So, here we are. We've arrived at the dawning of another year. 2014 was a wonderful year in sports, as I detailed the other day. But there's one last thing that needs to be done before I can put a bow on Joe Brackets for the year 2014. It's the annual top games of the year post. And since the year coming to an end is 2014, it seems only right to put 14 games on the list...
14. Belmont Stakes-June 7, Elmont, NY: More than 102,000 people turned out hoping to see California Chrome make history. The Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner couldn't complete the Triple Crown, though. Chrome didn't have enough room (or enough legs) to make a run down the stretch and finished fourth behind winner Tonalist.
13. Maple Leafs 3, Detroit Red Wings 2 (NHL Winter Classic)-January 1, Ann Arbor, MI: The Winter Classic returned after a one-year absence with the biggest one ever. And it was also one of the best. More than 105,000 people crammed into Michigan Stadium to watch two Original Six rivals--the Red Wings and Maple Leafs prove why this event is so amazing. It was tied 2-2 after regulation, but Toronto ultimately prevailed on Tyler Bozak's game-winning goal in the final round of the shootout.
12. Women's 4x400 Meter Relay (NCAA Indoor Championships)-March 15, Albuquerque, NM: I'm sure this is the most obscure selection on this list for most of you, but it was also one of the easiest calls to make. Entering the final event of the meet, Texas and Florida had a 1.5 point lead on Oregon in the team standings. All three had teams entered in the 4x400 relay, which basically meant it was winner-take-all. Texas was the favorite and had the lead after three legs, but Oregon's Phyllis Francis caught the Longhorns on the anchor leg, leaning at the finish line to win by .02 seconds and clinch Oregon's fifth straight National Championship.
11. Ford EcoBoost 400-November 16, Miami: When NASCAR revamped the Chase for the Sprint Cup format this season, this is exactly what they had in mind. The final race of the season would determine the champion. Whoever finished the highest among Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano would clinch the series title. And after a back-and-forth battle with Newman, Harvick won the race and his first Sprint Cup crown.
10. Boston Marathon-April 21, Boston: After the horror of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, the 2014 race was going to be special no matter what happened. Because of the bombings it was also one of the biggest Boston Marathons ever, with 36,000 entrants and over a million watching at the finish line. And that million saw an incredible three-way finish between American Meb Keflezeghi and two Kenyans. Keflezeghi ended up winning by 11 seconds, becoming the first American to win Boston in 30 years.
9. Canada 3, United States 2 (Olympic Women's Hockey Gold Medal Game)-February 20, Sochi, Russia: The United States was mere seconds from gold. They led 2-0 with under five minutes left when Canada scored to make it 2-1. The Canadians pulled their goalie and the U.S. sent one towards the empty net that would've clinched it. Except it hit the linesman before clanging off the post. Canada scored seconds later to tie the game, then won its fourth straight gold medal in overtime.
8. Baylor 61, TCU 58-October 11, Waco, TX: If only the Big 12 had been able to figure its own stuff out at the end of the season, Baylor might've been included in the playoff instead of Ohio State. Because this shootout ultimately gave the Bears and Horned Frogs a split Big 12 title. TCU led 58-37 in the fourth quarter before Baylor rallied for 24 unanswered points, winning on a 28-yard field goal as time expired.
7. Colts 45, Chiefs 44 (AFC Wild Card Playoff)-January 4, Indianapolis: The Legend of Andrew Luck grew in last season's Wild Card Game against the Chiefs. Kansas City led 31-10 at halftime and 38-10 early in the third quarter. But the Colts came all the way back, scoring five second half touchdowns. The Chiefs took a 44-38 lead on a field goal with 5:40 left, only to see Luck respond with a 64-yard TD pass to T.Y. Hilton three plays later. The extra point gave Indy its only lead of the day and 45-44 would hold up as the final score, as Indianapolis completed the second-greatest playoff comeback in NFL history.
6. Kentucky 78, Wichita State 76 (NCAA Tournament, Round of 32)-March 23, St. Louis: Wichita State came into the NCAA Tournament undefeated and on a 35-game winning streak. The Shockers got a No. 1 seed and easily beat Cal Poly in their first game, but drew the incredibly underseeded No. 8 Kentucky in the second round. And what we got was a classic. Wichita State led by six at halftime, but it was Kentucky that was in front, 78-76, with 7.1 seconds remaining. After a Wichita State timeout, Fred Van Vleet fired a three-pointer at the buzzer that clanged off the backboard and ended the Shockers' pursuit of perfection. Kentucky, of course, would go all the way to the National Championship Game, where they lost to UConn.
5. Netherlands 0, Costa Rica 0 (Penalty Kicks: 4-3, World Cup Quarterfinals)-July 5, Salvador, Brazil: There were so many great games during the World Cup that it was hard to narrow it down to just one. But I'm going with that excellent quarterfinal between Costa Rica and the Netherlands. Costa Rica was looking to become the first CONCACAF team to reach the semifinals since the United States in 1930 and held the powerful Dutch in check despite being outshot 20-6. The Dutch changed their goalie just before the penalty kick shootout, and the move worked, as he stopped Costa Rica's final shot to send the Netherlands into the semifinals for the second straight World Cup.
4. Blazers 99, Rockets 98 (Game 6, NBA Playoffs, First Round)-May 2, Portland, OR: Now, I'm not one to watch the NBA, as you know, but even I was impressed by how this game finished. Houston, trailing the series 3-2, took a 98-96 lead with less than a second left. But, on the inbound play after a Portland timeout, Damian Lillard drained a series-winning three-pointer at the buzzer that sent the Blazers into the second round.
3. Novak Djokovic vs. Roger Federer (Wimbledon Gentlemen's Championship)-July 7, Wimbledon, England: Federer and Djokovic have played some classics over the years, and the 2014 Wimbledon final jumped right to the top of the list. Neither had won a Grand Slam yet in 2014 when they met on Centre Court for the Wimbledon title, and they went at it for nearly four hours. Federer won the first set in a tiebreak, then Djokovic took the second and third. He got an early break to go up 3-1 in the fourth and was on the brink of the championship at 5-2, only to see Federer win five games in a row to force a fifth set. Leading 5-4, Djokovic earned two championship points on Federer's serve and converted, ending the classic, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, and earning his second Wimbledon title.
2. United States 3, Russia 2 (Olympic Men's Hockey)-February 15, Sochi, Russia: The most anticipated game of the men's hockey tournament didn't disappoint. It was 2-2 late in the third period when it looked like Russia had won it, but the goal was waived off because the net was off its moorings. It ended up going to a shootout, which Ilya Kovalchuk leveled at 1-1 on Russia's last shot of the initial three. The shootout then became sudden-death, and the U.S. sent T.J. Oshie out there over and over again. Eventually, in the eighth round of the shootout (after Kovalchuk hit the post), Oshie was able to get one by Russian goalie Sergei Bobrovski for the game-winner.
1. Royals 9, Athletics 8 (American League Wild Card Game)-September 30, Kansas City: We should've known that the Kansas City Royals had magic on their side after this outstanding 12-inning thriller. Oakland had a 7-3 lead and Jon Lester on the mound in the bottom of the eighth when the Royals first showed the flashes that made America fall in love with them. Alcides Escobar singled, stole second and scored on Lorenzo Cain's single, then Cain stole second, Eric Hosmer walked and Lester was taken out. Billy Butler singled Cain home and Hosmer scored on a wild pitch, making it 7-6. In the ninth, Kansas City played small ball to score the tying run. Oakland took the lead again, 8-7, in the top of the 12th, but the Royals again came back. Hosmer tripled, then scored on a single by Christian Colon. After Colon stole second, Salvador Perez sent a single down the left field line that just got by Josh Donaldson, scoring Colon and sending the Royals to the ALDS. They, of course, eventually went all the way to Game 7 of the World Series, which could've been on the list in its own right. But without that Salvador Perez, none of that happens. A truly memorable game that started a truly memorable run. It was perhaps the most memorable game of 2014, which is why I rank it No. 1.
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