This place is Dragging: Your Favorite (Personal) Sports Memory?

[UofCT]

Best: rec basketball championship senior year of HS. Clearly wasn't good enough to play travel. Leading scorer in the game, clinched it with FTs.

Worst: Volleyball State Championship Junior Year. I was on Ridgefield, weak side hitter, went up against Shelton (2004) and I am basically the reason we lost. I hit the net multiple times, couldn't block anything. We ended up losing 3-1. Brutal.

 

[boog204]

Individually All-State, team-wise conference and state champs my senior year in baseball... still (I think) holding the little league home run record w/ 15 in 14 games; hit some bombs when I was 12. Pitching wise I blew out my arm (it's never been the same) beating Mystic (defending champs) in an all-star tournament.

Basketball wise, I played in a two on two game versus Ajou Deng (he was being tutored at my high school). I had never seen such a long human being and never had I been more intimidated to shoot a basketball.

In college, I once drank 28 beers during a nearly all day power hour.

 

[boog204]

If we're doing worst... State tourney my junior year I missed a scoop at first base then confounded the problem by throwing wildly to home to help us blow a 4 run lead in the 7th.

Another time w/ the bases loaded I hit a slow chopper to short that would have tied the game, but I tripped running to first, ending the game w/ an easy 6-4-3 DP.

Basketball, I for no reason whatsoever, face guarded a guy on a full court press w/ a one point lead and 4 seconds left. The guy took off, I couldn't catch him, he hits a layup to win the game.

My freshman year of college Rip Hamilton was rehabbing a foot injury by riding his bike around the campus. I was walking near MSB, didn't notice Rip riding, and walked right into his path knocking us both over. I thought I had re-injured him and personally ruined our chance at a title.

 

[champs99and04]

Seventh grade AAU basketball - I played for a program, that I believe has since disbanded, called Big Threat, located out of Haverhill, MA.

I was pretty much over my head from the start, as my coaches were maniacs who challenged us relentlessly pretty much every practice, both mentally and physically (note, one or both of them have since been arrested, though in truth 2007 champs99and04 was probably just soft).

Anyhow, one day during practice, the coaches take us up to the weight room. I probably weighed like 70 pounds at the time and had never picked up a weight before in my life. The program, though, happened to consist of some of the best players in the state, one of whom was Noah Vonleh. So me being an idiot, I examine the landscape and convince myself that I can handle a weight way heavier than what I was capable of.

What ensued afterwards was comedy, at least for everybody else. I'm lifting, by myself, in a state of agony, when Vonleh rushes over: "whoa whoa whoa! You need to start with something lighter"

We then proceed to downscale a couple of times before we finally discover something I can handle, and everybody watching in horror returned to what they had been doing previously.

So, not much honor in this story, but definitely cooler than anything I accomplished between the whistles. I may have paraphrased this story in different contexts by talking about how I lifted weights with Noah Vonleh.

 

[Deepster]

Rec league hockey game. My team won 4-3 in overtime. I had all 4 goals, including the breakaway game winner in OT.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Having a ten game hitting streak in High School
It was only stopped when the homer score keeper called it an error when their outfielder
Missed a shoestring catch. Their pitcher had a no hitter going.
Beating the Number 1 team in the state in football.
I did get knocked out in that game so my memory is fuzzy.
Making 18 consecutive free throws to win a team contest.
Making 8 shots in a row from the deep right corner with my patented one handler.
It was a JV game but I'm counting it anyway. Inside 20 ft I was deadly.
Being on the same field with Floyd Little. Although I tried I never got a hand on him. I did knock Shorty Gardin ,who played for the Baltimore Colts in a Super Bowl IV, out of bounds on a punt return.,barely. Okay he stepped on the line but I caused It.
Hitting a baseball into the pine trees in left field at Cheshire.
To be honest my bigger thrills were watching my son and now my grandsons play

 

[OkaForPrez]

My freshman year of college Rip Hamilton was rehabbing a foot injury by riding his bike around the campus. I was walking near MSB, didn't notice Rip riding, and walked right into his path knocking us both over. I thought I had re-injured him and personally ruined our chance at a title.

Edit: Just noticed Shaq is wearing new balances.

 

[Stainmaster]

Basketball-wise, I hit a game-winning hook shot from the top of the key at the buzzer as an 8th grader in the Mansfield Parks and Rec League.

Overall, I'd probably have to say beating Tolland in straight sets in my final varsity tennis match. It was made especially sweet since when we played them a couple of weeks earlier, we lost in 3 and I got nailed in the 'nads early on.

 

[boog204]

Oh I should also add for fave memory... One of the bball team managers lived on my floor and was tight with a lot of the players. So my freshman and soph year included many extracurricular adventures with the players. And probably my fave memory was being in Huskies when Taliek Brown and Johnnie Selvie decided they wanted to party with us. Spent the rest of the night w/ them. Surreal experience.

 

[bear]

Baseball state championship and all state honors senior year of HS. Hit a home run off Matt Harvey once when we were 15.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

Basketball-wise, I hit a game-winning hook shot from the top of the key at the buzzer as an 8th grader in the Mansfield Parks and Rec League.

Overall, I'd probably have to say beating Tolland in straight sets in my final varsity tennis match. It was made especially sweet since when we played them a couple of weeks earlier, we lost in 3 and I got nailed in the 'nads early on.

Yesss mansfield rec basketball and eo smith tennis let's go.

 

[joober jones]

As far as non-UConn spectator experiences go, I'd have to say being present for Joe Carter's World Series winning home run in 1993 along with my father and three brothers is the one I'll alway remember most fondly.

As far as ones I was actually involved in, I would say it was making a desperation three while falling out of bounds to beat the buzzer and win the game in a regional playoff in high school. That's my one and only game-saving play in all of my life.

 

[RayIsTheGOAT]

When you think about the best moments of your sports life (as in YOU on the field/court) what comes to mind? Let's hear the beer league highlight reels.

Beating Ray Allen in a shortened 3-pt contest.
Therefore, I am the greatest 3 point shooter of all time.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Beating Ray Allen in a shortened 3-pt contest.
Therefore, I am the greatest 3 point shooter of all time.

Need a new handle.

 

[Pudge]

1. Hitting a walk-off Home Run in little league, to win 6-5 in the bottom of the 6th, as an 11 year old against an arch-rival who had my neighbor pitching & his father coaching. Total shock in the neighborhood.
2. Scored a Hat-trick in Soccer during an Alumni Quad tournament in about 1979 when Jimmy Lyman (a future All America) was playing for the opposing team. (He was probably - most likely - high.)

 

[Excalibur]

Oh I should also add for fave memory... One of the bball team managers lived on my floor and was tight with a lot of the players. So my freshman and soph year included many extracurricular adventures with the players. And probably my fave memory was being in Huskies when Taliek Brown and Johnnie Selvie decided they wanted to party with us. Spent the rest of the night w/ them. Surreal experience.

Had a similar experience with Souleymane Wane and Khalid El-Amin my junior year in Watson Hall, the night before Soul's first game (he was not eligible in the first semester).

 

[OkaForPrez]

Oh I should also add for fave memory... One of the bball team managers lived on my floor and was tight with a lot of the players. So my freshman and soph year included many extracurricular adventures with the players. And probably my fave memory was being in Huskies when Taliek Brown and Johnnie Selvie decided they wanted to party with us. Spent the rest of the night w/ them. Surreal experience.

To be fair, we would need a show of hands for people who didn't party with Johnny Time. I hung out with Taliek a few times as well.

 

[CTMike]

Somewhere around 7th grade... Town league hoops in Wethersfield... We were down 2 with a few seconds to go, had to go the length of the floor. I am, most definitely, not a prototypical hoops player. Honestly not sure why I was on the court unless we were missing people and there was foul trouble. Anyway, play was drawn up for anyone but me... Ball was deflected and ended up in my hands... My one and only three pointer swishes in, and I just remember yelling "I'm going to Disney world!" like I won the Super Bowl.

 

[Matrim55]

Getting smoked by Ray in Beirut at Teddy's back in '96 (he played with Coke - didn't drink at all back then).

 

[Scoe]

Mine is more of a wtf type of moments, I was a defenseman in lacrosse and I catch an outlet pass from the goalie I was running full speed down the field and whipped a bouncing shot through the goalies legs, I had no stick skills whatsoever. In wrestling being down by 10 in the 3rd period and getting a pin with a minute left in the match.

 

[Greathusky]

I was the last player cut from the freshman basketball team at Shelton High. The coach was also the freshman football coach and saved four spots for his grid boys because they were still practicing.

I remember seeing the final list with my dad who always came to see me play. Not seeing my name on that list and walking back to the car with him in silence is something I will never forget. I felt that he had waited his whole life for his son to play high school basketball and I let him down.

I never played organized basketball again although to this day, I can still shoot the lights out at 57 years old (with nobody watching).

On a brighter note, UCONN basketball has made me happy over the years and eased my heartbreak. Although my dad passed away in 2008, he was proud of my achievements and family.

Excuse me while I reach for a hanky!

 

[Fishy]

Swim team in sixth grade.

We had a clinic at the local college that was the parent organization for our team.

They had some women from the college team doing demonstrations. An equipment failure on one of the prettier swimmers peeled the top-half of her racing suit down.

Might have been the high water mark of my life to that point.

 

[david]

Best: breaking my HS record in the 800m by running a 1:58 at the hartford invitational.

Worst: Duffing a penalty kick in a penalty shootout against farmington for my travel team. Our town was small so we very rarely ever had the chance to beat any of the bigger towns

 

[Kitaman]

Freshman high school football team 11-0 and UNSCORED UPON! I was the 'star' halfback with too many touchdowns.

Thanks for the thread as I tend to forget this extraordinary feat.

 

[pnow15]

It was late at night after a few beers, we had just met earlier at a horse show and we were sharing a cot.....