Hubie Brown's Announcing
Brown announced the Western Conference Semifinals on ESPN Radio (Memphis-Oklahoma City), and has to be the first person in history to consistently jump into the second person while announcing games.
Here would be a sampling of how Hubie would announce my Father's Day: "OK, now if you're Tyler Tomea in this situation, you gotta wake up early. You can't be sleeping until 11:00 a.m., or noon, you have to be up early. Then, first thing you gotta do, you gotta wish your dad a Happy Father's Day. Very important. If you don't do that, your mind's somewhere else. Now if you're Tyler Tomea, this is your plan for the rest of the day..." Amazing.
"This is Why I Like Sports" Moments
A truly great game or transcendent moment that makes you think to yourself, so this is why I like sports. The most recent example would have to be last year's World Cup. Two draws put the U.S. into a do-or-die situation. With simultaneous kickoffs, the Americans saw England up on Slovenia. The U.S. needed to defeat Algeria, or soccer in the country would be in a disastrous position. Not getting past the group stage for a second World Cup in a row? Not advancing in a group with Slovenia, Algeria and a weaker than usual England squad? And then, in stoppage time......
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And it had to be Landon Donvoan that scored that goal. The perfect person, in the perfect situation. I'll never forget how I felt when that goal was pushed across. United States 1, Algeria 0.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, I've watched this video 57 times.
Horse Racing Analysts
I only follow horse racing three times a year, but for some reason, I watch the "pregame shows" in their entirety on those days. It always amazes me how NBC can open the broadcast at 4 p.m. for a race with a post time of 6:24 p.m. Still, for some reason, I watch.
My favorite part is when a commentator will say, "You know, Animal Kingdom is really looking for redemption today in the Belmont after his Preakness run," to which the other commentator replies, "Redemption of course, Animal Kingdom has to be motivated for this final leg." You know, if Animal Kingdom actually knew what "redemption" and "motivation" meant based on the fact that he is a horse.
Team Basketball Prevailing
I don't want to pile on LeBron after the criticism he's taken in the last few weeks. Wait a second, what am I talking about?!?! I'd love to pile on LeBron! 18 points total in the fourth quarter, Dallas victorious in six, Wooooo!
Since I go to college in Washington, D.C., my Sundays during my freshman year usually consisted of tracking games against spread (if it were legal), frantically refreshing my fantasy football team page, trying to explain to my two roomates the concept of football and watching Zorn coach. I always enjoyed the confused look on his face while staring at the play call sheet: It was like he was trying to decipher hieroglyphic code. Oh yeah, and then there's this:
This will be the first and last time you ever hear the words, "And the kicker is motion..."
Sports Betting
Simmons perfectly summarizes what makes this so great: The team you bet on becomes "your team" for the next three hours. If it wasn't for this, why would I care if the Jacksonville Jaguars won, or lost by less than 3.5 points. For those three hours, I'm rooting for the Jags as hard as I would if it was Duke-UNC in the middle of February.
Rooting for "Your Guy"
For me, it's always been J.J. Redick. He was the sole reason I became a Duke fan, because his game is similar to mine (good jump shooter, good free throw shooter). Plus, he's white.
As a middle schooler, I would wear my white Duke No. 4 jersey to school on a daily basis, and my nightly rituals consisted of watching him play and then imitating him the next day during basketball practice.
My best memory by far is the Duke-Texas game (No. 1 vs No. 2) in East Rutherford, N.J. during his senior year. Duke always makes at least one trip to New York or New Jersey during the holiday season, and a tradition of mine is attending these games with my Dad. He scored 41 points. On nine 3-pointers. In a 97-66 Duke win. That's my guy!
A ninth-grade version of me was at this game, at a time when I was convinced I'd be playing college basketball for Duke.
