Hart Surgery: Seventh Heaven

By: Micah Hart

Well, I suppose I should have kept my mouth shut about these NBA playoffs. A
week after declaring this year’s version the worst I’d ever seen, we saw two of
the best games in playoff history. First the Lakers amazing win over the Spurs
in Game 5 out West. I know I talked about it last week, but I cannot stress
enough how big that shot was by Derek Fisher. The Spurs were so devastated by
Fisher’s miracle they could have cancelled Game 6. The series was over in
spirit, if not in reality. If Fisher missed, all that I spoke about the Lakers
demise would have come to fruition. Now they are nearly shoo-ins to win the
title.

The Nets-Pistons Game 5 was an incredible game as well, going three overtimes
before it was decided. With so many players fouling out, if they had gone to
another OT I think Larry Brown would have had to start warming up.

Both of these games were incredible, and give undeniable proof to one thing: NBA
teams read my column.

So, with NBA action heating up with Wednesday night’s Game 7 between the Kings
and T’Wolves, and tonight’s showdown in Motown featuring the Nets and Pistons,
it got me to thinking. Which sport’s deciding games are the most exciting? Game
seven, by definition, is an incredible emotional rollercoaster. Every
professional sport lasts at least four months, and today’s athletes spend
practically all year training to make the most of their chances in the
postseason. For everything to come down to a final shot, to have the line
between agony and ecstasy be so thin…well, just look at last week’s Spurs-Lakers
game. San Antonio’s SBC Center was so silent after the game you’d have thought
they were watching a snuff film.

After much consideration, I have tried to rank these sports according to a few
select categories to determine which consistently produces the best endings.
Criteria used included frequency, potential for memorable endings, potential for
individual dominance, and intangibles.

For the sake of narrowing everything down, I considered only the final series in
each sport, i.e., the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup, etc.

Stanley Cup Game 7

Frequency: Last season saw a Game 7 in the Cup Finals (though an anticlimactic
one, as New Jersey defeated Anaheim 3-0). Overall, there have been 10 Game 7s in
since the series expanded to best 4-of-7 in 1939, so roughly once every 6-7
years. Only one of those has gone to OT, with Detroit’s Pete Bobando scoring to
win the Cup for the Red Wings in 1950. Two of the past three Cups have gone
full,

Memorable endings: Probably the NHL’s bet category, as it is the only one
featuring the potential for sudden death. The Super Bowl obviously does too, but
has never gone to OT. In fact, it has never had a game-winning FG until three
years ago. Overtime playoff hockey is the most intense action in any sport, and
an overtime series-winner is as good as it gets. However, if the game doesn’t go
to OT, it is rare to see an unexpected ending. Buzzer beaters aren’t really the
forte of hockey. Even outside of the Stanley Cup, overtime hockey goals are
incredible events, and made much more so by the fact that players can slide all
the way down the ice in celebration if they choose. Hard to do that in the other
sports.

Individual performances: Like basketball, it is easy for an individual to stand
out in hockey given how few people are on the ice at one time. But, unlike the
other sports, players shuffle in and out so frequently in hockey it is very
difficult for one player to put his team on his back and carry them.

Intangibles: The celebration of a Stanley Cup victory is the best in sports,
from the victory laps around the ice with the Cup raised to the team picture
taken at center ice shortly thereafter. Maybe I am alone, but it seems to me
hockey players cherish victory more than any other athletes. They just seem to
appreciate it more.

World Series Game 7

Frequency: Last year’s Fall Classic fell a game shy, but the two years previous
saw seven game series to remember. 35 times the World Series history has been
decided in a Game 7, by far the best ratio of any of the major sports (around a
third of the time). No real surprise, as baseball has always been the most
evenly played team sport.

Memorable endings: Plenty to go around here. Baseball is tailor-made for
fantastic finishes, with tension building on each and every pitch and the
possibility one swing can change a team’s fortunes. Historically, there are
countless great endings to choose from. Just since 1990, we have seen a 1-0 game
in ten innings (Minnesota over Atlanta in 1991), an extra innings win by the
Marlins over the Indians in 1997, and a Diamondbacks victory in the bottom of
the ninth against the best closer in baseball history against the Yankees in
2001. There is the potential for late game heroics for sure, even without any
sort of clock ticking away.

Individual performances: Generally reserved for pitchers, as they are the only
players on the field with the opportunity to take over the game. Dramatic home
runs are certainly memorable, and Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off round-tripper in
1960 is considered one of the great endings to any sporting event ever. Bob
Gibson dominated the Red Sox in 1967, shutting them out much like Lew Burdette
(who threw three shutouts) did the Yanks for the Milwaukee Braves in 1957.

Intangibles: As America’s national pastime (though that title could certainly be
debated in this day and age), a World Series Game 7 can take on almost
mythological proportions. The lack of a clock gives it a somewhat timeless
appeal, and separates it from the others. There are no buzzer beaters, but the
individual nature of the sport makes it more pressure packed (on the individual)
than any of the others.

NBA Finals Game 7

Frequency: It’s been ten years since the last time an NBA Finals went full, but
there have been 15 instances of it since the first season in 1946-47 (for an
average of a little less than once every four years). The Knicks took the
Rockets to the limit in 1993-94 in one of the worst Finals in history (I would
have to look it up, but I believe John Starks set a record by missing 763,412
shots in the series), but other than that the best of recent vintage was Magic
vs. Isiah in 1988 (making male-on-male kissing acceptable years before Pudge
Rodriguez and Ugueth Urbina). The NBA has been dominated by dynasties (over the
last two decades, perhaps contributing to the lack of drama

Memorable endings: The set-up is certainly there, with basketball providing the
only real buzzer beaters of the major sports. We have never seen a buzzer-beater
in a Finals Game 7 (though we’ve seen several before then), but there have been
some good ones. The Pistons had it within two in ‘88 against the Lakers before
falling 105-100. !983-84 saw Magic vs. Bird, and though all of their finals
clashes were terrific Game 7 was nothing special as the Celts won 111-102

Individual performances: No doubt the sport which most easily provides the
spotlight for individual greatness (witness Kevin Garnett’s performance
Wednesday night against the Kings: 32 points, 21 boards, 4 steals and 4 blocks).
Perhaps the most famous Game 7 belonged to Willis Reed, who despite an injured
leg inspired the Knicks to defeat the Lakers for the title in 1969-70. Reed
didn’t do much damage in the box score (4 points, 3 rebounds), but his presence
provided his team the spark they needed in a 113-99 win. James Worthy also
tossed up a triple-double in the clincher against Detroit on his way to MVP
honors in ‘88.

Intangibles: Gone (at least of late) are the days of the great battles between
the giants of the age, but the NBA Finals provides the best showcase for
individual talents. Bird and Magic battled throughout the 80’s, and Russell and
Chamberlain matched up in three Game 7s during the Celtics glory days of the
1960’s. Could we see Lebron vs. Carmelo some time in the next decade?

Super Bowl

Frequency: Happens every year, didn’t you know? Can you imagine an NFL playoff
system featuring a best four-of-seven matchup? Yikes.

Memorable endings: Surprisingly (depending on your viewpoint) few, though things
have picked up nicely the past half dozen years ago. Though Adam Vinitieri’s FGs
were certainly dramatic, to me the greatest ending was Mike Jones’ tackle of
Kevin Dyson on the one-yard line as time expired to give the Rams a 23-16
victory over Tennessee in 2000. The 1980s and 90s were fairly bereft of good
endings or even good games, as the NFC’s dominance over the AFC led to many
blowouts. Though we have never seen one, the current format would provide for a
fantastic finish if a game ever went to overtime.

Individual performances: The ultimate team sport, there are few times a single
player can truly carry his team to a title. There have been some great
performances in Super Bowl history though, from Joe Namath’s guarantee in Super
Bowl III to Steve Young’s six TD passes against San Diego in Super Bowl XXIX (is
there any doubt the only reason anyone knows Roman Numerals anymore is so they
can discern between Super Bowls?). There have also been outstanding efforts by
some one-time wonders: remember Timmy Smith’s 204-yard performance against the
Broncos in Super Bowl XXII? Still, most NFL titles are won thanks to the entire
team rather than a singular performance.

Intangibles: The greatest show on Earth, the Super Bowl is annually the
top-rated sporting event on television. So much so, that if you could separate
them, I imagine the Super Bowl commercials themselves would pull in more viewers
than the Stanley Cup. The end of the NFL’s season is an incredible pop culture
spectacle, which sets it apart from its brethren.

Looking back, while each of these sports provides its own brand of excitement,
given each of their histories I would rank them in this order, from most
exciting to least:

1. World Series Game 7

2. Stanley Cup Game 7

3. NBA Finals Game 7

4. Super Bowl

The action in the World Series is the most pressure-packed, and in the end that
gave it the edge overall to me. If the Stanley Cup or Super Bowl ever went to
OT, either could challenge for the most exciting, but their lack of this
occurrence slides them behind baseball. And yes, as bad as basketball has been
of late, Game 7s in the NBA have almost always provided a requisite amount of
drama.

Will it do the same this year? We should know in the next few weeks.

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Micah Hart is an original contributor to the CSR, and works in sports media in Atlanta. Micah can be reached at micahbhart@yahoo.com. He reminds you to Hook 'em Horns.

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