score 100 points against a very small technical high school The score was ridiculous, like 135-20. The next day everyone was arguing the lack of sportsmanship, but the following day everyone found out some kid in a Texas high school scored 101 points in a game the same night Wagner had 100. The Texas coach must have been just as gracious as Clarence Jackson, the Camden coach.

Turns out Wagner scored 100 points and didn't even have the high score of the night...


Sandra

 

[Skyhi]

Goodness, how so you remember all that?

How do you do it? Seriously? Do you keep a diary? Did you just do some research, or are you a freak of nature? Whats your trick? If its just in your memory, then that is REALLY impressive.

Oh, another oddity does come to mind. One day the wonderful coach of Camden HS in New Jersey left Dajuan Wagner in a game to score 100 points against a very small technical high school The score was ridiculous, like 135-20. The next day everyone was arguing the lack of sportsmanship, but the following day everyone found out some kid in a Texas high school scored 101 points in a game the same night Wagner had 100. The Texas coach must have been just as gracious as Clarence Jackson, the Camden coach.

Turns out Wagner scored 100 points and didn't even have the high score of the night...


Sandra

I had such high hopes when Dajuan Wagner came to Cleveland.....I still think he was incredibly talented; just couldn't stay healthy.

 

[SabresRule]

How do you do it? Seriously? Do you keep a diary? Did you just do some research, or are you a freak of nature? Whats your trick?

A combo.

1. Research. Checking the days of recaps/scores.

2. Memory. It's easy to remember events that occured on one day if they are recent.

Also, I saved all those NFL regular-seson and MLB postseason schedules from DBSForums on my computer.

 

[SandraC]

I had such high hopes when Dajuan Wagner came to Cleveland.....I still think he was incredibly talented; just couldn't stay healthy.

He was as dominant a freshman HS basketball player as I've ever seen. A little kid who did everything.


Sandra

 

[DodgerKing]

With this response by me, you will now have more responses than last time.

Glad to help out in anyway I can.

 

[Will94]

Overshadowed event. May 1, 1991 - Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brock's all-time stolen base record, and, with Brock standing next to him, proclaims with his usual humility "... today, I am the greatest of all-time."

Later that day, Nolan Ryan throws no-hitter number 7. Nolan's accomplishment is the lead story for every sportscast that night.

 

[Skyhi]

Overshadowed event. May 1, 1991 - Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brock's all-time stolen base record, and, with Brock standing next to him, proclaims with his usual humility "... today, I am the greatest of all-time."

Later that day, Nolan Ryan throws no-hitter number 7. Nolan's accomplishment is the lead story for every sportscast that night.

Rickey loves Rickey!

 

[anders5189]

How about the 1981 NC game in college basketball? Same day as President Reagan was shot. Officials thought about cancelling the game but decided not to after it was clear the Reagan would live.

Also the first day of the NCAA Tournament in 2003 was overshadowed by the start of the War in Iraq. CBS moved the basketball games to ESPN so they could cover the invasion.

Another moment that comes to mind was the MNF game between the Redskins and Giants in 1986. Normally it would have been one of the biggest games of the year, but it was going against Game 7 of the WS between the Red Sox and Mets. Fans who missed the football game got a 2nd chance when the Redskins returned to Giants Stadium in Jan for the NFC CG.

 

[HD MM]

He was as dominant a freshman HS basketball player as I've ever seen. A little kid who did everything.


Sandra

Ah, the kid who scored 100 points at Camden High School, only to be forced out of the NBA by debilitating health issues. What a shame....

 

[Ramy]

Game 2 of the 1976 World Series was overshadowed by the birth of my sister........oh you mean for the whole world and not just my family.

 

[BillD1984]

How eerie that just two days ago, Sabres pulled this post out of mothballs:


Simultaneous to the Red Sox game ending, Steve McNair scored a TD for the Titans tying the game vs. the Patriots. As McNair was crossing the goal line a roar went up in Gillette Stadium (because the fans were following the happenings at Fenway).

 

[AntAltMike]

I think the thread should have been tltled, Games and Moments overshadowed by greater Games and moments. Before I clicked it open, I thought of three games or moments overshadowed by non-sporting events.

1. The taking of hostages at the 1972 Olympics.

2. The earthquake during the 1989 World Series

3. Some nut job gliding into the Holyfield-Bowe ring.

 

[dfergie]

The ear biting incident during the Holyfield - Tyson match...

 

[JonE]

Can't believe no one has mentioned the NBA Finals - OJ Slow Speed chase. Wait, I just did.

 

[Paul Wozniak]

Jose Feliciano's interpretation of the National Anthem at the 1968 World Series was a moment that overshadowed the game that followed. I believe it was the first time a singer "interpreted" the song before a sporting event. For the record, this 11 year old boy thought it was extremely cool.

 

[dfergie]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKoAlpWD_Lg]YouTube - Riddick Bowe vs Evander Holyfield parachute guy flys in[/ame]

 

[dishcomm]

Overshadowed event. May 1, 1991 - Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brock's all-time stolen base record, and, with Brock standing next to him, proclaims with his usual humility "... today, I am the greatest of all-time."

Later that day, Nolan Ryan throws no-hitter number 7. Nolan's accomplishment is the lead story for every sportscast that night.

Henderson's poor timing and poor choice of words at that moment haunted him him for quite some time.