As for some of you, this whole Zinedine Zidane controversy has been on my mind for the past week. One aspect of it in particular, though, is intriguing.My wife had left for some errand or another on Sunday, leaving me with my 3-year-old daughter to watch the World Cup (honestly, does any husband remember what his wife says as she walks out the door while he’s watching sports? My wife could have said, “Pete, I’m going to the park to burn a cross, then stopping off to shoot some amateur porn with the weird-looking guy at the park.” I still would have just mumbled “whatever,” eyes fixated on the screen).
Anyways, as the game dragged into overtime, my daughter started losing interest (actually she started losing interest in the first half when she discovered a box of styrofoam in the basement; children have no appreciation for the majesty of sport). However, even she was drawn to the screen after the headbutt (helped no doubt by my screaming).
In that instant, the action on-screen was etched into my head, and I will forever remember where I was when Zidane head-butted Materrazi.
Why all of this rambling about soccer in a basketball blog? Well, I thought it might be nice to list the moments in Sonics history that are burned into my skull. Herewith a brief list of one man’s vivid recollections:
1. X-Man dunking against the Lakers
Not a huge moment in Sonics history; but I’ll never forget Nate McMillan alley-ooping to X on CBS against the Showtime Lakers. Must have been around 1986 or ’87, and the Sonics destroyed LA in the first half before blowing the lead and losing.
2. Tom Chambers wins All-Star MVP
Tommy Gun was a last-minute replacement for James Worthy, and he shot lights-out at the Kingdome. I still remember watching the game while my brother was shooting hoops by himself in the front yard. His loss.
3. Sonics lose to Nuggets in Game 5
My stomach has never felt any lower than it did that gray, Spring day. Let’s move on.
4. Eddie Johnson drains half-courter against Rockets
In 1993 the Sonics were the best team in West, and EJ’s incredible shot at the end of the 3rd (?) quarter will always be the play I remember. By the way, the Sonics didn’t lose to the Suns in Game 7. That just didn’t happen, right?
5. Sonics top the Jazz, go to Finals
For those of us too young to remember 1979, this is the highlight. It wasn’t enough that we were in the Finals, we were in the Finals after beating the freakin’ Jazz. Bonus points for watching the Mailman miss his free throws due to 17,000 people counting to 10.
30 comments:
I can still see Mutombo crying on the Seattle Center court, I remember really wanting to punch the TV that day.
Going to the Finals though was awesome as well. I remember when we beat the Bulls at home, the confetti and streamers came down. To bad we couldn't win two more.
More Zany Zidane action here:
http://tinyurl.com/klaeo
Howdy, strangers!
1. Does anyone have video of any of those? I would love to see and X man footage anyone has (including the great Wayne Cody interview in "Singles" when he says "Oh, yeah, and Steve... don't cum yet!")
2. I can't believe you didn't put down the insane throw-down that Kemp put up on Alton Lister. Seriously, that guy must have needed counseling after that one.
-Q
I thought about mine, and strangely, most of them happened in Game Fives:
1. Payton to Kemp Alley-Oop, Seattle vs. G-State, 1st Rd Game 5, 1993 Playoffs. I've mentioned this before, but the way it replays in my mind, over and over, in slow motion, is almost pornographic.
2. McMillan-to-McKey Game Winning Alley-Oop, Seattle vs. Houston, 2nd Rd. Game 5, 1987 Playoffs. I don't recall this play ever working again, but who cares! I'm working on uploading the video... soon.
3. Nate McMillan pins ball to the glass to secure a key rebound, Game 5(?) Sonics vs. Bulls, 1996 Finals. Dude had geriatric knees and played the whole series dinged up, but somehow willed himself to pin that ball to the backboard. I don't remember anything about the score or how much time was left, I just remember that it was f-kin clutch.
4. Luke Ridnour scramble play pass to Rashard, Seattle vs. Sacto, 1st Rd. Game 5 2005 Playoffs. Luke recovers loose ball, does wicked crossover-behind-the-back dribble then no-look to Rashard for the dunk. I had to watch it another 10 times when I looked it up today.
http://tinyurl.com/f6f6f
5. Ray Allen 3-Pointer Shuts Up Sacto, 1st Rd. Game 4. I almost picked the clinching layup in Game 5 of this series, but that 3-pointer in Game 4 was cold blooded.
I remember Kemp throwing his elbows after a rebound and knocking out Olajuwon and Horry then going up and dunking it while they both lay on the ground.
Of course Kemp getting blocked by Mutumbo to seal the series.
Ervin Johnson stuffing Mutumbo during the regular season causing me to scream so load I woke up my new born daughter that had fallen asleep on my chest
Payton driving the length of the court and dunking(!) and then talking trash to Jordan(bad idea)
during the finals
and oddly enough I remember a dunk that Jim McIlvaine had against the Bulls in the regular season. He got up so high to grab a rebound and throw it down in my memory he is looking down at the rim when he grabs it.
Obviously, the playoff alley-oop from GP to Shawn is my favorite.
How about the Reignman's dunk on Laimbeer that was called an offensive foul?
The double-pump dunk on the Knicks.
Or any Shawn Kemp highlights.
I do remember the McKey alley-oop. But does anybody remember the Dana Barros dunks? I think he had two with the Sonics. I remember one at the end of the game against the Kings(I think) and I think his first one was off a feed from Mac10.
Does anybody have Russ Schoene memories or Marty Conlon? Anybody?
Seeing Malone & Sloan loose thier $#%@ get kicked out of a playoff game at the Key - must have been 1997 or 1998 - they got thier butts kicked. Oh man it was probably by fathead Vin Baker too. Whenever I think the Sonics suck now I just think of Vin Baker and things arent so bad are they?
The Kemp dunk against the Knicks is a good one. I can remember watching that and thinking, "Did that really happen?"
Another comes to mind - Mason's game winning dunk off his own missed free throw against the Hornets a few years ago. A couple friends left the game early thinking they lost - suckers!!
The way the original post started out, I thought the list was going to be about Sonics All-Time Greatest Moments of Spontaneous Violence. Undisputed #1 would be X-Man choking Wes Matthews. Any others?
//zidanewantscandy.ytmnd.com
(better with sound, but shows the hit AND explains EXACTLY what happened!!!!)
Most of the Kemp dunks can be seen here:
http://tinyurl.com/lt7wx
I thought the list was going to be about Sonics All-Time Greatest Moments of Spontaneous Violence.
Well, we had one this season:
http://tinyurl.com/ojjqy
Ah, thinking of vivid Sonics memories really underscores how crap-tacular our squad has been over the years. Hence my choice is not really a Sonic memory. It's of Hakeem going for 49-25 in a losing effort against us in Game 6 of the 87 western conference semis.
Lest we forget, the Dream could seriously ball. Seriously.
I love the '96 playoff run when we routed the rockets in that first game by like 38. Hakeem had 2 in the 1st, 2 in the 2nd, and 2 in the 3rd, then just had to sit the F down out of pure frustration. That was great, we swept those clowns as a way of saying "those two rings you B*tches got are ours".
"1. X-Man dunking against the Lakers"
X is still my all-time Sonic fav.
"Sonics All-Time Greatest Moments of Spontaneous Violence. Undisputed #1 would be X-Man choking Wes Matthews. Any others?"
Payton's headbu++ came out of the blue.
Terry Cummings vs Dennis Rodman was nice.
Shawn Kemp t-bagging the back of Rodmans neck was hilarious too.
Haha, the Dooling vs. Allen moment was amazing. I was at the game, and when the Magic chose Swift to shoot the Free Throws for Allen the crowd booed them. Then Swift (before his late season emergence) walks to the line, and the crowd starts to get louder. He sinks it and the crowd explodes. It builds up again for the next shot... and the crowd goes wild when he makes it. From that point on, it was total Sonic domination. The beleaguered Swift's free throws in the aftermath of a "what the heck just happened?" kind of moment are classic though.
Some of my favorite non-playoff moments not listed above:
Mason inbounding the ball in the front court to ?, who than alley-ooped it back to Mason for the flush and the win as time expired.
Brikowski frustrating David Robinson so much that the Admiral threw a punch, causing his first (and only?) ejection of his carrer.
Oliver Miller getting a double-T and throwing a chair on the court.
The game against Orlando when Shaq was still there, Orlando up by 7 with 45 seconds left and the Sonics come back to win. My whole section left with a minute to go and missed out on a great comeback.
There are many others, but these rank high because I was there to witness them.
And my all-time favorite halftime show is the unicycle lady who tosses bowls on to her head. She looks so suprised everytime she does it. In the 10 years I have seen her do this, I have never seen her drop a single bowl, and yet it looks like its the first time shes done it based on her reaction. Great stuff.
Oh, man, Oliver Miller... what a character... I remember there was this guy who sat in my section (2nd deck, behind the hoop) who would yell something hilarious every time there was a little quiet and the whole section would follow up with "YEAH!"
Well, Oliver Miller was great victim for classic insults such as:
"Hey Oliver! you have more fouls than points!"
"YEAH!"
"Hey Oliver! Thats a basketball not a cheeseburger!" "YEAH!"
Any word on Wilcox????
So uh WTF?? The Times is reporting that the Sonics have been sold to an Ok city invesment group. Does anybody have directions to Howard Schultzs' home??
uh, yeah, just read the same news about the Supes being sold to Oklahoma City investment group. Press conference scheduled for 3pm.
this is not good. fuck.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003135221_websonicssold18.html
Fuck Howard Schultz.
March on the Furtado Center. I'm going down there. I hope others will too.
FUCK HOWARD SCHULTZ!!!!!
BOYCOTT STARBUCKS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATLY!!!!1
My new favorite Sonic moment; Beating the hell out of howard schultz if I ever see him on the street. Does anyone know Tree Rollins??? If so can we get him to come tale a bite out of schultzie??
Well, maybe Paul Allen will renovate Key Arena and then bring the Blazers up here, would be nice to have Roy and Webster and Nate back. “Help me Paul Allen, you’re my only hope”
Sorry Lance.
Sonics images burned into my memory?
Top of the list, of course, is Gus Williams throwing the ball up in the air as time expires in Game 5 against the Washington Bullets on June 6, 1979. The SuperSonics are World Champions!
Second is Dennis Johnson's 14th shot of the game (He finished 0-14.) caroomed off the rim in Game 7 against the Bullets in the 1978 Finals. A Bullet took the rebound for a dunk and we lost by 6 points.
Third is Jack Sikma turning and hitting one of his classic flat-footed shots to seal our Game Six victory over the Phoenix Suns in the 1979 Western Conference finals.
Fourth is Motumbo clutching the basketball laying on the court after the Nuggets beat the Sonics in 1994. 'argh'
Fifth is any one of those classic Payton-to-Kemp ally-oop dunks, but especially the one that got one or both of them benched by George Karl. lol
How can you leave out that vicious Shawn Kemp emasculation of the Golden State Warriors' (and former Sonic center) Alton Lister??? That dunk was a SportsCenter highlight for TWO YEARS. That dunk was so crucial (and it happened in the playoffs, no less), that you can see CHRIS MULLIN silently walk by and give Kemp dap. CRUCIAL!
2nd runner up includes some inconsequential game where Young Payton gives an underhanded, two hand scoop alley-oop to Young Shawn, turns his head and heads up the other direction of the court WHILE THE BALL IS IN MIDAIR, because he knows that Kemp will catch it and (in the words of the immortal, IRREPLACEABLE Kevin Calabro) "PACK IT DOWNNNNN!"
Going to YouTube right now to find those clips...
EJ
Post a Comment