Table of Contents
Sports moments have always been the object of obsession. It is interesting to track the rise of a dynasty of the factors that led to a historic upset or the sheer dominance that cemented a team into immortality. The past 30 years of sports have provided some of the best and most memorable that seem ripe for a big screen adaptation so let’s break them down:
Long World Series Droughts Come to an End
In the 21st Century, three teams have ended some notable curses and some of the longest championship droughts in professional sports. The 2004 Boston Red Sox overcame the Curse of the Bambino and decades of heartbreak along with countless World Series victories for the rival New York Yankees to pull off a historic comeback to win the American League Pennant and changed how the game is played thanks to analytics and a reevaluation of how players are scouted and signed. Then in the very next year, the Chicago White Sox steamrolled their opponents, including the reigning World Series Champions to end their long drought and breaking the Curse of the Black Sox. The White Sox embraced their bad boy persona thanks to feisty manager Ozzie Guillén, a dominant pitching staff led by Mark Buehrle and likeable veterans Paul Konerko, Joe Crede and Jermaine Dye. It also helps to have a major league asshole like A. J. Pierzynski to light a fire under the entire roster. However, the best and most entertaining drought ending championship victory belongs the 2016 Chicago Cubs. For a moment, try to imagine just how long 108 years really is; in the time between the Cubs last World Series victory in 1908, there were two World Wars, the United States landed on the Moon, the Soviet Union rose to power and collapsed and the Cubs would watch franchise icons like Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams, Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson and Mark Grace all languish just trying to get the Cubbies into the postseason. They had come close several times but it was not until the hiring of baseball guru Theo Epstein to make the idea of hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy a possibility. Thanks to a lot of savvy acquisitions, the Cubs dominated throughout the 2016 season to overcome an injury to slugger Kyle Schwarber, the trade of controversial closer Aroldis Chapman, defeating the high-powered San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs and an all-time great comeback against the then Cleveland Indians including the greatest Game 7 in sports history to end the most infamous curse in baseball history. Approaching any one of these teams a la Moneyball or Miracle would make for an entertaining film but my hope is that the Cubs become involved in that adaptation.
Major College Football Upsets
Thanks to the recruiting power and innovation across the country, upsets seem commonplace in the NCAA football season and they are to an extent but there have been some significant upsets over the past several years but two stand out more than others but both feature a powerhouse program losing to little known schools and the ramifications that came from those losses. In 2007, the Michigan Wolverines were entering the season ranked fifth in the AP polls and looked poised to run away with the Big 10 title once again and compete for a National Championship but their first game was scheduled against the Appalachian State Mountaineers who were ranked first in the FCS Standings and not expected to completed against a storied program like Michigan. These kinds of matchups are familiar in the NCAA; a top tier program will pay money to a school from a lower conference or a FCS program to play prior to the commencement of their conference schedule and essentially participate in a one sided beatdown but Appalachian State decided to give the Wolverines a game they would not forget. Thanks in part to a 21 point second quarter by the Mountaineers, the score was 28 to 17 in favor of the Mountaineers by halftime. Michigan was able to battle back to get within 2 points of winning the game and kicking a 27 yard field goal with 6 seconds left on the clock. In a miraculous feat, Appalachian State blocked the field goal attempt and stunned the entire landscape of college football. Michigan would drop entirely out of the top 25 rankings but would finish their season with a 9 – 4 record and a bowl victory. 2007 would also prove to be Michigan coach Lloyd Carr’s final season in Ann Arbor and began a period of mediocrity that was not resolved until the hiring of Jim Harbaugh in 2015. Appalachian State would go on to a 13 – 2 in the 2007 season and won the FCS Championship for the third time in program history. Since their 2007 victory, Appalachian State joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2014 and even participated in a rematch against Michigan that same year but lost by a score of 52 – 14. Matchups of this nature still happen but not at the same frequency as with the new playoff format, every win matters and premier programs simply cannot afford to gamble with their record in pursuit of a National Championship. Appalachian State may have been inspired to victory by another underdog victory that took place in the Fiesta Bowl just eight months earlier. During the 2006 season, the Oklahoma Sooners went on the warpath to an 11 – 1 record and a Big 12 Championship and an automatic BSC bowl berth but on the other side of the gridiron was the 12 – 0 Boise State Broncos who had returned a large group of starters for their 2006 season and had pulled off victories against major programs like Oregon State, Hawaii and Fresno State and had taken home the Western Athletic Conference Championship. Thanks to their perfect record, they were invited to play in the Fiesta Bowl. For context, schools like Boise State were not typically considered in the old BCS bowl games unless they had perfect records or were ranked high enough to be considered. Boise State was not expected to run all over their opponents or be this good especially under first year head coach Chris Petersen but they were expected to lose as Oklahoma entered the Fiesta Bowl as 7.5 point favorites and on national television, the Broncos were anything but the favorites to win. The Broncos had jumped out to an early 14 – 0 lead and led with a score of 21 – 10 but Oklahoma went on a scoring tear by rattling off 25 consecutive points and with the final 90 seconds of regulation, the game got truly wild. After a Sooner touchdown put them within two points, the two-point conversion came down to three attempts to tie the game at 28 points. Then on Boise State’s next possession, quarterback Jared Zabransky threw a costly interception that was returned for a touchdown but in a small mercy, the Broncos got the ball back to attempt to score a game tying touchdown and on 4th and 18, the Broncos perfectly executed a hook and lateral trick play that resulted in a 50 yard touchdown pass to tie the game and force overtime. Now, to get into the NCAA’s overtime rules is a mess but Boise State opted to play defense first and the Sooners scored on their first play to make the score 42 – 35 but the Broncos also got an opportunity to score and while they scored a touchdown, they opted to go for a two-point conversion of their own and secure the victory. This moment was easily to most pins and needles moment of the entire bowl season but it was executed perfectly. The Broncos pulled off a Statue of Liberty play that allowed running back Ian Johnson to run untouched into the endzone to give Boise State the win and etch their names into immortality. As if winning the game wasn’t exciting enough, Johnson proposed to his girlfriend who was a cheerleader for the Broncos and capped off one of the most improbably wins in NCAA history. Selfishly, both of these games deserve their own big screen adaptations but the Michigan versus Appalachian State game literally changed the landscape of college football and would be wild to see in a theater.
The Chicago Blackhawks Dynasty & Saving the NHL
In 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks ended their long championship drought by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers but was just the beginning of one of the most dominant and long-lasting runs in the history of the NHL. But the fortunes of the Blackhawks weren’t always so rosy. They had spent almost 20 years as the laughingstock of professional sports thanks to a cheap owner derogatively named “Dollar” Bill who thought it was a great idea to not have his team’s games broadcasted on television, allowed beloved players to leave in free agency and even worse, he seemed to be comfortable with his team losing year after year while the rival Detroit Red Wings hoist the Stanley Cup multiple times. However, when “Dollar” Bill Wirtz died in 2007, his son Rocky took over the franchise and promised to turn around the fortunes of one of the Original Six NHL teams. What followed was a dynasty that not only saved hockey in Chicago but also brought new popularity to the NHL. With thrilling wins in 2010 along with the most famous 17 seconds in Blackhawks history in 2013 and a thoroughly dominant win in 2015 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Blackhawks almost singlehandedly brought in new ticket sales, more fan engagement and more money to the League. Although the golden days are now in the rearview for Chicago fans, the NHL has brought along two new expansion teams, the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken. Given how the NHL has suffered through two lockouts including a season long one during the 2004 – 2005 season and one that cost a portion of the 2012 – 2013 season and fans are still flocking to games in record numbers. The NHL owes a great debt to the Blackhawks but perhaps the Hollywood version of the dynasty starts with tearing the team apart after their 2010 victory but somehow still finding a way to dominate the league on their way to two more Stanley Cup trophies. Regardless of how the story makes it to the big screen, it would be entertaining to watch.
The 2011 Dallas Mavericks
The 2010 – 2011 NBA season was so much fun to watch even for the most casual of fans; we saw Derrick Rose’s star burn so bright after being named the Association’s youngest ever MVP, Kevin Durant was beginning to carve his legacy as one of the best scorers in NBA history, Ray Allen set the record for most career three-point field goals, Shaquille O’Neal played in his final season and LeBron James took his talents to South Beach to for a Big 3 with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. LeBron was arguably the face of the NBA but he opted to test free agency following a successful run with the Cleveland Cavaliers that included a Finals appearance in 2007. However, Pat Riley pulled off a coup to land LeBron and Bosh to form at least on paper, one of the scariest teams ever assembled but the season was not all roses and sunshine on the beach for the Heat. They struggled for the first half of the season to figure out how this Big 3 would play together and what roles had to be filled but they eventually figured it out and made it all the way to the NBA Finals. Facing the Heat in the Finals that year was the Dallas Mavericks who surprised just about everyone to even make it to that point. The team had previously made it to the Finals in 2006 but had lost to the Miami Heat so for Dallas and star Dirk Nowitzki, they were determined to prove they could win the big series. Their road to the Finals featured series wins against the Portland Trailblazers with upstart star Damian Lillard, a sweep against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers and a gentleman’s sweep against the Oklahoma City Thunder their own Big 3 so Dallas had more than earned the right to play in the Finals. The Mavericks were the ideal team to take down the Heat thanks to strong defense and timely shots as they emerged victorious after six games with Nowitzki earning Finals MVP honors. For Dallas and Nowitzki, it was the culmination of years of struggling in their conference to take down the team everyone had penciled in to win the next set of Finals. The underdog elements would have to be played up quite significantly for it to translate well to the screen and casting Nowitzki would be a significant challenge but if it were done in the style of Miracle or Invincible would make the Mavericks season a fun one to chronicle for Hollywood.
The 1999 Women’s World Cup Final
This moment was the biggest breakthrough for women’s sports and while it has been a struggle for the US Women’s National Team to earn respect and a fair paycheck in spite of their success, their win in the 1999 Women’s World Cup was the beginning of a dominant run on the world’s biggest stage and offered one of the most enduring images thank to Brandi Chastain. The Final was played in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA and was attended by over 90,000 spectators and drew 40 million television viewers. Both the United States and China had played well enough to win their respective groups and met up the final match on July 10, 1999. The game came down to a scoreless draw at the end of regulation and no goals during extra time so then it moved on to arguable the most exciting sequence in all of sports; the penalty shootout. The shootout was evenly matched with no one emerging ahead after the first two rounds. During the third round, China’s shooter, Liu Yang, shot towards the goal but was blocked by goalkeeper Briana Scurry. This save caused some controversy as Scurry came well off her line to block the shot. This action could have allowed China to redo the kick attempt but it was allowed to stand by the referees. The next two penalty kicks for both teams were successful and it all came down to Brandi Chastain for the win. As her kick went in, Chastain broke down in celebration and even took her shirt off to punctuate the moment. It has since become one of the most memorable images in sports but at the time, her celebration was panned as disrespectful even though male soccer players are known for stripping off their shirts during other World Cup victories. The victory of the US Women’s National Team in 1999 ultimately sparked the creation of the Women’s United Soccer Association, a professional league that folded after three seasons due to financial difficulties but women’s soccer has persevered thanks to the National Women’s Soccer League and its group of competitive teams although it has faced deserved criticism for its handling of misconduct allegations male coaches. The USWNT has also continued their dominance into the 21st Century by winning three Olympic Gold Medals and two more World Cup Championships in 2015 and 2019. That victory in 1999 will stand the test of time as the moment where women’s soccer broke through and became popular with worldwide audiences.
