What kinds of sporting events have you been to? And what are your special memories?

[missing]

In no particular order:

Figure skating- SA, SC, US Nationals, Worlds, and at least one golden age professional competition (Toller Cranston did beautiful Russian split jumps)

NCAAW basketball- a number of UConn games and last year's Final Four/ Nationals (little girls in their Caitlin Clark jerseys; grown men screaming like maniacs)

Major League baseball/Minor League baseball- a baseball bounced into my lap at a minor league game, one of the all-time best souvenirs

Gymnastics- Simone Biles' first US championship

Tennis- Pete Sampras beating Ivan Lendl on his way to his first US Open title, probably the best sporting event I've ever been to

Second half of a high school football game my senior year of high school- We played our archrival, Lawrence High School, and I like to think I saw the great tragic NFL star Lyle Alzado who played for Lawrence at that time.

I had fun making up my list. I'd love to read yours.

 

[my little pony]

someone at my hotel gave me curling tickets at the olympics and I only went because it was free but it was actually kind of fun. it was even more clannish than skating but everyone was nice and knew each other and drank a lot.

 

[MacMadame]

I was at SLC Pairs FS when we had the Big Controversy over the results that led to giving out 2 gold medals.

I also was the official photographer at a US Classics gymnastics meet. (I think it is 2006) and a lot of the kids there ended up on an Olympic team the appropriate number of years later. That was fun!

I attended the Closing Ceremonies at the '84 Olympics in LA. It was the first one where the audience "participated" (we had lights we turned on and off as requested)

I loved the '84 Olympics, btw. We went to the medal games for soccer (3rd v 4th and 1st v 2nd) and the last day of Three Day Eventing. Nothing historical or earth-shattering happened, but they were still fun.

 

[Vash01]

I have been to many figure skating competitions since 1993. It includes the 2002 Olympics and four world championships .The latest was in 2021 SA. I won’t be attending any in the future.

Football (NFL)- Dallas Cowboys, 49rs, Arizona Cardinals

Baseball (MLB) - Arizona Diamondbacks games, including playoffs

Hockey (NHL)- Arizona Coyotes games including playoffs

Basketball - Phoenix Suns. I was a season ticket holder for 3 years

WNBA- Phoenix Mercury. Season ticket holder for two years

I have been to many college games while in graduate schools.

I would love to see gymnastics at the summer Olympics.

 

[MacMadame]

I was at SLC Pairs FS when we had the Big Controversy over the results that led to giving out 2 gold medals.

I also was the official photographer at a US Classics gymnastics meet. (I think it is 2006) and a lot of the kids there ended up on an Olympic team the appropriate number of years later. That was fun!

I attended the Closing Ceremonies at the '84 Olympics in LA. It was the first one where the audience "participated" (we had lights we turned on and off as requested)

I loved the '84 Olympics, btw. We went to the medal games for soccer (3rd v 4th and 1st v 2nd) and the last day of Three Day Eventing. Nothing historical or earth-shattering happened, but they were still fun.

I forgot about being at Worlds in DC in 2003 when Michelle Kwan won and we had SkateFAIR. It was her last World title.

I was also there at the infamous GPF in '04 where Plushenko came in 2nd because he didn't understand IJS.

I also saw Rudy Galindo win Nationals in '96. It was Michelle Kwan's first Nationals title too. Nicole Bobek had to withdraw because of boot/foot problems and wasn't named to the World team.

I attended other figure skating events, so I'll have to ponder if any of them had something historic happen at them.

 

[Cachoo]

I was at SLC Pairs FS when we had the Big Controversy over the results that led to giving out 2 gold medals.

I also was the official photographer at a US Classics gymnastics meet. (I think it is 2006) and a lot of the kids there ended up on an Olympic team the appropriate number of years later. That was fun!

I attended the Closing Ceremonies at the '84 Olympics in LA. It was the first one where the audience "participated" (we had lights we turned on and off as requested)

I loved the '84 Olympics, btw. We went to the medal games for soccer (3rd v 4th and 1st v 2nd) and the last day of Three Day Eventing. Nothing historical or earth-shattering happened, but they were still fun.

I LOVED Bud Greenspan's "16 Days of Glory" about the '84 Olympics. I liked that he looked for little stories among the headliners. And seeing the athletes, on closing night, suddenly running all over the track in joy and celebration was something to behold. There are so many great stories from those games. I think my favorite was about the camaraderie between the particiapants of the first ever Olympic women's marathon. Good stuff.

My experiences are limited to KU Jayhawk basketball, Wichita State baseball, KC Chiefs football and Skate America.

 

[misskarne]

For skating I've been to 2016 Worlds in Boston, 2019 US Nationals and 2019 4CC. I got to see Jason do Love is a Witch perfectly and land that stunning 3F right in front of me. Honestly my main memory of Boston is that it was fecking cold, and also that Max didn't land a single clean 4S-3T in practice the entire week then nailed the fck out of it in his program. Also that during the RD I correctly predicted which partial step sequences would be chosen by the ISU as new pattern dances.

For me the thing that stood out attending all three events was how difficult it was to get public transport to the arenas. Anaheim wasn't too bad, although it was still a bit of a hike from the bus station to the Honda Centre, but I ended up having to get taxis every day of Nationals in Detroit.

But my main big event love will always be the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix. I am about to attend my 10th this year. The atmosphere is like nothing I've seen anywhere else. And I've a lot of great memories of it. The very first year I went, in 2009 - the absolute shock of the Brawns being curbstompingly fast, seemingly out of nowhere. Great weekends with a group of fellow Mark Webber fans. The old Four Corners package which gave you a seat in a different grandstand each day. That magic moment in 2014 when a young Daniel Ricciardo stood above us on the podium, and the frustration at midnight when the stewards took it from him, capped off for me by actually meeting him the very next day. That first race back after COVID, full of bustling crowds and excitement. The excitement of the local boy's first home race in 2023, devolving into the absolute chaos of three red flags.

The sadness of sitting in line at a Williams fan event on the Friday night of last year's race, to hear that Logan was to be punished for Albon's mistake.

The sound of 160,000 people gasping in shock when Max Verstappen's brakes began smoking and we realised, all at once, that someone other than Max was going to win; the wild cheering when he headed into the pitlane to retire. The hope when Oscar was the one in third for a while.

And now, this year, the buzzing excitement. Red Bull no longer dominant. The possibility that McLaren are, giving rise to the very real possibility that Oscar could. That we would have an Australian on the podium here, again, and he could keep it this time. That an Australian could win the race. And of course, the long-awaited debut of the son of our very own legend.

Yes it's expensive, but I wouldn't give it up for the world.

 

[paskatefan]

Mostly figure skating - US Nationals (1998, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2024) Worlds (2003, 2016, 2024, and next month's in Boston, hopefully), several Skate America comps (2003, 2005, 2007, 2017, 2021, 2023, 2024). We try to attend fs comps/events mostly when they are on the East Coast or within a reasonable driving distance from Philadelphia.

1996 - Summer Olympics - a few days worth of events (by lottery) - judo, weight lifting, track & field, basketball, one night of the individual event gymnastics' final & the gymnastics exhibition (our seats were so high up, we had to use our binoculars to read the scores on the jumbotron, but we were grateful to be there).

 

[MacMadame]

I LOVED Bud Greenspan's "16 Days of Glory" about the '84 Olympics. I liked that he looked for little stories among the headliners. And seeing the athletes, on closing night, suddenly running all over the track in joy and celebration was something to behold. There are so many great stories from those games. I think my favorite was about the camaraderie between the particiapants of the first ever Olympic women's marathon. Good stuff.

The marathon ended in the arena right before the Closing Ceremonies. So being there was a two-fer.

Skating:
I've gone to Skate America when it was in Vegas in 2021 and 2022, so two years in a row. And I went to the GPF twice, once mentioned above and the second was when it was in Vancouver. I loved Vancouver. I wanted to move there after that but my husband brought me down to earth because I hate cold.

I've been to US Nationals a lot. The first time was '96 and that was a really historic one as mentioned above. A good first nationals. Then, I started my sports photography business and went in 2005 (Portland -- the year of the big ice storm), 2006, and 2007 as a "business trip." Those were the first times I traveled to Nationals.

2012 was back in San. Jose and Jason Brown won the Jr Mens title and still had the ponytail and skated to anime and reminded me so much of my son that I became a fan. Gracie Gold won the Jr Women and I also became a fan of her. In 2018, it was in San Jose again but I went out of town to do my own sports thing and only saw some of the youngest kids at the practice rink while volunteering the few days before I left town.

2022 Nationals were in Nashville and I decided to go because my sister lived there. But she wasn't vaccinated for COVID (don't get me started) so ended up not going. I sold her ticket to @taf2002 and we had a great time! Then in 2023, it was back in San Jose again but I have no real memories from that one.

I also went to '98 Worlds in Minneapolis and my big memory was dropping my camera and breaking it. Also, the arena food was bad and I was nauseous a lot. Except it turned out I was pregnant and just didn't know it. The food was still bad though so I'm sure that didn't help.

Other sports:
I've been to lots of local games, nothing notable except the year the MLB All-Stars game was in San Diego (living there at the time) and we managed to get tickets to the game at a normal rate (i.e. not from scalpers). That was cool. Even though I find baseball extremely boring.

 

[HeatherC]

I've gone to quite a few skating events over the years but probably the most memorable one was the 2007 Four Continents championships in Colorado Springs when Bryce Davison's blade sliced Jessica Dube's face during their side by side spins in their long program. I can still remember all the blood on the ice, her crying as she was trying not to freak out, the stunned silence from the audience, and how pretty much none of the other pairs teams, including the great Shen and Zhao, were closer than about a mile apart during their own sbs spins. I still cringe and get super nervous if a pair team gets too close on those spins.

My most memorable baseball event is being at the game where the Reds clinched the 2010 NL Central division on a walk off HR by Jay Bruce....that night was one of the most electric experiences I have ever had at a baseball game!

I was also at the US Classic in 2018 when Simone Biles made her triumphant return to elite competition. It was my first time ever seeing her compete in person and I was SO impressed with her composure, her infectious energy, and her lovely smile. She is such a big presence out there even though she's shorter than me!

 

[PRlady]

I've gone to quite a few skating events over the years but probably the most memorable one was the 2007 Four Continents championships in Colorado Springs when Bryce Davison's blade sliced Jessica Dube's face during their side by side spins in their long program. I can still remember all the blood on the ice, her crying as she was trying not to freak out, the stunned silence from the audience, and how pretty much none of the other pairs teams, including the great Shen and Zhao, were closer than about a mile apart during their own sbs spins. I still cringe and get super nervous if a pair team gets too close on those spins.

My most memorable baseball event is being at the game where the Reds clinched the 2010 NL Central division on a walk off HR by Jay Bruce....that night was one of the most electric experiences I have ever had at a baseball game!

I was also at the US Classic in 2018 when Simone Biles made her triumphant return to elite competition. It was my first time ever seeing her compete in person and I was SO impressed with her composure, her infectious energy, and her lovely smile. She is such a big presence out there even though she's shorter than me!

I was at that 4 Conts too and the Dube face slashing was terrifying. And I was in Pittsburgh a couple years earlier at the Skate America with the terrible injury to Tot/Mar. maybe this is why I avoid pairs competitions in person, even in Boston I’m skipping those.

My first elite skating comp in person was Ladies free at US Nats ‘98 in Philly with my then 10-year-old daughter. In other words my very first elite comp was Michelle’s Lyra Angelica!

The one Europeans I’ve managed to attend, Zagreb 2013, was so much fun. I got “adopted” by the Finnish contingent and felt right at home.

But I have to say for sheer excitement and crowd craziness, a Redskins playoff game back in the 1991 season was probably the ultimate.

 

[Kasey]

My most special sporting moment was witnessing my cousin turn an unassisted triple play in a major league game many many years ago.

 

[A.H.Black]

As I think of others I will post more but the first one that comes to mind (other than skating) is the 1967 NCAA Track and Field National Championships held at BYU. It was the year before the Olympics in Mexico City in 1968. It was a birthday present from my parents and we went all three nights as I remember (maybe only two). I saw Jim Ryun win the mile. I saw Dick Fosbury when the Fosbury flop was very new (he didn't win) and I saw USC win the 100m relay - the team included Earl McCullough and O. J. Simpson. I had a ball.

 

[kwanfan1818]

For me the most excitement I've had at a non-skating event was being at the 7th game of the 1986 World Series. A close second was watching Martina Sablikova skate at the Vancouver Olympics.

In general, I grew up in Madison Square Garden watching the Knicks and the Rangers. I love international curling, too: it's so much fun live.

 

[SandraMGfan]

I've been to varied events - and for me there's nothing like watching sports live - but one of my dream had always been to see a French Olympic gold medal on home soil, and it was even better than I imagined - the performance, the crowd, the atmosphere - such a thrill! Merci Léon!

 

[emason]

While I am a skating fan, I have only been to a handful of competitions. (Either I have time, but no money, or I have the money and no time.)

I am not a sports fan at all; love of skating is an aberration. There have been an exception or two, however, over the years. I went to the first Grand Prix Final in Barcelona and because it was Barcelona and I had a free night, I went to see Barcelona play Paris Saint-Germain in the very important Champions Series soccer match. It was amazing; I’ll never forget the way Messi moves his feet. It was balletic to watch. It was definitely a vacation highlight.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I went to the first Grand Prix Final in Barcelona and because it was Barcelona and I had a free night, I went to see Barcelona play Paris Saint-Germain in the very important Champions Series soccer match. It was amazing; I’ll never forget the way Messi moves his feet. It was balletic to watch. It was definitely a vacation highlight.

That just reminded me that when I went to Adelaide in 2004 to see The Ring of the Nibelungen, there was a three- or five-day cricket match between Australia and New Zealand. The middle game was on the “off” day between Die Walkure and Siegfried, and I went, sitting in the “good” seats: folding chairs covered by a canopy with food and beer nearby, out of the sun. It was wonderful live, seeing all of the players I’d only seen on TV.

The best was watching Jason Gillespie, a Memola-tall, lanky man with a curly mullet to end all mullets, bowl. He moved like a gazelle.

 

[Jot the Dot Dot]

Well, I went to a fight, and a Hockey Game broke out!

 

[annie720]

My first major sporting event was when my older brother took me to a Virginia Squires ABA game for my birthday. Julius Erving played with the team at this time. On this particular night at the Hampton Coliseum, red white and blue ABA basketballs were being given away to the first 100 or so people in line. There ended up bringing a crush of people in the lobby and I thought I was going to die. But I got my ball. Other than that, I loved college sports and went to most home football and basketball games at Va Tech, then moved to the Baltimore area and became an Orioles fan and was able to see a couple of World Series games. Re skating, I lived close enough to be able to go to most of the Landover pro competitions. Those were very long nights, but wonderful.

 

[ymirtm3r]

I see it's been a while since this topic was discussed, but I just want to ask—has anyone been to a sporting event recently that stood out? I went to a hockey game last year, and the atmosphere was unreal. The energy from the crowd makes such a difference! Do you prefer watching sports live or on TV?

 

[On My Own]

Do you prefer watching sports live or on TV?

Since you asked... I think I've discovered I hate sports, and if the pandemic hadn't happened, probably would have stopped watching mid 2020.

Probably not the answer you wanted. But just realised how much those 2.5 years changed everything, with nothing better to do, for large swaths of time.

 

[my little pony]

I hate sports but I joined roller derby because I thought I would like knocking people over but it's not like that. it's much harder than I expected.

 

[Bardiel]

Watching the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was unforgettable! The energy when Canada won hockey gold was unreal. The entire city was celebrating, and it felt like one big party.

 

[paskatefan]

I see it's been a while since this topic was discussed, but I just want to ask—has anyone been to a sporting event recently that stood out? I went to a hockey game last year, and the atmosphere was unreal. The energy from the crowd makes such a difference! Do you prefer watching sports live or on TV?

Given the choice, watching the events live! That applies to so many of the figure skating competitions we have been fortunate to attend through the years. 2003 Worlds when Shen & Zhao were finishing their free skate, 2014 US Nationals when Jason Brown skated to "his "Riverdance" program stand out for me ...

 

[Bardiel]

Watching the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was unforgettable! The energy when Canada won hockey gold was unreal. The entire city was celebrating, and it felt like one big party.

Going to hockey games as a kid was always exciting, but one of my best memories was trading hockey trading cards with other fans before the puck dropped. There was something about standing in the arena, swapping cards, and finding that one player I’d been searching for. Even now, I still have a few cards from those days, and they bring back all the excitement of those games.