What is the greatest sports event you ever watched on TV live?

[Dr. Jack]

If you can name one what comes to mind?

[Steel]

Horrible with years but it hasn't gotten much better then the year the Americans won the Olympic Hockey title.

[Ricky Tan]

The January 3, 1993, (1992 season) NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers (also known as "The Comeback") featured the Bills recovering from a 32-point deficit to win in overtime, and it remains the largest comeback in a playoff game in NFL history. (The largest comeback in a regular season game still remains the San Francisco 49ers comeback from a 35-7 deficit in the second quarter against the New Orleans Saints on December 7, 1980.) The game is also remembered for being won by the Bills backup quarterback Frank Reich.
It was played in Rich Stadium, and was televised by NBC, with Charlie Jones and Todd Christensen calling the action. The stadium did not sell out for this game and was therefore blacked out in Western New York and Southern Ontario. As a result, local fans did not get to see the game broadcast on TV.

First half
Houston dominated the game early, as quarterback Warren Moon completed 19 of 22 passes for 220 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half, while the Oilers held the ball for 21:12, keeping the Bills high powered offense off the field for most of the first two quarters. On the opening drive of the first quarter, Moon completed 6 of 7 passes on an 80-yard scoring drive that took over 9 minutes off the clock and ended it with his first touchdown throw to wide receiver Haywood Jeffires for 3 yards to give the Oilers a 7–0 lead. Buffalo responded on their ensuing drive, as Kenneth Davis returned the kickoff 33 yards to the 44-yard line. Reich subsequently led the Bills to the Oilers 18-yard line where Steve Christie made a 36-yard field goal, to cut the score to 7-3. But Moon struck right back, leading the Oilers on a second quarter scoring drive that was nearly identical to their first one, completing 6 of 7 passes on another 80-yard drive and finishing it with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Webster Slaughter. Then after forcing the Bills to a three-and-out, Moon threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Duncan. Later on with 1:15 left in the half, the Oilers drove for another touchdown, aided by an encroachment call against the Bills on fourth down and 1. Moon completed the drive with his second touchdown pass to Jeffires, this one a 27-yarder, and the Oilers went into their locker room with a 28–3 halftime lead.

Second half
In the Bills locker room, Defensive Coordinator Walt Corey angrily chided the defense. "I was hollering the same things the fans were hollering at me when we left the field," Corey says. "I can't repeat the words, but the more I talked, the louder I got. The thing that bothered me was their approach. To me, they looked timid. They looked like they were going to get in the right spots, but they weren't going to make anything happen afterward. This is an attitude game. Sometimes you start playing and you're afraid to make things happen or afraid to make a mistake." Nose Tackle Jeff Wright recalled "With every word that came out of Walt's mouth, he reached a new temperature level, until he finally just exploded. He had every right to say the things that he said. We were embarrassing him, we were embarrassing ourselves, we were embarrassing Buffalo Bills fans."
Meanwhile, head coach Marv Levy told his team "You've got thirty more minutes. Maybe it's the last thirty minutes of your season. When your season's over you're going to have to live with yourselves and look yourselves in the eyes. You'd damn well better have reason to feel good about yourselves, regardless of how this game turns out."[1]
Apparently, the words of Corey and Levy didn't have any immediate effect. 1:41 into the third quarter, Frank Reich threw a pass that bounced off the hands of tight end Keith McKeller and went into the arms of defensive back Bubba McDowell, who returned the interception 58 yards for a touchdown. Houston now had a commanding 32-point lead, 35-3; it was only the second time all season the Oilers had broken 30 points scored in a game. The Bills misfortunes were compounded with the loss of Thurman Thomas, who had to leave the game due to a hip injury on the drive, forcing Buffalo to attempt a comeback with a second string backfield of Reich and Davis.
A Houston radio announcer was immortalized on NFL Films with the statement "The lights are on here at Rich Stadium, they've been on since this morning, you could pretty much turn them out on the Bills right now."[1]
The Bills got a huge assist to start their comeback on the ensuing kickoff. The wind altered the ball just before it was kicked by Al Del Greco. As a result, it became an unintentional squib kick that the Bills recovered with great field position at midfield. Buffalo then drove 50 yards in 10 plays, including a pass to Pete Metzelaars that went right through Linebacker Eddie Robinson's hands, and scored with a 1-yard touchdown run by Davis, cutting the deficit to 35–10. On the drive, Reich completed a 24-yard pass to tight end Pete Metzelaars and a 16-yard strike to Andre Reed, while Davis kept the drive going with a 5-yard run on fourth down and 2 before finishing it off with a touchdown run with 8:52 left in the 3rd quarter.
Christie then recovered his own onside kick and the Bills scored on the fourth play of their ensuing drive with Reich's 38-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Don Beebe (on a play in which he ran out of bounds and returned to the field of play to be the first to touch the ball--an illegal touching of the football; this was pointed out on ESPN's "NFL Primetime" postgame recap), making the score 35-17 with 7:46 left in the third quarter.
Houston was then forced to punt for the first time in the game on their next drive, and Greg Montgomery's 25-yard kick gave Buffalo the ball at their own 41-yard line. Reich started out the ensuing drive with an 18-yard completion to James Lofton. Davis gained 20 yards on a screen pass and then Reich threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Reed, trimming the lead, 35–24. In a span of 10 minutes in the third quarter, the Bills had run 18 plays, gained 176 yards, and scored 21 points, while holding the Oilers offense to 3 plays for 3 yards.
The situation wasn't about to get any better for Houston. On the first play of the Oilers' ensuing possession, Moon's pass was tipped off the hands of Slaughter; Bills safety Henry Jones intercepted the pass from Moon and returned it 15 yards to the Houston 23-yard line. Three plays later, Buffalo faced fourth down and five on the 18-yard line. Rather than attempt a field goal, Reich connected with Reed for the touchdown. With the score, the Bills had cut their deficit from 32 points to four in a span of just 6:52. On the Oilers' next drive, linebacker Darryl Talley forced a fumble from Moon while sacking him. Houston recovered the fumble, but they were forced to punt, and Montgomery's 24-yard kick gave Buffalo the ball at its 48-yard line. In the third quarter, Buffalo had outscored Houston 28–7 while holding Moon to 2 of 7 completions for 19 yards.
This time, the Bills could not take advantage of their excellent starting field position and had to punt, and Moon's run and shoot offense began to move the ball effectively again, aided by a roughing the passer penalty on Bruce Smith that negated linebacker Carlton Bailey's interception. Despite two sacks by Wright on the drive, Houston reached the Buffalo 14-yard line. Al Del Greco attempted a field goal to increase the Oilers' lead, but Montgomery fumbled the snap. Talley recovered the ball and returned it 70 yards, but officials ruled him down by contact when he made the initial recovery, giving Buffalo the ball on their own 26-yard line. After two plays, the Bills faced third down and four. With Houston's defense dropping back and expecting a pass, Reich handed the ball off to Davis, who stormed through the line and took off for a 35-yard gain. Only a diving tackle from defensive back Steve Jackson prevented Davis from taking it all the way for a touchdown. Then Reich went back to passing the ball, completing a short pass to Reed at the Oilers 17-yard line on third down and two for the first down. With just 3:08 left in the fourth quarter, Reich threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Reed, giving Buffalo its first lead of the game 38–35; for the first time all season the Houston defense (ninth in fewest points allowed that season) had allowed over 29 points. But Moon led Houston downfield on a 63-yard drive to score the tying 26-yard field goal from Del Greco to send the game into overtime. A key play on the drive was an 18-yard completion to Slaughter on fourth down and four from the Bills 34-yard line.
Houston won the coin toss and got the ball at its 20-yard line. Moon started out the drive with two completions for 7 yards, but his 50th pass attempt of the day turned out to be his last. On third down and three, Moon threw a pass intended for Ernest Givens five yards downfield, but due to a struggle with Talley, Givens could not get his arms up to make the catch. The ball went over his head and right into the arms of defensive back Nate Odomes for an interception. After a 2-yard return, Jeffires committed a 15-yard facemask penalty while making the tackle, giving the Bills a first down on Houston's 20-yard line. After two runs by Davis, Christie kicked a 32-yard field goal to give Buffalo the win, 41–38. Buffalo would win the following two AFC playoff games to advance to the 3rd of their four consecutive Super Bowl appearances.
Reich finished the game with 21 of 34 pass completions for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 1 interception. Reed had 8 catches for 136 yards and 3 touchdowns. Davis rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown, while also catching 2 passes for 25 yards and returning a kickoff for 33. Moon recorded 36 of 50 completions for 371 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 2 interceptions. Givens caught 9 passes for 117 yards. Jeffires recorded 8 catches for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The very next day, the Oilers fired defensive coordinator Jim Eddy and defensive backs coach Pat Thomas.[2] Eddy would be replaced by Buddy Ryan.
In commemoration of the game, Steve Christie's kicking shoe from the game has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

[secondbase]

got to second Steel there, but some boxing matches like Ali and Frazier stick out.

[mark12]

Originally Posted by Ricky Tan

The January 3, 1993, (1992 season) NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Oilers (also known as "The Comeback") featured the Bills recovering from a 32-point deficit to win in overtime, and it remains the largest comeback in a playoff game in NFL history. (The largest comeback in a regular season game still remains the San Francisco 49ers comeback from a 35-7 deficit in the second quarter against the New Orleans Saints on December 7, 1980.) The game is also remembered for being won by the Bills backup quarterback Frank Reich.
It was played in Rich Stadium, and was televised by NBC, with Charlie Jones and Todd Christensen calling the action. The stadium did not sell out for this game and was therefore blacked out in Western New York and Southern Ontario. As a result, local fans did not get to see the game broadcast on TV.

First half
Houston dominated the game early, as quarterback Warren Moon completed 19 of 22 passes for 220 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half, while the Oilers held the ball for 21:12, keeping the Bills high powered offense off the field for most of the first two quarters. On the opening drive of the first quarter, Moon completed 6 of 7 passes on an 80-yard scoring drive that took over 9 minutes off the clock and ended it with his first touchdown throw to wide receiver Haywood Jeffires for 3 yards to give the Oilers a 7–0 lead. Buffalo responded on their ensuing drive, as Kenneth Davis returned the kickoff 33 yards to the 44-yard line. Reich subsequently led the Bills to the Oilers 18-yard line where Steve Christie made a 36-yard field goal, to cut the score to 7-3. But Moon struck right back, leading the Oilers on a second quarter scoring drive that was nearly identical to their first one, completing 6 of 7 passes on another 80-yard drive and finishing it with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Webster Slaughter. Then after forcing the Bills to a three-and-out, Moon threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Duncan. Later on with 1:15 left in the half, the Oilers drove for another touchdown, aided by an encroachment call against the Bills on fourth down and 1. Moon completed the drive with his second touchdown pass to Jeffires, this one a 27-yarder, and the Oilers went into their locker room with a 28–3 halftime lead.

Second half
In the Bills locker room, Defensive Coordinator Walt Corey angrily chided the defense. "I was hollering the same things the fans were hollering at me when we left the field," Corey says. "I can't repeat the words, but the more I talked, the louder I got. The thing that bothered me was their approach. To me, they looked timid. They looked like they were going to get in the right spots, but they weren't going to make anything happen afterward. This is an attitude game. Sometimes you start playing and you're afraid to make things happen or afraid to make a mistake." Nose Tackle Jeff Wright recalled "With every word that came out of Walt's mouth, he reached a new temperature level, until he finally just exploded. He had every right to say the things that he said. We were embarrassing him, we were embarrassing ourselves, we were embarrassing Buffalo Bills fans."
Meanwhile, head coach Marv Levy told his team "You've got thirty more minutes. Maybe it's the last thirty minutes of your season. When your season's over you're going to have to live with yourselves and look yourselves in the eyes. You'd damn well better have reason to feel good about yourselves, regardless of how this game turns out."[1]
Apparently, the words of Corey and Levy didn't have any immediate effect. 1:41 into the third quarter, Frank Reich threw a pass that bounced off the hands of tight end Keith McKeller and went into the arms of defensive back Bubba McDowell, who returned the interception 58 yards for a touchdown. Houston now had a commanding 32-point lead, 35-3; it was only the second time all season the Oilers had broken 30 points scored in a game. The Bills misfortunes were compounded with the loss of Thurman Thomas, who had to leave the game due to a hip injury on the drive, forcing Buffalo to attempt a comeback with a second string backfield of Reich and Davis.
A Houston radio announcer was immortalized on NFL Films with the statement "The lights are on here at Rich Stadium, they've been on since this morning, you could pretty much turn them out on the Bills right now."[1]
The Bills got a huge assist to start their comeback on the ensuing kickoff. The wind altered the ball just before it was kicked by Al Del Greco. As a result, it became an unintentional squib kick that the Bills recovered with great field position at midfield. Buffalo then drove 50 yards in 10 plays, including a pass to Pete Metzelaars that went right through Linebacker Eddie Robinson's hands, and scored with a 1-yard touchdown run by Davis, cutting the deficit to 35–10. On the drive, Reich completed a 24-yard pass to tight end Pete Metzelaars and a 16-yard strike to Andre Reed, while Davis kept the drive going with a 5-yard run on fourth down and 2 before finishing it off with a touchdown run with 8:52 left in the 3rd quarter.
Christie then recovered his own onside kick and the Bills scored on the fourth play of their ensuing drive with Reich's 38-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Don Beebe (on a play in which he ran out of bounds and returned to the field of play to be the first to touch the ball--an illegal touching of the football; this was pointed out on ESPN's "NFL Primetime" postgame recap), making the score 35-17 with 7:46 left in the third quarter.
Houston was then forced to punt for the first time in the game on their next drive, and Greg Montgomery's 25-yard kick gave Buffalo the ball at their own 41-yard line. Reich started out the ensuing drive with an 18-yard completion to James Lofton. Davis gained 20 yards on a screen pass and then Reich threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Reed, trimming the lead, 35–24. In a span of 10 minutes in the third quarter, the Bills had run 18 plays, gained 176 yards, and scored 21 points, while holding the Oilers offense to 3 plays for 3 yards.
The situation wasn't about to get any better for Houston. On the first play of the Oilers' ensuing possession, Moon's pass was tipped off the hands of Slaughter; Bills safety Henry Jones intercepted the pass from Moon and returned it 15 yards to the Houston 23-yard line. Three plays later, Buffalo faced fourth down and five on the 18-yard line. Rather than attempt a field goal, Reich connected with Reed for the touchdown. With the score, the Bills had cut their deficit from 32 points to four in a span of just 6:52. On the Oilers' next drive, linebacker Darryl Talley forced a fumble from Moon while sacking him. Houston recovered the fumble, but they were forced to punt, and Montgomery's 24-yard kick gave Buffalo the ball at its 48-yard line. In the third quarter, Buffalo had outscored Houston 28–7 while holding Moon to 2 of 7 completions for 19 yards.
This time, the Bills could not take advantage of their excellent starting field position and had to punt, and Moon's run and shoot offense began to move the ball effectively again, aided by a roughing the passer penalty on Bruce Smith that negated linebacker Carlton Bailey's interception. Despite two sacks by Wright on the drive, Houston reached the Buffalo 14-yard line. Al Del Greco attempted a field goal to increase the Oilers' lead, but Montgomery fumbled the snap. Talley recovered the ball and returned it 70 yards, but officials ruled him down by contact when he made the initial recovery, giving Buffalo the ball on their own 26-yard line. After two plays, the Bills faced third down and four. With Houston's defense dropping back and expecting a pass, Reich handed the ball off to Davis, who stormed through the line and took off for a 35-yard gain. Only a diving tackle from defensive back Steve Jackson prevented Davis from taking it all the way for a touchdown. Then Reich went back to passing the ball, completing a short pass to Reed at the Oilers 17-yard line on third down and two for the first down. With just 3:08 left in the fourth quarter, Reich threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Reed, giving Buffalo its first lead of the game 38–35; for the first time all season the Houston defense (ninth in fewest points allowed that season) had allowed over 29 points. But Moon led Houston downfield on a 63-yard drive to score the tying 26-yard field goal from Del Greco to send the game into overtime. A key play on the drive was an 18-yard completion to Slaughter on fourth down and four from the Bills 34-yard line.
Houston won the coin toss and got the ball at its 20-yard line. Moon started out the drive with two completions for 7 yards, but his 50th pass attempt of the day turned out to be his last. On third down and three, Moon threw a pass intended for Ernest Givens five yards downfield, but due to a struggle with Talley, Givens could not get his arms up to make the catch. The ball went over his head and right into the arms of defensive back Nate Odomes for an interception. After a 2-yard return, Jeffires committed a 15-yard facemask penalty while making the tackle, giving the Bills a first down on Houston's 20-yard line. After two runs by Davis, Christie kicked a 32-yard field goal to give Buffalo the win, 41–38. Buffalo would win the following two AFC playoff games to advance to the 3rd of their four consecutive Super Bowl appearances.
Reich finished the game with 21 of 34 pass completions for 289 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 1 interception. Reed had 8 catches for 136 yards and 3 touchdowns. Davis rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown, while also catching 2 passes for 25 yards and returning a kickoff for 33. Moon recorded 36 of 50 completions for 371 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 2 interceptions. Givens caught 9 passes for 117 yards. Jeffires recorded 8 catches for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The very next day, the Oilers fired defensive coordinator Jim Eddy and defensive backs coach Pat Thomas.[2] Eddy would be replaced by Buddy Ryan.
In commemoration of the game, Steve Christie's kicking shoe from the game has been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

That game sucked!

[uva3021]

2 obscure games that for some reason come to mind

Cubs vs Dodgers, essentially Matt Clement vs Alex Cora, 20+ pitch AB, 10+ straight foul balls, all same pitch, all same location, finally Cora took him yard

Sonics/Suns regular season 2006, think final was 151-142, most entertaining basketball game I've ever seen, Ray Allen had like 40, making 3 after 3, and Steve Nash was insane

[TheLink]

Boise St vs Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl

[mark12]

1976 NBA Finals: Boston vs Phoenix Game 5

Game 5 was a triple-overtime classic that is considered by many to be the greatest game in NBA history. With the series tied 2-2, Boston took a huge lead at Boston Garden but could not hold it. The game was enhanced by several controversies.

Two controversies involved each team's use of timeouts:

(a) With the score tied at 95-95, Boston's Paul Silas attempted to call a timeout near the end of regulation with the Celtics out of timeouts. Referee Richie Powers appeared to have seen Silas signal the timeout, but did not grant it.

(b) The Suns' Paul Westphal also called a timeout with his team out of them, as further explained below.

Another pair of controversies involved the clock;

(a) With three seconds left in the first overtime and the score 101-101, John Havlicek took an inbounds pass and dribbled to the right baseline before attempting a game-winning shot. The clock appeared not to start until Havlicek stopped dribbling and ball-faked before he released the shot.

(b) Havlicek hit what appeared to be the game-winning shot at the end of the second overtime, but his shot went through the basket with two seconds left and the clock should have been stopped, as discussed below.

The most notable portion of the game was the final 20 seconds of the second overtime. Boston led at that point 109-106 (with the three-point basket not yet in existence). Phoenix had possession of the ball. In an amazing and frantic sequence, the following transpired:

(a) The Suns' Dick Van Arsdale hit a short jumper from the corner, cutting the gap to 109-108,

(b) the Celtics inbounded the ball to John Havlicek, but the Suns' Paul Westphal came from seemingly out of nowhere to knock the ball out of Havlicek's hands. As his momentum was carrying him out of bounds, Westphal saved the ball to Van Arsdale, who passed it to Curtis Perry. Perry took an 18-footer from the left wing and missed.

(c) Havlicek went after the rebound on the Perry miss, but couldn't get a grip on it and ended up tapping the ball back to Perry on the left baseline.

(d) Perry then let fly from 15 feet (4.6 m) and made the shot to put the Suns ahead.

Phoenix suddenly led, 110-109, with just six seconds left, and the team looked poised to win their third straight game and grab a 3-to-2 edge in the series. Not to be outdone, John Havlicek (already of "Havlicek Stole the Ball" fame) responded with a drive and a leaning one-hander in traffic that put Boston in front 111-110 as the horn sounded. The fans then poured onto the court to celebrate Boston's victory. The Celtics returned to their locker room. But, as CBS analyst Rick Barry loudly pointed out, the ball went through the hoop with two seconds left and the clock should have been stopped. The officials apparently agreed with Barry and ordered the Celtics back onto the floor. The game was not over.

During the ensuing pandemonium, a fan attacked referee Richie Powers and other fans turned over one of the scorer's tables. After clearing the court (the fan who attacked Powers was arrested) and getting the Celtics back on the floor, the officials put one second back on the clock. Still, Phoenix's chances seemed slim, as they had the ball under their own basket with a second left. Then Paul Westphal of the Suns made a heady play, signaling for a time out that the Suns did not have. Although this resulted in a technical foul being called on Westphal, the play was critical for Phoenix, because the rules at the time gave Phoenix the same advantage (save for the technical foul shot) that they would have had with timeouts remaining to use; namely, possession of the ball at half court. Boston's Jo Jo White made the technical free throw, increasing Boston's lead to 112-110.

During the timeout, fans were still on the Boston Garden floor, even disturbing the Suns' huddle by their bench as coach John MacLeod was drawing up a play for a possible tying basket. The Suns' players repeatedly had to shove the fans out of the way, and Phoenix general manager Jerry Colangelo even threatened to not bring his team back to the Boston Garden for Game 7 if security couldn't maintain control. When play resumed, Phoenix's Garfield Heard took the inbounds pass from Perry and made a buzzer-beating shot (a turn-around jumper at the top of the key) for the Suns that tied the score yet again, 112-112.

Boston eventually took a six-point lead, 128-122, late in the third overtime. Westphal scored the next four points for Phoenix, cutting the gap to 128-126, but could not get the ball again (with Westphal nearly stealing a pass near half court as the third overtime wound down).

Boston then won Game 6 and took their 13th championship. Jo Jo White was named the Finals Most Valuable Player.

[Jahred]

boise st / ou

[Romanowski]

Ive seen a lot of memorable games live on TV

but at the stadium, #1 for me was game one 1988 World Series, Kirk Gibson Pinch hit HR

[rjb1816]

on tv was lakers spurs after duncan banks in shot and then fisher hit the infamous shot with .6

[huscroft6]

Red Sox game 7 at NY in 04

[Romanowski]

Originally Posted by huscroft6

Red Sox game 7 at NY in 04

who remembers that game?

[TN TITAN Fan In STL]

Game 5 of the 2005 NLCS a group of about 20 of us from STL were at the mirage I had the cards to win the game.Top of 9th STL was down to its last strike and Eckstein hit a single,Edmonds walked and them Pujols hit a homer of Lidge that I still don't think has landed.That was of my best nights gambling wise I won $300 on the cards game and $600 on the colts/rams monday night over.

[dave nz]

For US sport....Brady's first superbowl I will always remember that game.
Also the epic Lakers / Celtics rivalries in the 80's, tough to pinpoint one game as was only a kid. Can still name both teams starting five's with no research