The wait is over! It’s finally time to give the stiletto trophy for my #1 favorite sports moment of the year! Yay! It was really hard to choose with all those fantastic momentsI’ve already talked about. I mean, no matter what I picked as #1, I was bound to piss off someone. My dad wanted the Celtics; Mike wanted the Yankees; Charlie was for Kansas; most of the fam picked Michael Phelps; Gina felt I didn’t give the Giants enough attention.

I learned a lot in the last week but my biggest lesson was that you can’t please everyone. So in this case I didn’t even try! I figure I might as well piss everyone off and amuse myself at the same time!

My Stiletto Trophy for #1 Pick for Top Sports Moments of 2008 goes to…..

Dancing With the Stars!

Ha! Admit it, you laughed. And if you didn’t well, Hello! Do you not realize the point of this blog? Did you really think you would make it through an entire sports countdown with me without a girly reference?

Ok so I do have another moment picked out just in case their was major outrage over this but hear my reasons out first!

The series ran twice in 2008 and once again featured high profile athletes. In the past, super sports stars like Emmit Smith, Jerry Rice, Laila Ali, Evander Holyfield, Apolo Anton Ohno, Stacy Keibler, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Clyde Drexler, Monica Selas all flocked to the dance floor. They weren’t all good, mind you but Smith and Ono both won the shiny mirror-ball trophy. Kiebler, Rice and Ali also were ones to beat along the way. (Okay, Helio Castranevos also won. However, it is still up for debate if auto-racing is a sport. At least in my world.)

This year DWTS was dominated by athletes. In the spring, former-olympic figure-skater Kristi Yamaguchi took first place and NFL’s Jason Taylor came in second. In the fall, they added Misty Mae Treanor, Maurice Greene, and Warren Sapp to the athlete list. Sapp, known as           showed that big men can m-o-v-e!

And the #1 reason I had to pick it:

Because no one has to force me to watch it! I do it voluntarily! Hmm…actually I usually have to make others watch it with me!

My OTHER pick for Top Sports Moment of 2008

Not sure you will like this pick any more than the other but it really struck me as an amazing moment of the year. And Time.com picked it in their Top 10 too.

From Time.Com:

“Sometimes a simple act of sportsmanship can create real heroes on the field. In April, during the second inning of a Division II college softball game in the Pacific Northwest, Western Oregon University senior outfielder Sara Tucholsky hit the first home run of her life, a three-run blast that broke a scoreless tie with Central Washington. But as an elated Tucholsky rounded first base, she missed the bag. When she turned around to touch the base, Tucholsky’s knee gave out. In a freak accident, Tucholsky tore her ACL; she fell to the ground, and couldn’t move. If Tucholsky’s teammates carried her around the bases, she’d be called out — an active runner cannot receive assistance from her own team. An umpire mistakenly ruled that if Western Oregon inserted a pinch runner, she would have to stay at first base, turning Tucholsky’s surprise three-run blast into a mere two-run single (in fact, the NCAA rulebook says a pinch runner could have completed Tucholsky’s home run trot). Then, Central Washington’s Mallory Holtman, who was playing first base, spoke up. The senior offered to carry her opponent around the bases so that the home run would count; a player has every right to aid the opposition, an all too rare occurence in competitive sports. Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace lifted Tucholsky and completed the inspiring home run trot. Western Oregon won the game, 4-2, knocking Central Washington out of playoff contention, and went on to win the conference title.”

Makes you wonder…if it had been snowing and they made snow angels on home plate, would it be ruled unsportmanslike conduct and therefore negate the heroic sportsmanship?

And there you have it! My Top Sports Moments of 2008! What were your favorite moments? What did I miss? Leave me a comment and let me know!

go back to #2 The Collapse of the House that Ruth Built

start from the beginning: #9 The Best Tennis Match Ever!

Check out My Top Sports Commercials of 2008 (I promise the #1 is better there!)

About the author: Jennifer Taglione is the owner of this fabulous website Stiletto Sports. Despite writing well over 500 posts, she still maintains that she is not a sports writer! She is however a huge fan of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, the Celtics, and totally kicks butt on March Madness brackets! Connect with her by following her on Twitter @StilettoSportsJ and subscribing to her weekly newsletter. For more info check out the About the Editor page!

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