In Australia our iconic sports moment and champions are divided by our states and their sporting cultures, I assume it’s similar with you guys and was interested in some regional responses 🙂

38 comments

  1. Magglio Ordóñez hitting a walk-off home run against the As in the ALCS to send the Tigers to the World Series in 2006 is pretty iconic.

    Barry Sanders rushing for 2000+ yards in 1997. Really anything Barry related. The man is genuinely beloved in the city.

    1a. Steve Yzerman holding up the Stanley Cup with missing teeth. 1b. Fight Night at the Joe, March 26, 1997.

    2004 “Going to Work” Pistons. Every player on that team is a legend in the city. The starting five with Billups, Wallace, Wallace, Prince, and Hamilton is one of the most unique and exciting groups ever to come together. I think they ultimately surpassed the Bad Boys in popularity, because they were more likeable in their own way. Its close though.

  2. Kentucky doesn’t have any pro sports teams so it would have to be college sports. For me that would be the University of Kentucky basketball team winning the NCAA National Championship (March Madness) in 2012 while I was in college.

  3. It’s the next state over but the Red Sox’s miraculous comeback in the 2004 ALCS, en route to their first championship since 1918. Down three games to none in a best of seven series they managed to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning — the last possible moment — forcing extra innings until they won. Then practically the same thing happened the next day in game five! And in game 6 they won despite an injury to their pitcher. Finally they won game 7 with a blowout! The first and only time a baseball team has won a best of seven series after being down three. And it was all against the dreaded New York Yankees, the much hated rival. Major players were Dave Roberts, David Ortiz, and Curt Schilling (who has sadly revealed himself as a huge bigot since).

    There’s a documentary about it called “Four Nights on October”, really well done and I think interesting even if you aren’t a baseball fan.

  6. Vince Young winning the natty for UT

    Nolan Ryan beating the shit out of Robin Ventura

    RG3 winning the Heisman

  7. Patrick Kane’s overtime game winning goal in the Stanley Cup Final against the Flyers in 2010 was a thing of beauty.

  9. The University of Chicago was a founding member of the Big Ten and home of the first Heisman Trophy winner. Go Maroons!

  11. 2016 Chicago Cubs winning the world series after 100 years since their last victory.

  13. Mississippi as a state has won the last two College World Series but I only really liked one of them

    During my senior year as a cheerleader at Mississippi State we were briefly ranked #1 in the country too. That was fun. My last ever game as a cheerleader was the Orange Bowl against Georgia Tech. I got extremely drunk in Miami the night before and was so hungover that I don’t remember the game.

  14. 28-3. Atlanta fans are still in shambles.

    Also game 7 of the 2013 first round series between the Bruins and Maple Leafs. It’s lesser known outside of the hockey world, but the Bruins were down 4-1 with about 10 minutes left and came back to win 5-4 in overtime. People were leaving the building and then were begging security to let them back in. It’s probably the greatest comeback in hockey history, and Toronto still gets annoyed about it.

  15. For athlete it’s gotta be MJ. For team it’s UNC/DUKE basketball. For accomplishment, you could go with any of the national championships, but I think I’d say “the shot” by Laettner against Kentucky. Honorable mention to NC State’s championship with Jimmy V.

  16. In North Carolina NCAA basketball when you have Duke and Unc-Chapel hill it’s hard to pick just one moment. also the Canes winning the Stanley cup, as a southern team it was really exciting as our NBA and NFL team don’t have as good of luck winning national titles.

  17. Urban Meyer choosing to grind on some coeds rather than focusing on coaching an NFL team

  18. Matthew Stanford winning a super bowl with the Rams

    Closest the Lions got to winning the super bowl in the last 20 years, and probably the next 20

  19. Well Maine mostly has hockey which I don’t follow, so I’ll go with Massachusetts where I grew up.

    For Massachusetts the two most iconic athletes I think of are: Tom Brady and David Ortiz

    Most iconic team would obviously be the Boston Red Sox

    And most iconic accomplishment would be the Red Sox breaking the Curse of the Bambino (86 years of getting close but never winning the Series) and winning the World Series back in 2004. I was in college in Western Mass at the time and I remember when the game ended there was shouting and fireworks and people blasting music everywhere. There were people running through the quad with Red Sox banners screaming and singing. It felt like the whole state just simultaneously burst into celebration. It was wild.

  21. New York has a disproportionate amount of legitimately iconic moments.

    The “Shot Heard Round the World”, Ali vs Frasier, *the* Willie Mays catch, the Miracle Mets, Bill Buckner and the ’86 Mets, sadly Reggie Miller’s 8 points in 9 seconds, and more Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig/Joe DiMaggio/Mickey Mantle/etc. moments then I could possibly name.

    My personal favorite was [Mike Piazza’s homerun after 9/11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQhH6yZ8lxw&ab_channel=MLB). It doesn’t make any sense but for some inexplicable reason that moment let New Yorkers know everything was going to be OK. It was just a real turning point in the city.

  22. For St. Louis (this is my top 5 out of many iconic moments):

    “Go crazy folks” (Ozzie Smith’s HR to win Game 5 of the 1986 NLCS)

    Game 6 (2011 World Series Game 6, David Freese hitting the walk off)

    Mike Jone tackle to win the Super Bowl

    McGuire’s 62nd

    The Blues raising the Cup

  23. The 1980 Miracle on Ice (Winter Olympics) was in Lake Placid NY. Iconic for New York but also the entire country.

  24. Even though I’m a University of Virginia alum (for grad school) and lifelong fan, I have to think Virginia Tech’s sustained success in the 1990s and 2000s would probably be the defining moment for younger generations. Virginia’s 2019 basketball title after losing the biggest upset in the sport’s history one year earlier was a huge deal as well. I will fully admit that my dad and I cried.

    Arthur Ashe winning Wimbledon is probably it for my parents’ generation.

    Not a super iconic moment unless you’re a big motorsports fan, but Ricky Rudd’s win at Martinsville in 1993 was pretty wild. Record high temps, all the cooling systems in his car failed, and he had to take oxygen from a tank before he could give a victory lane interview. He also had second degree burns from how hot it was inside the car. There’s a reason they called him the Iron Man!

    EDIT: For a lot of Southerners in general, I’d think the 1995 World Series is way up there. “Our” Braves finally won a title.

  25. College football in Florida is the first thing that comes to mind. Mostly because our NFL teams weren’t great when I was growing up. And we didn’t have any of the other teams yet. No MLB, NBA or NHL until later. So college football was just bigger in my mind.

  27. Ohio State Buckeyes. Our greatest athlete is Jesse Owens. There have been other great ones, but Jesse wins by blowing up Hitler’s white supremacy bullshit. Also, the Browns apparently were good before the Super Bowl existed.

  29. The Savannah Bananas becoming as popular as they are.

    The fact that Jesse Cole took a decrepit old baseball stadium and made a team that fans around the country are desperate to see is just incredible.

  32. Only 2 time Heisman Winner Archie Griffen

    OSU has the first ever college football playoff national championship win in 2015

    The Browns were pretty good in the 50s but nobody cares about that. They appeared in the NFL Championship game 7 times in 8 years, which would be considered a dynasty today.

    The Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals against LeBron James and the Cavaliers.

  36. Jim Thorpe and Mickey Mantle are 1a and 1b as far as Oklahoma sports heroes go. Johnny Bench and Sam Bradford are up there as well

    As far as teams go, the Oklahoma Sooners are one of the top-3 college football programs of all time

  37. Iconic moment of an athlete from our state?

    Orlovsky running out the back of the endzone.

    Iconic moment of a team from our state?

    Whalers fucking leaving. JK its probably college basketball related. Idk, dont really follow UCONN Basketball (but I *do* follow UCONN football cause I like pain)

    Oh and I guess codifying american gridiron football

  38. Alabama as a state has a rich history in sports. Many of America’s most famous athletes are from Alabama. We also have a football game every Fall called the Iron Bowl that shuts the whole state down it is so important.

    Some famous athletes from AL:

    Charles Barkley

    Bo Jackson

    Mia Hamm

    Jesse Owens

    Joe Lewis

    Hank Aaron

    Satchel Page

    Willie Mays

    Evander Holyfield

    Carl Lewis

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