Watch Great San Diego Sports Moments
It seems like a lifetime ago when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. Our lives changed forever as the epidemic forced the cancellation or postponement of college athletics, professional sporting events and everyday life until further notice. Thus, the only resource that hasn’t been touched by the virus is YouTube’s vast sports library.
Let’s not forget America’s Finest City has played host to some of country’s grandest sporting events such as three Super Bowls, numerous college football bowl games, NCAA basketball tournament opening round games and golf’s US Open. If you were fortunate to attend one of these events, you knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Now, San Diego sports fans have a chance to re-watch some of their favorite moments that they either witnessed in-person or on the television. Hopefully, our recommendations will help fill the void left by the absence of professional sports in all our lives.
1984 NLCS: San Diego Padres vs Chicago Cubs
1984 was a very special season for the San Diego Padres. They captured their first divisional title, which earned them the right to play in the National League Championship Series. The Padres were matched against baseball’s beloved Chicago Cubs in the best of five game series.
At the start, things looked bleak for the Pads as they loss the first two games by a combined score of 17-2 at the famed Wrigley Field. But, momentum came their way with a Game Three victory. It was further fueled by Steve Garvey’s game-winning home run to capture Game Four. And the fate of the Cubs was sealed by a late inning defensive meltdown in the series-clinching Game Five win for the Friars. What an epic weekend!!!
Watch the clinching Game 5 here:
1994 AFC Championship Game: San Diego Chargers vs Pittsburgh Steelers
I know our audience’s blood pressure rises whenever we mention the (fill in the blank) ___ ___Chargers on the site or podcast. Still, every San Diego sports fan remembers where they were when Dennis Gibson deflected Neal O’Donnell’s pass in the end zone with 1:03 left in the game that put the Chargers into Super Bowl. Re-watching the 1994 AFC Championship Game still gives me chills. The Chargers were huge underdogs on the road against NFL royalty in the Pittsburgh Steelers. The victory validated that team’s “lunch pail” mentality as the wins weren’t pretty but quite satisfying. Regardless of your opinion of the Spanos family, this game ranks as one of the great moments in San Diego sports history.
1998 NLCS: San Diego Padres vs Atlanta Braves
It took them 14 seasons, but the Padres returned to the NLCS in 1998. Their opponent was the Atlanta Braves who featured one of the best starting (Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz) rotations in baseball. To the surprise of no one living in San Diego, the Friars jumped out to a 3-0 in the series. If you were in the parking lot, you can’t forget the jubilation outside of Qualcomm Stadium after the Padres Game 3 victory. Starting pitcher Sterling Hitchcock outdueled Maddux for the win. He pitched five innings and gave up only one run in the outing. This victory would be the only game won by the home team as the Padres captured the series in a Game 6 win at Turner Field.
Here is Game 2 (sorry only game of the 1998 NLCS that I could find on YouTube), a Kevin Brown complete-game gem in Atlanta to give San Diego a 2-0 series lead:
2008 US Open Playoff
Torrey Pines Golf Course was the site for an iconic sporting event. Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate were competing for a US Open title in a playoff format that consisted of playing 18 holes in a head-to-head matchup.
Woods had a home course advantage over Mediate as he had eight tour wins at Torrey Pines over his career. The majority of those rounds played were simply defined as golfing excellence.
However, this major was different than the others for Woods.
He didn’t look fully healthy from early April knee surgery. With each completed round, Woods had a noticeable limp that would get progressively worse over the weekend. Still, he was atop of the leaderboard heading into the final round of play. Tiger lost his one-stroke lead on the very first hole. Relative unknown, Rocco Mediate, played even with him on that Sunday to force an 18-hole playoff.
Monday’s playoff round was memorable because of the back-and-forth action between Tiger and Rocco. Woods needed a birdie on the 18th hole to force sudden death and to no one’s surprise, play continued. On the 91st hole of the 2008 US Open, Woods outlasted Mediate to capture his third Open title and 14 major of his career.
Simply, it was a day that you didn’t want to end.