The baseball thread gave me the idea. What are the best things you have seen or gotten to do in person at sports events? Watching on TV doesn't count. Andy Fox may be way ahead with his World Series recollections and watching some games with his father. Significance of the event itself is not determinative. Anything memorable at some meaningless tilt can count if other factors are there. Mine are:


1977 AFC Championship. Broncos-Raiders at Mile High. It was very cold and people were letting us 10 year olds drink a little. Denver was totally crazy about the Broncos and they beat the dreaded Raiders. Just a year or two before I had seen a lot of the same players work out at a high school field near our house during a brief lockout. Ralston coached them and nobody ever figured they would win. 9-5 the year before was the best they had ever been. Red Miller took over and they went to the Super Bowl. My friend's dad wouldn't let us storm the field at the end and tear down the goalposts. Said we were too young for good old fashioned drunken vandalism. Not even that ruined it. Football has never been quite as good since that day.


Some Cubs-Cardinals game in about 1975 or so. A friend and client of my father had front row box seats right by the Cardinal's dugout at Wrigley. Cubs won somehow. We berated the Cardinal's pitcher Eric Rasmussen because he had changed his name from Harry. He didn't like it and heard us and even cussed at us. Saw Lou Brock trying to steal second up close. Another guy with us speared a foul ball and gave it to me. It would be better if I caught it but its on the bookshelf anyway.


Getting to play catch with Tony LaRussa on the field at Mile High before a game between the Iowa Oaks and Denver Bears. LaRussa had played for the Bears but was managing the Iowa Oaks. They were the White Sox AAA team and LaRussa went on to manage the White Sox not long after. Still have that dirty old minor league ball of course.