Four years ago, I walked onto NYU's campus for the first time as a student. More pertinently, I also walked into the newsroom of WSN for the first time. I rarely left after that, serving as a sports writer and editor, and seeing all sorts of wonderful sporting events and achievements. Since graduation is an exercise in nostalgia, I've decided to relive the very best. Here now, in no particular order, are the most memorable events I've seen in person during my time at NYU.
The Amazin' New York Mets
I adopted the Mets as my team when I arrived here from New Hampshire. While the World Series title that looked inevitable in the fall of 2006 never materialized, following the Mets has had its moments. Like on September 18, 2006, when I, along with a crowd of 46,729, watched the Mets clinch their first division title since 1988. How deep was that Mets team? Jose Valentin hit two home runs and Steve Trachsel took a shutout into the seventh. The fans roared "MVP!" chants at everyone, including the grounds crew, and dearly departed Shea Stadium was in a state of pure bliss. On October 5, I paid $80 for a scalped ticket in highest, deepest right field and watched Tom Glavine shut down the Dodgers in Game 2 of the NLDS, cementing the 2006 Mets as the Greatest Team to Never Win it All.
Open Season
A couple years back, I wrote a U.S. Open column centered around an epic five-set match between Novak Djokovic and Radek Stepanek. Little did I know that my U.S. Open experiences would get even more dramatic. Last September 12, the weather was humid and rainy. Great weather for sitting in the bar, but certainly not for playing tennis. The women's semifinal between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters didn't start until well after 9 p.m., with an eerie fog hanging over Arthur Ashe Stadium. But the match was quickly headed for "classic" status, with Williams her normal powerful self and the recently unretired Clijsters winning from the baseline with cool shotmaking.
Then, the unthinkable. A controversial double-fault call put Williams down a match point. Serena began a frustrated outburst at the lineswoman, including the words, "If I could I'd take this f%$#ing ball and shove it down your f%$#ing throat."
Code violation on match point, game, set, match. Williams left the court in disgrace with predictable tabloid headlines of "BALLISTIC" to follow the next day, and proved the axiom "Good things come to those who wait."
Garden Parties
If you can afford it, ice level seats to an NHL game are worth the expense. Here's two examples why: In a December 2006 game, I sat along the boards and had a perfect view of Sidney Crosby picking up the puck in his own zone on a power play, waltzing through the Rangers defense like they were blue-shirted pylons and burying a forehand past Henrik Lundqvist. In October 2008, I had a perfect view of a classic Mike Modano wrist shot that went over Lundqvist's shoulder and into the roof of the net. It was enough to make you remember how great of a game hockey can be.
Excellence Abroad
London is a sports-mad town in a sports-mad nation and I was lucky enough to see two spectacular moments in particular while I was there. The first was on St. Patrick's Day, when I saw Arsenal defeat Hull City 2-1 in an FA Cup Quarter-final. The last 10 minutes after Arsenal's William Gallas scored the winner were a blur, a big happy blur of hugging, chanting and singing, followed by a loud, long roar when the final whistle went. For individual brilliance, nothing tops the London Wasps' fly-half and England rugby star Danny Cipriani booting a spectacular drop-goal on the run from the halfway line (about 60 yards). Let's see Adam Vinatieri try that.
Violet Days and Nights
Now we get to the best part. It's been a privilege for me to cover so many great teams, coaches and athletes in my time at NYU. I've gotten to watch Jessica McEntee and Jason Boone rewrite the basketball record books, and watched Janice Quinn lead the lady hoopsters to one last Final Four. I watched the NYU men's soccer team make a dramatic run to the 2006 national semifinals, winning two games on penalty kicks. Meanwhile, the women's soccer and volleyball teams continued to climb up the UAA and EIVA standings under the leadership of Werner Dasbach and Ed Caesar, while the men's volleyball team notched wins over Harvard Univeristy and Vassar College (twice) and established themselves as a solid team with big potential.
There are two things that are great about sports: You never know what'll happen next, and more often then not, the best is yet to come. Those words are definitely true for NYU Athletics, and I hope they're also true for all the graduating seniors.
