OK then … people actually have questions.
The first comes from former Portland Trail Blazer and Kansas Jayhawk Darnell Valentine: “Pat, you've personally seen a lot of games and sporting events. What stands out as your most favorite/special and why.”
Wow. This actually is a challenge.
A bunch of stuff comes to mind. The Browns losing their 1999 opener 41-0 to the Steelers, or the Browns losing on Christmas Eve 43-0 to the Steelers, or the Browns blowing that huge lead at home to the Steelers, or the Browns losing the playoff game to the Steelers after leading by, like, 38 with three minutes left.
I was selling scorecards and pennants at Cleveland Municipal the night Dick Bosman threw his no-hitter way back when. That was very cool.
I saw many Dan Marino comebacks, all of which were memorable because Marino was one of a kind. I covered Emmitt Smith at Florida. That was fun.
The best setting for a game I’ve ever been to was the Rose Bowl. Set in the mountains in Pasadena. Very cool. Though Auburn for a college football game might be hard to match (sorry Big 10 folks).
LeBron has provided some great moments, and seeing the Indians clinch in Yankee Stadium a couple years back was special – despite what followed in Boston. In that Boston series, one game went extra innings and I didn’t leave the stadium until about 1:30 or 2 in the morning. All cabs were taken by drunk and rowdy Red Sox fans, so I wound up walking back to the hotel at 2 in the morning, amidst screaming , drunk and rowdy Red Sox fans. That was an experience.
And I’ve been to Olympics, which was more quirky than anything. I covered figure skating and became an expert on the lutz and salchow (riiiiiiight), but I also did aerial skiing and stood in 20-degree weather in the snow for a few hours and watched 40 or so folks do flips and tucks and salchows on skis. Then there was speed-skating. On TV you see the three or four fastest. Live, you see the 40 others who go round and round and round and round and round … all afternoon long.
But the best … I’d have to say Wimbledon. Because it was … Wimbledon. At one point my friend Sal Palantonio and I were watching an afternoon match and he looked at me and said: “Look at us. Two losers sitting Centre Court at Wimbledon.”
He was right.