10. Mookie Wilson's dribbler trickled through first baseman Bill Buckner's glove, scoring Ray Knight and giving the New York Mets a Game 6 win. Two days later the Mets won the deciding game of the 1986 World Series.
9. With the score tied 52-52, Derrick Wittenburg's desperation jumper fell short, but Lorenzo Charles read the shot's arc, grabbed the air ball and dunked the game-winning field goal. North Carolina State beat the heavily favored Phi Slamma Jammas of Houston in the 1983 title game and coach Jim Valvano ran around the floor looking for someone to hug.
8. In a jaw-dropping sprint, Tyus Edney dribbled the length of the floor in the final 4.8 seconds and scored at the rim over Derek Grimm to stun Missouri 75-74 in the second round of the 1995 NCAA tournament. UCLA eventually won the final Final Four played at the Kingdome.
7. The Sonics and Utah Jazz, two teams playing at their absolute best, gave us a classic seventh game of a dramatic 1996 Western Conference finals. It was Gary Payton vs. John Stockton and Shawn Kemp against Karl Malone. Kemp had 26 points and 14 rebounds in Seattle's 90-86 series-clinching win that still gives me chills.
6. In a hold-your-breath moment, Michael Phelps beat Milorad Cavic by one hundredth of a second in the 100 butterfly to win the seventh of his unprecedented eight gold medals in the Beijing Olympics. Even every sportswriter was cheering for Phelps.
5. Dodger Kirk Gibson painfully limped to home plate to face Oakland's Dennis Eckersley in the ninth inning of the first game of the 1989 World Series. I don't know how, but he slammed the game-winning home run and as he hobbled around the bases, broadcaster Jack Buck put words to our feelings, saying, "I do not believe what I just saw."
4. Edgar Martinez doubled down the left-field line. From first base, Ken Griffey Jr. expertly cut the edges of second and third and slid home into a delirious celebration as the Mariners came from a 2-0 series deficit to beat the New York Yankees 3 games to 2 in the 1995 American League Divisional Series.
3. All morning, Seattle was in a state of nervous anticipation as it waited for the first pitch of this one-game playoff with California for the 1995 AL West title. But Randy Johnson calmed the city's fears, pitching a complete-game three-hitter in the M's 9-1 win.
2. Michael Johnson hit some gear I've never seen from a human as he rounded the turn en route to setting a world record and winning the gold medal in the 1996 Olympic 200 meters. I thought it was the most thrilling performance I'd ever seen, until ...
1. Usain Bolt easily pulled past the world's fastest humans and was heading for a world record in the 100 meters, when he raised his hands and celebrated his 2008 gold medal about 10 meters before the finish line. Sitting about 15 rows from the track, I thought he'd blown his chance at the world record. And then I looked up at the scoreboard. And then I heard the roar inside the Beijing Bird's Nest. He did it.
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