10 Best Sports Moments

By Sean Gregory

1. VINCE'S VICTORY

TEXAS QUARTERBACK VINCE Young played the perfect game on the biggest stage, romping over U.S.C. in the Rose Bowl to lead the Longhorns to their first national championship in 35 years. He ran for 200 yds., passed for 267 more and scored three touchdowns, including a fourth-down scoring scramble with 19 sec. left. Said U.S.C. coach Pete Carroll: "That's an extraordinary football player."

2. STEELERS STEAL ONE

IT TURNS OUT THAT QUARTERbacks can play defense too. With a little over a minute left in an AFC playoff game, Indianapolis Colts defensive back Nick Harper, his team down three points, picked up a fumble by the Pittsburgh Steelers near the Colts' 1-yd. line and ran for what should have been a touchdown. But Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hustled to trip Harper, saving the game for the Steelers, who went on to win the Super Bowl.

3. BY GEORGE, THEY DID IT

THIS REGIONAL FINAL OF THE NCAA men's basketball tournament looked like a classic mismatch. The University of Connecticut featured four future NBA first-round draft picks. And George Mason--a suburban commuter school in Fairfax, Va.--looked like nothing much until its torrid shooting and scrappy defense gave it an 86-84 overtime upset of the Huskies, sending a school from a nonmajor conference to the Final Four for the first time in 27 years.

4. A WIN FOR EARL

TIGER WOODS, GOLF'S ICY assasin, finally lost it. After sinking his winning putt at last summer's British Open for his first tournament title since the death in May of his father Earl, Woods clung to his caddie, Steve Williams, and cried uncontrollably. Said Woods: "I just wish he could have seen it one more time."

5. KOBE'S 81

REVERSE LAYUPS WHILE WEDGED between defenders. Fadeaway jumpers in traffic. Three-pointers shot from Catalina. Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant hit them all one Hollywood night in January, scoring 81 points, the second highest total in NBA history (Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 in 1962), in the Lakers' 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors. In the second half alone, Bryant outscored the entire Toronto team, 55-41.

6. THE GOLD TOMATO

AFTER BOTCHING A LANDING IN his first qualifying run at the Winter Olympics in Torino, Shaun White, a shaggy-haired, usually mellow snowboarder, nicknamed the "Flying Tomato" for his red mane, looked lost. "I got all Olympicky," he said of his nerves. He eased his mind with a few practice runs and nailed two 1080s--a 1080 is three complete rotations in the air--in the finals to earn gold.

7. L.A. STORY

EVEN LOS ANGELES DODGERS fans, famous for leaving games early to beat traffic, made U-turns to catch one of the most dramatic comebacks in baseball history. Trailing the San Diego Padres 9-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Dodgers Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin and Marlon Anderson belted four home runs on just seven pitches to tie the game. A two-run blast in the 10th from Nomar Garciaparra finished the job. Game over.

8. WORLD CUP CLASSIC

LOST IN THE HUBBUB OVER Zinedine Zidane's World Cup-- final head butt was a classic finish in the semis. Minutes before the match between Italy and host country Germany was headed for penalty shots, Italy's Fabio Grosso took a gorgeous pass from Andrea Pirlo and curled it by the German goalkeeper, putting Italy up 1-0 (it added another goal two minutes later). Italy beat France in the final, giving the Azzurri their fourth World Cup.

9. A STIRRING FAREWELL

PLAYING IN HIS 21ST consecutive U.S. Open, the last tournament of his pro career, Andre Agassi reminded fans why they had come to love the former denim-clad, punk pariah. Although he was dogged by a bad back, Agassi outlasted a younger, faster Marcos Baghdatis in a five-set, second-round thriller that took almost four hours. The raucous New York City crowd roared with every winning shot; after losing a few days later, a weepy Agassi thanked fans for inspiring him.

10. A MANAGER'S MIRACLE

FOR AUTISTIC TEENAGER JASON McElwain, the manager of the varsity basketball team at Greece Athena High School in Rochester, N.Y., just the chance to suit up for Greece Athena's final home game was a thrill. Then his coach put him on the floor. McElwain hit six three-pointers and one more shot, to finish with 20 points in just four minutes. After he sank his final basket at the buzzer, delirious fans carried McElwain off the court. And Columbia Pictures bought the rights to his story.