by Julian Spivey 40. NASCAR Legends Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart Final Wins NASCAR saw two of its all-time greatest drivers and champions hang up their steering wheels this decade with Jeff Gordon retiring after the 2015 season and Tony Stewart retiring after the 2016 season. Both drivers had struggled a bit toward the end of their careers, but each also saw a glorious moment in their final seasons that fans would never forget. Late in the 2015 season at Martinsville Speedway (arguably Gordon’s best career track) the four-time champion was able to take advantage of some on-track carnage by Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano to drive his way into Victory Lane and qualify for the championship race (Kyle Busch would win the title that year). The next season Stewart would crack a multi-year winless streak in his final season with an amazing final lap move on Denny Hamlin at the Sonoma Raceway road course to win his final race in typical Stewart fashion with some contact. Both wins were incredibly fitting of these legendary drivers. 39. Albert Pujols, Pablo Sandoval Go Deep Three Times in World Series Games Coming into the decade the only men who’d ever hit three home runs in a single World Series game were Babe Ruth (who did it twice) and Reggie Jackson. It would take long to double that number. In game three of the 2011 World Series St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols went into the Texas Rangers home field and popped three homers. The Cards would go on to win that series in an amazing seven games. Ruth, Jackson and Pujols are all no-brainer hall of famers, but in the very next year’s World Series in 2012 the unlikely Pablo Sandoval would add his name to that trio with a three-home game in game one against the Detroit Tigers, with the first two of those bombs coming off future hall of famer and one of the best MLB pitchers of the decade Justin Verlander. 38. Decade of the Perfect Game Professional baseball has been played for more than 150 years and in that span, there have only been 23 perfect game recorded. It’s still possibly the rarest feat not only in baseball, but all of pro sports. No decade in baseball history saw more perfect games than this one with a total of five and no single season saw more perfect games in MLB history than the three pitched in 2012. Oakland A’s pitcher Dallas Braden threw the first of the decade on May 9, 2010 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Hall of Fame Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay would add the second of 2010 just a few weeks later on May 29 against the Florida Marlins. Maybe the most unlikely pitcher in MLB history to ever have a perfecto was Chicago White Sox hurler Philip Humber on April 21, 2012 against the Seattle Mariners. He’d be out of the league completely less than three years later. On June 13, 2012 San Francisco Giants ace Matt Cain would complete a perfect game against the Houston Astros. Then on August 15, Mariners ace Felix Hernandez would throw the third perfect game of the season (and final one of the decade) against the Rays. 37. Peyton Manning Goes Out On Top Peyton Manning’s final NFL season wasn’t a stellar one and it seemed like one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time was limping out on a sour note. In week 10 of the season Manning was benched by Denver Broncos coach Gary Kubiak in favor of back-up QB Brock Osweiler. Osweiler would finish the regular season as QB as Manning was listed with an injury. Manning returned to the Broncos in the postseason, in a move that some people found controversial based on how Osweiler had performed in his absence. Manning’s Broncos made Super Bowl 50 against the Carolina Panthers, where despite Manning not having his best game (going 13-for-23 with 141 yards, no touchdown passes, one interception and five sacks) the team’s defense shut down the Panthers and the Broncos won the game 24-10 sending Manning out on top as the oldest QB to ever win the big game. 36. Mississippi State Snaps UCONN's Streak The University of Connecticut Huskies women’s basketball team was riding a wave of 111 consecutive wins, more than two perfect seasons and an NCAA women’s basketball record. They hadn’t lost a game since Nov. 17, 2014 until meeting the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Final Four of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament on March 31, 2017 when Bulldogs player Morgan William’s shot at the buzzer in overtime put an end to the Huskies’ historical run and sent Mississippi State to the national title game. Unfortunately, the celebration for Mississippi State would be short-lived as they would lose the title game to fellow SEC competitors South Carolina two days later. 35. Philly Special Propels Eagles to First Super Bowl Title The Philadelphia Eagles hadn’t won a championship in 57 years and had never won a title in the Super Bowl era. That all changed in Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018 when they rode quite the Cinderella story of backup quarterback Nick Foles (after starter Carson Wentz was injured late in the season) to a 41-33 victory over the mighty New England Patriots. Foles would be named the MVP of the game as he threw for 373 passing yards and three touchdowns. But, the most memorable play of the game wouldn’t be one of the three touchdowns Foles threw, but the one he caught. On a trick play on a fourth-and-goal play late during the second quarter that’s become known as “The Philly Special” the Eagles snapped the ball directly to running back Corey Clement. Clement then pitched the ball to tight end Trey Burton who would throw a pass to a wide open Foles for the score. Foles would be the first QB in Super Bowl history to both throw and catch a touchdown pass. 34. Baseball's Wild Season Ending Day in 2011 The final day of the 2011 Major League Baseball season was potentially the wildest single day in the long history of baseball. Multiple playoff spots were on the line that evening and just within the span of 129 minutes some teams would celebrate, and others would see their seasons end in heartbreak. Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci would write: “This will go down as the most thrilling 129 minutes in baseball history. Never before and likely never again – if we even dare to assume anything else can be likely ever again – will baseball captivate and exhilarate on so many fronts in so small a window the way it did September 28, 2011.” The whole thing would be capped off with the Tampa Bay Rays all-star third baseman Evan Longoria hitting a walk-off homer against the New York Yankees to send Tampa to the playoffs. For the rest of the exciting day you can watch this documentary: 33. Dan Wheldon Wins Indy 500, Tragic Death in 2011 Dan Wheldon’s 2011 IndyCar season was a fairytale that ended in tragedy for the former series champion. The 2005 champion was out as a full-time driver in IndyCar after the 2010 season due to lack of sponsor, but the former Indianapolis 500 winner signed with the small Bryan Herta Autosport team for the 2011 Indy 500. Wheldon looked like he was going to secure a second place finish in the sport’s biggest race when shockingly rookie leader J.R. Hildebrand, the driver who’d replaced Wheldon on his previous team, wrecked leaving the final turn of the track. Wheldon passed the wrecked car of Hildebrand to win his second career Indy 500 and become the first driver to ever win the race by only leading the final lap. Wheldon would enter the season finale race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16 and things were looking up for the British driver, who had just signed a full season contract that morning with Andretti Autosport to replace the NASCAR-bound Danica Patrick in 2012. On lap 11 of the race one of the worst wrecks in IndyCar history took place with a 15-car accident in which Wheldon’s car was launched into the air and into the track’s catchfence where he would suffer life-ending injuries. It’s a moment none of us who were watching that day will ever be able to forget. 32. Houston Astros Win 2017 World Series, Help City Heal After Hurricane, Flooding For the first half of this decade the Houston Astros organization underwent a complete rebuild that saw the team lose more than 100 games in three straight seasons from 2011-2013 and then lose 92 games in 2014. The complete rebuild through building the team’s farm system paid huge dividends in 2017 when the team found itself as a 101-win ballclub and won its first World Series title in franchise history on a thrilling seven-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not only was it a great run for the franchise, but the entire city of Houston that was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey during August that led to catastrophic flooding and forced the Astros to play home games temporarily in Tampa Bay. When the Astros returned to home after just missing one home series the whole city rallied around the team and when they won the World Series just over two months after the hurricane and flooding it truly helped the city heal much like the Boston Red Sox run to a World Series title helped Boston heal after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. 31. Michael Phelps Becomes Most Decorated Olympian In 2008 Michael Phelps had likely the greatest Olympics of all-time winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Summer Olympics. In between the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics Phelps seemed to lose his drive a bit and had some controversies but returned to the 2012 London Summer Olympics with a chance to become the winningest athlete in Olympics history. With a gold medal in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay on July 31, 2012 Phelps passed Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina for most Olympic medals. Phelps would go on to win four gold medals and two silver medals in London before announcing his retirement from swimming. Of course, Phelps would come out of retirement for the 2016 Rio deJaniero games where he would continue to dominate the games before retiring for good after the event. 30. Michael Sam Comes Out Michael Sam was an important player for the NFL when it came to diversity as the first openly gay player ever drafted into the league. Sam had a stellar collegiate career at the University of Missouri and was named the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2013. Sam came out as gay to his Missouri team in 2013, but it wasn’t public knowledge until an interview in early 2014 on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.” Sam had been projected as a third or fourth round draft pick in the NFL, but after his coming out an anonymous NFL executive told Sports Illustrated that his coming out would make him slide in the draft. Sam would slide all the way to the draft’s seventh and final round where he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams. Unfortunately, Sam would never play in a regular season NFL game and announced his retirement from the sport in 2015. 29. USA Women's Soccer Repeats at World Cup Midst Unfair Pay Gap Imagine being so much better at something and yet making less money at it than the person or people who are worse at that thing. That’s exactly what’s faced the United States Women’s National Soccer team for quite a while now. The U.S. women are often among the best soccer players in the world, where as the U.S. men’s team didn’t even qualify for their most recent World Cup. It’s this ridiculous pay gap between the two that was at the forefront this summer when the U.S. women’s team won its second consecutive World Cup title when they defeated the Netherlands on July 7. These women are among the best athletes in the world – pay them justly. 28. Jimmie Johnson's Fifth Straight Championship In NASCAR history there had never been a driver win more than three championships in a row. Jimmie Johnson had already gotten to four titles in a row before the end of the previous decade but decided four wasn’t enough and won his fifth straight NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2010 with six wins and 17 top fives. Johnson would win two more titles after 2010 to tie the all-time NASCAR record of seven career titles held by Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. I don’t think Johnson’s five consecutive championships will ever be replicated or beaten. 27. Roberta Vinci Upsets Serena Williams' Grand Slam Maybe the biggest shock in tennis history happened on September 11, 2015 when Italian Roberta Vinci defeated number one ranked Serena Williams in the semifinals at the U.S. Open in one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. Vinci’s Cinderella moment kept Williams from having a shot at winning the calendar Grand Slam after she had already been victorious at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon that year. Vinci would go on to lose to fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta in the U.S. Open finals. ,26. Holly Holm Shocks Ronda Rousey One of the most stunning upsets of the decade came in the cage at UFC 193 on November 14, 2015 when Holly Holm stunned champion Ronda Rousey and the entire mixed martial arts and sports world. It was already a surprise to many when Holm took Rousey past the first round (something that had only been done once before), but everybody’s jaw dropped when Holm’s high kick in the second round connected with Rousey’s head and knocked out the greatest female fighter the UFC had ever seen. 25. Roy Halladay Pitches Second Postseason No-Hitter in History In more than 100 years of baseball postseason the only no-hitter ever thrown in the playoffs was Don Larsen’s iconic perfect game for the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series. That all changed on October 6, 2010 when Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay, who had pitched a perfect game during the season, no-hit the Cincinnati Reds in game one of the 2010 National League Division Series. It was Halladay’s postseason debut and he became the first in MLB history to pitch both a perfect game and no-hitter during the same season. 24. Dallas Mavericks Stun Miami Heat Superteam The Miami Heat were supposed to have a cakewalk to the NBA title after forming the super team of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh during the offseason. The plan wasn’t just to win a title but form an all-time great dynasty and it was supposed to start in season one. Everything looked like it was going to plan for Miami as they made the NBA Finals and faced the Dallas Mavericks, who had always been around the title talk, but had never won a championship. The Mavs played all-around great team ball led by future hall of famers Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, as well as great play from role guys like Jason Terry and Tyson Chandler and stunned the super team in six games. 23. Clemson Beats Alabama in Epic College Football Championship Clemson and Alabama went back-and-forth this decade as the most dominant team in college football with each winning two championships since the NCAA went to a playoff format in 2014. The two teams matched up on three different occasions in 2015, 2016 and 2018 with Clemson being the victor twice (’16 and ’18). The most exciting of these was arguably the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship with the Tigers and Crimson Tide going back-and-forth in the fourth quarter after Clemson had a huge comeback in the fourth quarter to get things a bit closer. The game would be decided on essentially college football’s version of a buzzer beater when Clemson’s quarterback Deshaun Watson would throw a touchdown to receiver Hunter Renfrow for the title. 22. Ray Allen Sinks Spurs with Big Shot If you needed just one person in NBA to make a clutch three-pointer to win a big game you wouldn’t get to many names before Ray Allen, the NBA’s all-time leader in made threes. The biggest shot of Allen’s career came in the closing moments of game six of the 2013 NBA Finals. The Miami Heat were losing to the San Antonio Spurs 94-89 with 28 seconds remaining and a loss for the Heat would give the Spurs the championship. In fact, NBA officials had already moved the Larry O’Brien Trophy courtside in preparation for a celebration. With 20 second remaining LeBron James hit a three to get the Heat within two points. The Heat fouled young Spurs star Kawhi Leonard, who made one of two free throw attempts to put the lead back to three for the Spurs. On the next possession James missed what would have been a game-tying three, but Chris Bosh collected an offensive rebound and passed the ball out to Allen behind the arc. Allen made the shot to send the game into overtime. The Heat would take care of business in OT and go on to win the series in game seven. 21. Villanova's Game-Winner to Win National Title It’s not often a national championship is won at the buzzer, which makes the bonkers ending of the 2016 March Madness tournament one of the biggest jaw-droppers of the decade. North Carolina Tarheels player Marcus Paige had just hit an unbelievable three-pointer to even the game up with 4.3 seconds remaining. The Villanova Wildcats had to go the length of the floor to win the game. Villanova inbounded the ball, got it to an unbelievably wide-open Kris Jenkins behind the arc and Jenkins just absolutely buried it to give Villanova its second all-time NCAA men’s basketball championship. 20. Russell Westbrook Averages a Triple-Double Oscar Robertson averaged a triple-double for the Cincinnati Royals during the 1961-62 NBA season and no player had done it again … until Russell Westbrook for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2016-2017 season. It was thought to be something that might never happen again … and then Westbrook went and did it three consecutive seasons. In the 2016-17 season Westbrook also broke Robertson’s record with 42 Triple-Doubles during the season. He would be named the NBA’s MVP. 19. Derek Jeter's Final Game Few sporting legends ever get the opportunity to go out on top, but that’s what Derek Jeter did in his final home game with the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium at the end of the 2014 MLB season. At 40, Jeter had only had a so-so farewell season, but it all turned into a fairytale on the evening of September 26 against the Baltimore Orioles. To set up this great moment the Yankees had to almost blow the game in the top of the ninth inning as closer David Robertson gave up three runs to tie the game at 5-5. Jeter would be up third for the Yankees in the home half of the inning. The bottom of the ninth began with Jose Pirela hitting a single. Pinch runner Antoan Richardson would move to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Brett Gardner. This brought Jeter to the plate with a chance to do something that every kid dreams of when he’s younger – going out with a game-winning hit. And, that’s exactly what “The Captain” did when he laced the first pitcher from Orioles reliever Evan Meek through the hole between first and second base to score Richardson from second. The Yankees players celebrated with Jeter like they had won the World Series and it was truly the most memorable walk-off hit of the decade. 18. NASCAR's Crazy Final Lap at Watkins Glen I’ve seen a lot of fantastic NASCAR finishes over the years, but the final two laps of the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International on August 12, 2012 is the greatest bit of racing I’ve ever seen. There was a three-way battle in the final two laps between Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose. Busch and Keselowski had the best rivalry in NASCAR and simply did not like each other and Ambrose was the best road course racer in NASCAR trying to defend his win at the track from the previous year. Words cannot do what happened in these two laps justice, so here’s the video: 17. Golden State Warriors Take Over the NBA The Golden State Warriors took the NBA by storm during the 2014-2015 season with their run-and-gun style that saw player like Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson tossing up and making three-pointers left and right. The team thoroughly dominated the season and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, with a returned LeBron James, in the NBA Finals in six games. The championship ended a title drought of four decades for the Warriors and more importantly the team changed the way the NBA was played almost over night with teams molding themselves after the three-point shooting style of the team. 16. Seahawks Don't Give Marshawn Lynch the Ball One of the closest Super Bowls of the decade came on February 1, 2015 when the Seattle Seahawks matched up against the New England Patriots. The Seahawks looking to repeat as champs took a 24-14 lead into the fourth quarter. The Patriots scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to take a 28-24 lead, but the Seahawks had the ball with a drive to win the game in the final two minutes. The Seahawks had the ball on the Pats one-yard line with 26 seconds remaining in the game when coach Pete Carroll made what could be the most controversial coaching call of the decade when he decided to call a pass play despite having arguably the best and strongest running back in the entire NFL in Marshawn Lynch, who had already rushed for more than 100 yards and a touchdown in the game. The play call backfired big time as Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s pass was picked off by Pats defensive back Malcolm Butler to seal the victory for the Patriots. 15. Armando Galarraga's Non-Perfecto There were two perfect games in baseball during the 2010 season (and five overall for the decade), but probably the most memorable moment in baseball revolving around a perfect game was the one that wasn’t. Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga just needed one more out for a perfect game against the Cleveland Indians when Indians batter Jason Donald hit a ground ball and was incorrectly ruled safe by first base umpire Jim Joyce on a close play. Replay showed the runner was clearly out, but this was before Major League Baseball instituted replay in game. Galarraga would finish with a one-hit shutout victory. Upon realizing his mistake after the game Joyce was teary-eyed and apologetic to Galarraga knowing he had single-handedly cost the pitcher a shot at history with his mistake. Galarraga graciously accepted Joyce’s apology in a great showing of sportsmanship and the two men developed a friendship and went on to write a book together titled Nobody’s Perfect. This was maybe the biggest on-field reason for MLB instituting replay before the end of the decade. 14. Star-studded 2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil were the most memorable in quite some time. The first ever Summer Olympics in South America provided a historical swan song for possibly the two greatest male Olympians in history: Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. Phelps won four golds to extend his Olympic record to 23 and a silver, making him the most successful athlete in a fourth consecutive Olympics. Bolt continued his run as “fastest man alive” with gold medals in the 100 meter, 200 meter and 4X100 meter relay. The games also were star making ones for two young women who might be the greatest their respective sports have ever seen with Simone Biles in gymnastics and Katie Ledecky in women’s swimming. In her first Olympics appearances Biles won five total medals, with four golds in Team, All-Around, Floor and Vault. Ledecky notched five total medals and four golds of her own in the pool with the most impressive performance we’ve ever seen from a female swimmer. 13. Penn State Scandal One of the darkest moments of the decade in sports broke into the news in November of 2011 when it was uncovered that the Penn State football program’s assistant coach Jerry Sandusky had committed child sexual abuse over a period of at least 15 years and that head coach Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in college football history, had known about these allegations as far back as 1998 and turned a blind eye to the allegations. When all was said and done Sandusky was convicted on 45 counts of child sexual abuse and sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison, the NCAA fined Penn State $60 million, banned them from postseason play for four years, and vacated all of the school’s victories from 1998-2011, which wiped away Paterno’s wins title. Paterno died two months after the uncovering of the scandal at age 85, with his wins being stripped months after his death. 12. The Decision I don’t think anybody who saw The Decision live will ever forget it. It was a moment when a superstar became larger than life and then kind of backfired on him. The Decision was the made-for-TV free agent announcement of LeBron James on July 8, 2020 live on ESPN, in which the network and NBA’s biggest star took over the airwaves for more than an hour just to announce where he’d be spending the next few years playing. Around 13 million people watched the announcement where James announced he’d be leaving his home-state Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat with the infamous line, “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.” That line and the fact that James was heading to Miami to create a super team with Dwyane Wade and fellow free agent Chris Bosh would harm James’ reputation in the eyes of some and it would take a return to Cleveland years later to rebuild it for some. 11. Wildest Iron Bowl Ending Ever If there was one play of the decade that you could mark as the craziest, most unbelievable one we saw I think it would have to be the shocking way the Auburn Tigers beat their in-state rival Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2013 Iron Bowl. With just one second remaining on the clock Alabama coach Nick Saban had his team line up for a potential game-winning 57-yard field goal – it was essentially a “well, the worst thing that can happen is we go to overtime call.” The kick was rather unsurprisingly short, but the thing that happened next is one of the most surprising things I’ve ever seen, the kick was caught by Auburn’s Chris Davis who attempted to return it (again the worst that can happen is overtime). Davis somehow managed to run the ball back the entire way – 109 yards – to win the game for Auburn and end Alabama’s undefeated season. 10. Boston Marathon Bombing, Red Sox Help City Heal The biggest tragedy in the sports world of the decade – and one of the biggest in general in the United States – was the bombing that took place at the 2013 Boston Marathon. The terrorist attack on April 15, 2013 would kill three people and injure several hundred others with 16 of those injured losing limbs. It as a nightmare scenario that affected the greatest day of the year for Bostonians. Before the end of the day one of the perpetrators of the bombing would be killed and another would be captured, but it was a moment that rocked the country for days to come. One of the things that helped the city heal was the success of the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox would dedicate the rest of the season to the victims of the bombing and this run wouldn’t end until October 30 when the team defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in game six of the World Series to give a city that had gone through so much another championship to celebrate. 9. Madison Bumgarner Single-Handedly Wins World Series In my 25 years watching baseball I’ve never seen a better performance than Madison Bumgarner’s in the 2014 World Series for the San Francisco Giants against the Kansas City Royals. I never would’ve thought a single player could dominate and truly win a championship in the team oriented sport of baseball, but Bumgarner pretty much single-handedly did that year. Bumgarner’s 0.25 World Series ERA is the lowest in MLB history and a bulk of that work was done against the Royals. Bumgarner only allowed nine hits in 21 innings pitched during the 2014 World Series, a series record, essentially keeping the Royals off the basepaths completely. Among the other World Series records he set in that series were becoming the first pitcher to ever pitch a shutout with no walks and at least eight strikeouts in game four of the series. Then in the deciding game seven of the series he entered the game midway out of the bullpen and pitched a record five shutout innings in the longest save in a winner-take-all game in MLB history. Bumgarner looked that series like you could’ve thrown Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Ty Cobb against him and he wouldn’t have faltered. 8. American Pharoah Snaps Triple Crown Drought One of the few things I hadn’t seen in the sports world coming into 2015 was a horse winning the Triple Crown of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in the same year. No horse had won a Triple Crown in nearly 40 years since Affirmed in 1978. That all changed in 2015 when American Pharoah, owned by Bob Baffert and ridden by jockey Victor Espinoza, put himself into the record by dominating all three races. American Pharoah would end up becoming the first horse in history to win the grand slam of horse racing when he won the Breeders’ Cup Classic later than year. 7. LeBron James Wins Cleveland a Title After the controversy of The Decision in 2010 when LeBron James jilted the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat, he became a villain in his own home-state. James would win two NBA championship in four seasons with the Heat before once again becoming a free agent. James pretty much shocked the NBA world when he announced he’d be returning home to re-join the Cavaliers and instantaneously became a hero in the city once again. James led the Cavaliers to the Finals in his first season back but fell to the Golden State Warriors in the series. The next season he would lead the Cavs back to the Finals again to face the Warriors, but this time it felt even more unlikely the Cavs could win over a 73-9 Golden State team that was the best regular season team in NBA history. The Warriors got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the Finals and a 3-1 lead after four games. No team had ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals and the Cavs were faced with trying to do so against the greatest team of all-time. History is made to broken, though, and the Cavaliers took care of game five in Oakland and game six at home forcing a winner-take-all game seven. In one of the all-time great NBA playoff games the Cavaliers stunned the Warriors with a 93-89 win that went down to the wire. It was the first championship in Cavaliers franchise history and LeBron James had set out to do what he’d always wanted to – bring a title to Cleveland. 6. Colin Kaepernick Takes Stand by Kneeling The most divisive sports moment of the decade began in 2016 when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided it was time to take a stand against the spate of police brutality instances in this country. Kaepernick took a stand by taking a knee during the performance of the National Anthem before the start of NFL games. Many applauded the QB’s protest and many more derided him for disrespecting his country. It even got to a point where the President of the United States was calling out Kaepernick on social media. When Kaepernick became a free agent after that season no team would touch him, despite the fact that he was only a few years removed from leading a team to the Super Bowl and undoubtedly better than many QBs with jobs in the league. More than three years later it still remains a great controversy in the NFL. 5. 16 Seed Finally Wins in March Madness The one major sports moment I think that many of us thought we might never see in our lifetime actually happened during March Madness in 2018. For the first time in NCAA men’s college basketball tournament history a sixteen seed upset a number one seed when University of Maryland – Baltimore County didn’t just beat the Virginia Cavaliers, but crushed them by 20 points. Virginia wasn’t just a number one side on its side of the bracket, but the number one seed overall in the entire tournament. There is literally nothing you can compare this upset to in the history of sports. There’s no telling when or if we’ll ever see it again, either. 4. Tiger Woods Wins Again It just didn’t seem like it was ever going to happen again. Tiger Woods hadn’t won a PGA Tour event in more than five years since 2013 and hadn’t played much at all in the years since then and had just undergone a major medical procedure the year before in have back fusion surgery. But here he was in the final round of the Tour Championship on September 23, 2018 in command. The entire golf and sports worlds were watching that afternoon as Woods coming to the 18th hole with the lead was being followed by a swarm of fans in a scene unlike anything we’d ever seen before. Woods would win the tournament by two strokes and the moment gave us hope that he might actually have a shot at winning a major tournament again, something he hadn’t accomplished in more than a decade. He wouldn’t make us wait too long. 3. Tiger Woods Wins Again ... Again When Tiger Woods won the season-ending Tour Championship in 2018 it rejuvenated the world of golf and gave even his strongest of critics who thought he’d never win again some hope that his tournament win might lead to his first major victory since 2008. Many believed if Woods were to ever win a major again it would come at the Masters in Augusta because he’d had so much success there before with four previous wins and it’s the one golf major that remains at the same golf course year-after-year. After the first round of the tournament Woods was tied for 11th and had himself in a good place. In the second round he rose up to sixth place and was looking good for a run during the weekend. After the third round of the tournament Woods was tied for second two strokes behind leader Francesco Molinari, who had beaten him in an entertaining showing in the previous years Open Championship. If Woods was to win the Masters he’d have to do something he’d never done before in his previous 14 major victories – he’d have to come from behind on Sunday. Molinari looked in control for the first 11 holes of the final round, but when his tee shot on the par-3 12th hole ended up in the creek he found himself in a quick tie with Woods. On the 15th hole Woods would take his first lead when once again Molinari put a shot into the drink. Woods almost aced the par-3 16th hole and took a two-shot lead into the final two holes. Needing just a bogey or better to win the Masters on the final hole Woods bogeyed the hole and took home his fifth career green jacket and his 15th career major title, his first in almost 11 years since the 2008 U.S. Open. More importantly the Masters win for Woods was the greatest single individual comeback in the history of sports. 2. Patriots Record Setting Super Bowl Comeback 28-9. It seemed Super Bowl LI was completely over after three quarters. Hell, it seemed over at halftime when the Atlanta Falcons, on the verge of their first ever championship, took a 21-3 lead into the locker room against the New England Patriots. Many fans likely turned the game off right after Lady Gaga’s halftime performance. Then the Pats went on the greatest comeback run in the history of the NFL, and potentially pro sports altogether. Pats kicker Stephen Gostkowski made a 33-yard field goal with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game to make the score 28-12, but New England still had a long way to go. The Patriots took advantage of a fumble by Falcons QB Matt Ryan with Patriots QB Tom Brady connecting with receiver Danny Amendola on a touchdown. The Pats converted a two-point conversion to get within eight points of the lead. With 3:30 remaining on the clock the Pats got the ball back with a chance to tie the game. On a drive that included an incredible catch by receiver Julian Edelman the Pats ended up on the Falcons’ one-yard line with 58 seconds on the clock when running back James White punched the ball into the end zone to get the team within two points of the lead. On maybe the most important two-point conversion attempt in NFL history Brady completed a pass to Amendola to tie the game. The Patriots had completed the largest comeback in Super Bowl history, but still had work to do. Super Bowl LI would become the first overtime game in Super Bowl history and the Pats won the coin toss to receive the ball first, meaning if they could score a touchdown the game would be over. Brady carved up the Falcons defense on the overtime drive and then a pass into the end zone was called for passing interference on the Falcons giving New England the ball on two-yard line. The Pats would have three attempts to win the game. The Pats first down play was an incompletion, but on the second-and-goal play call the ball would be pitched to White who would be contacted by Atlanta defenders at the one-yard line but was able to stretch the ball across the goal line for the game-winning touchdown. It capped off the most unbelievable comeback many of us NFL fans had ever seen. 1. Chicago Cubs Break the Curse The harshest losing streak in professional sports history was the Chicago Cubs lack of a World Series title since 1908. Years of futility and heartbreak had built up and in the span of seemingly just minutes in game seven of the 2016 World Series it was on the verge of being released, and then more heartbreak added on top and then released again. After the top half of the eighth inning in game seven the Cubs had a 6-3 lead and only needed six more outs for the curse of the Billy Goat to be broken. Cubs ace Jon Lester was in the game out of the bullpen and retired the first two batters of the inning, but when Indians third baseman Jose Ramirez singled off him Cubs manager Joe Maddon opted to go with his closer Aroldis Chapman, who had been a bit overworked in the series. Brandon Guyer immediately hit a run-scoring double to get the Indians within two. Up to the plate came light hitting center fielder Rajai Davis, who had hit just 55 home runs in an 11 season career at that point. Of course, Davis would launch a shot into the left field bleachers to tie the game up. Neither team would score in the ninth inning and the game would enter extra innings, but rain began coming down too intensely to continue and the game was halted for 17 minutes. During the brief rain delay Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward gathered his distraught team and said, “We’re the best team in baseball for a reason. Stick together and we’re going to win this game.” When the game resumed Kyle Schwarber led off for the Cubs with a single and was replaced by pinch runner Albert Almora Jr. Almora in a bit of the decade’s best baserunning tagged up from first on a long fly ball by Kris Bryant to get into scoring position. The Indians intentionally walked Cubs power hitting first baseman Anthony Rizzo to face Ben Zobrist with two on and one out. Zobrist would hit a double to give the Cubs a 7-6 lead in extras. Later in the inning Cubs catcher Miguel Montero would add another run with a single. In the bottom of the half the Cubs had a two-run lead and needed three outs for the title. Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr. retired the first two batters of the inning easily before walked Guyer and giving up an RBI-single to Davis, who was clearly trying to be Cleveland’s hero in the same year that already saw LeBron James lead the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team to a championship. The Cubs brought in Mike Montgomery to replace Edwards. Montgomery would face Michael Martinez, who hit a soft grounder to Bryant at third base. Bryant picked up the ball and tossed it over to Rizzo for the final out and the horrible streak was finally over. What do you think was the most memorable sports moment of the decade? What did we leave out that should've made the cut?
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