Top 10 Games of 2010

One of our favorite lists of the year is the Top 10 Games of 2010.  Why ESPN ever took the Top 10 Games off the air a few years ago is beyond me, but it's always fun to look back at why exactly we love sports - the games.  These are the games that will be remembered 10 years from now and beyond.  Here at RSS we do things just a little differently.  Because we cover all sports we go to 10 different sports for our 10 games and pick the best one from each, then rank them 10 to 1.  Let us know what games we've missed and what your favorite game was from 2010. 

10) MLB - Phillies 4 Reds 0, NLDS Game 1
-This game will always be known as Roy Halladay's playoff no-hitter.  In lack of a truly classic competitive baseball game this year, this one will do as the baseball game most remembered from 2010.  Halladay was incredible in his first ever postseason start only needing 104 pitches, 1 walk, and 8 strikeouts to no-hit the Reds.  Again, thank Bud Selig for our craptastic fan video.


9) NBA - Lakers 95 Thunder 94, 1st Round Game 6
-Some might argue for Game 7 of the Finals to be here, but that really was a wretched game that was awful to watch.  In truth, the game of the year in the NBA took place at the beginning of the playoffs with the Lakers taking on Kevin Durant and the young Thunder in Oklahoma City.  This game had everything a fantastic basketball game needs - an amazing crowd, stars making plays at both ends, and a buzzer beater.  Pau Gasol's putback in the final second finally put the Thunder away and began another Lakers title run.


8) NHL - Blackhawks 4 Flyers 3 F/OT, Game 6 Stanley Cup Finals
-There may be nothing better in sports than playoff overtime hockey, especially when everything is at stake.  The last game of the '09-'10 NHL season is our choice for NHL game of the year.  This game had 3 ties and several lead changes before Patrick Kane netted the game winner in OT (which made our Top 10 D'Oh Moments countdown for the several announcing blunders associated with it) and Chicago won their first Stanley Cup since 1961.


7) Golf - Martin Kaymer Wins 2010 PGA Championship
-As has been the custom over the past decade, the PGA Championship was the most exciting golf tournament of the year and just nicks this year's Ryder Cup in our countdown.  Even though Tiger Woods was missing from major leaderboards all season, the last major of the year was one of the most compelling in recent memory.  It had several players in contention, including young studs Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, and Martin Kaymer.  Leading by a shot, Johnson's episode on the 72nd hole will forever go down in infamy for grounding his club in one of Whistling Straits' mystery bunkers.  The insuing penalty sent him from the playoff to a place in golfing lore.  In that playoff, Kaymer came from behind to beat Watson to claim his first major in remarkable fashion.


6) College Football - #19 Nevada 34 #4 Boise State 31 F/OT
-A jaw dropping comeback by the Wolfpack almost never was.  After a 17 point fightback, the score was tied at 31 when Kellen Moore's unreal pass to Titus Young with 1 second left set up Boise State inside the 10 yard line with a chance to escape Reno with their BCS title dreams alive.  Instead, K Kyle Brotzman missed a 26 yarder on the last play of regulation.  Then he missed a 29 yarder in the first OT period.  Nevada went on to upset Boise 34-31 in one of the most unreal college football games you'll ever see.  The ending makes it easy to forget about the fantastic performances of players like Moore and Colin Kaepernick.  The loss was costly for Boise - no BCS berth and no $8 Million payout from the BCS cartel.


5) College Basketball - #2 Kansas State 101 #6 Xavier 96 F/2OT, NCAA Sweet 16
-While the championship game between Duke and Butler came down to the final shot and Gordon Hayward's missed buzzer beater, this game was the pure definition of March Madness.  K State and Xavier traded bucket after bucket through 2 overtimes including perhaps the most awesome clutch shot I've ever seen from Xavier's Jordan Crawford to force double OT.  Finally, Jacob Pullen and the Wildcats were able to emerge after a classic encounter.  Of course, it always helps to have Gus Johnson on the mic...


4) Tennis - John Isner def. Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68, Wimbledon 1st Round
-The most surreal entry into our countdown is the longest tennis match ever played.  This match lasted 3 days and will forever link the two men together with records that may never be broken.  You may ask why it's not number 1 on the list and it's a legitimate question because of the sheer improbability of ever seeing anything like this again.  Well, the match was a battle of wills that will be remembered for its pure longevity, not its impact on the sport or the quality on display.  It was more of a freak occurrence than legendary classic.  The match brought about my favorite piece of sports journalism of the year in the Guardian Live Blog.  This came from Xan Brooks when the score was 18-18 in the 5th, keep in mind there were still 102 games to go!

The Isner-Mahut battle is a bizarre mix of the gripping and the deadly dull. It's tennis's equivalent of Waiting For Godot, in which two lowly journeymen comedians are forced to remain on an outside court until hell freezes over and the sun falls from the sky. Isner and Mahut are dying a thousand deaths out there on Court 18 and yet nobody cares, because they're watching the football. So the players stand out on their baseline and belt aces past each-other in a fifth set that has already crawled past two hours. They are now tied at 18-games apiece.

On and on they go. Soon they will sprout beards and their hair will grow down their backs, and their tennis whites will yellow and then rot off their bodies. And still they will stand out there on Court 18, belting aces and listening as the umpire calls the score. Finally, I suppose, one of them will die.

Thankfully, one of them didn't die, Isner finally won.  And, the grace, class, and sheer will to win of both players will go down in the history books.  We pick up the highlights at 59-59 at the beginning of Day 3!


3) Soccer - Uruguay 1 Ghana 1 (URU advances 4-2 on PKs), World Cup Quarterfinal
-The World Cup in South Africa was a complete success and enjoyed by a record number of people stateside.  Perhaps no other game told the importance and drama of the World Cup than the quarterfinal between upstarts Ghana and Uruguay.  Ghana was the last African team in the tournament looking for the continent's first semifinal berth while Uruguay were on their best WC run in 40 years.  With the score tied at 1, Argentine star striker Luis Suarez was penalized for a handball on the goalline in the dying seconds of extra time.  With the last kick of the game, Ghanian talisman Asamoah Gyan banged the PK off the crossbar.  Uruguay won the ensuing shootout 4-2 in one of the cruelest, most heartbreaking losses you will ever see.  The roller coaster of emotions and continental significance of the game were beyond description.


2) Olympics - Canada 3 USA 2 F/OT, Gold Medal Hockey Game
-The Olympic hockey tournament was one of the highlights of the year and we got the dream matchup in the Gold Medal Game featuring these two North American rivals.  The fact that the game took place on Canadian soil in Vancouver only made the theater more enthralling.  The USA played the role scrappy underdog, even pinching a win against the uber-talented Canadiens in the prelim round.  In the final game, the Americans found themselves down 2-0 but came back with goals from Ryan Kesler in the 2nd period and Zach Parise in the final minute to send the game into overtime.  It was there where the legend of Sidney Crosby grew even more by scoring the golden goal on tourney MVP Ryan Miller.  


1) NFL - Saints 31 Vikings 28 F/OT, NFC Championship Game
-It was a fantastic calendar year for the NFL.  We had classic games ranging from the Miracle at the New Meadowlands to the Cards/Packers Wild Card Shootout to Super Bowl XLIV.  But, no game in the NFL or in the world of sports had as many twists and turns or as much lasting impact as the NFC Championship Game that propelled the Saints to the Super Bowl and effectively ended the career of Brett Favre.  For the thrills on the field and the larger impact of the game, it is our choice for Game of the Year.

The Saints and Vikings traded 4 TDs over 4 quarters.  In that span the New Orleans defense mercilessly beat Brett Favre to shades of purple matching his Viking uniform.  However, Favre led a Minnesota offense that outgained the Saints 475-257.  The Saints were somehow able to stay in the game with what had led their improbable march all season - turnovers.  The Saints defense created 5 Minnesota turnovers including one of the most famous interceptions of all-time in the last minute of regulation.  With the score tied at 28, Favre and the Vikings were on the edge of field goal range with :19 left.  Favre's storybook season was sure to head to Miami for a chance at one last title.  Only needing a few yards, Favre threw an interception to Tracy Porter and the Saints wouldn't relinquish the ball.  In overtime, Drew Brees led New Orleans into FG range including a key 4th & 1 pickup by Pierre Thomas.  It was then when Garrett Hartley booted the Saints into a Super Bowl berth, where they would go on to win their first world championship on another Porter interception against Peyton Manning.

The lasting legacy of this game is what sets it apart from the rest.  The Saints defense battered Favre so much that he waffled on coming back for the 2010 season - surprising I know.  But, the truth is that even though he came back to play again, Favre never really recovered from this game and the season following was a disaster for himself and the Vikings.  More importantly though, it was also the end to the Saints' inglorious history of losing and folly.  If the Saints can reach the Super Bowl through a classic NFC Championship Game, and go on to win it all, then truly anything in sports is possible.  That's why they play the games... 


So there you have it, that will do it for us until after the weekend.  We'll be back around the end of the year with the rest of our Bowl Picks and the Top 10 Stories of 2010.  Till then, Merry Christmas!