There are moments in every person’s life he or she will never forget — wedding days, children being born, funerals, other momentous occasions. For athletes, it’s no different. From Little League games to professional titles, anyone involved in sports remembers at least one or two big moments that helped define a career or got stuck in one’s psyche. For the past few months, the staff of The Denver Post sports department has been fanning out across the local sports scene to ask stars what sticks out most in their minds. Be it a game they were in or an event they attended, competition has a way of leaving a lasting memory.
Gary Hallberg
At the 1985 Masters, Castle Rock golfer Hallberg walked the grounds of Augusta with the lead on Saturday afternoon. Hallberg was the first four-time, first-team All-American (at Wake Forest), was the PGA Tour’s rookie of the year in 1980 and an up-and-comer. He started strong — leading by four strokes after 11 holes in the third round — but finished tied for sixth, his best finish in a major.
“I was really in command. I thought I was going to win that tournament. So I had a taste of having a nice lead in the Masters. Not a lot of people can say that. I was right there. It was my tournament to lose. At the end of the day, those are the ones you remember the most.”
Champ Bailey
It was clear from his very first game, a youth contest in Folkston, Ga., that Bailey was going to be good. Bailey, a perennial Pro Bowler and future Hall of Fame cornerback, still considers his greatest sports memories the ones that happened back in Folkston. And no play stands out more than his very first — he took a handoff in his first game and ran 60 yards for a touchdown.
“I went left, and it was just on to the races. I knew even before that, though, that this is what I wanted to do, but that was the first time I could play.”
Scott Hastings
Hastings, a former NBA player, is a local TV/radio personality. He has played in hundreds of basketball games and seen even more. But it’s a baseball memory that makes the big man take pause.
“I was in Kansas City, and George Brett hit a double and was on second base and there was a standing ovation — no one had hit .400 that late in the season (Brett finished at .390). I was 19, and it was the first time in my life I was ever at a sporting event and had goose bumps on my arm. You knew you’re a part of something cool.”
Conor Casey
Casey returned to the pitch in Colorado after a time playing professionally in Germany. The Denver South High School graduate is in his fourth season with the Rapids. After playing at the University of Portland, he remembers experiencing European-style soccer craziness.
“(My team) getting promoted, when I was with Hannover (in Germany), from the second division to the first division . . . It was important for the city, because they hadn’t been in the first division before. It’s a big city, half a million, of fans who for the first time had their team in the first division. I never really won anything, so that’s the closest to winning, getting promoted.”
Chris Iannetta
Chris Iannetta was around baseball his entire childhood, growing up in Rhode Island. The Rockies catcher was a three-year starter at North Carolina and moved up through the Rockies’ ranks, from Asheville to Tulsa to Colorado Springs. But Little League is where it’s at. When he was 12, his team won the district championship.
“It was the first time you won something, so it seemed really big at the time. That was probably the purest emotion you’ll ever feel as a kid. You’re an all-star, you go out and win the district championship, and then you have a pool party. That’s as good as it gets in your youth.”
Brian Dawkins
Five years later, it isn’t the actual plays that Dawkins remembers from the NFC championship game on Jan. 23, 2005. What remains etched in Dawkins’ memory is the moment that followed Philadelphia’s 27-10 win.
“One of the memories I’ll take from that is seeing my coach, Jim Johnson, who has passed, with the tears of joy he had on his face. That wasn’t Jim; he was a real rough and tough type of individual, so to see those tears flowing, and him just saying, ‘We did it, Dawk! We did it!’ and giving me a huge hug, that will be something I will always remember.”
Ryan Spilborghs
Despite his struggles in the 2009 season, Rockies outfielder Spilborghs said being a part of the turnaround trumped his troubles as a player. Going from out of the race to another run to the postseason made him feel part of something special.
“We were so far out of it that everybody said we were done, we were the old Rockies. To turn things around like we did, to say, ‘We don’t care what you think,’ that was awesome. I had my personal struggles last year, but to feel like you’re a part of something special like that is a great memory. It’s hard to make the playoffs in the major leagues. It’s hard just winning a game at the major-league level. To make the playoffs is something truly special.”
Hale Irwin
Irwin won three U.S. Opens in his heyday, but the former University of Colorado golfer and all-Big Eight defensive back thinks back to a simpler time. While he struggled to pinpoint just one great memory, breaking into the PGA Tour with his first win still is a defining moment, as was winning the Ryder Cup.
“I can’t say there is any one favorite memory. A lot of people say my (three) U.S. Open wins. But it’s hard to separate that from my first win as a pro (1971 Heritage Classic). That was an extremely gratifying time. When you come out on the PGA Tour and win, that’s pretty dynamic stuff. I would say the 1991 Ryder Cup (14 1/2 to 13 1/2 U.S. victory at Kiawah Island, S.C.) was a very special time, playing with those guys. Every win I’ve had has been special in its own way. So I’ll have to say I’ll pass when it comes to just one moment.”
Adam Foote
Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote counts the night Ray Bourque hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time in the final game of his 22-year career. Avs captain Joe Sakic eschewed the traditional first lift of the Cup after the Avs beat the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 of the 2001 Finals, handing the Cup to Bourque instead.
“I still always picture the moment when Joe (Sakic) handed off the Cup to Ray (Bourque) right after we won it. It was just such a great moment. It didn’t seem real at first, because we worked so hard to get it. I never get tired of seeing the video of Ray raising that Cup.”
Joe Sakic
He has a lot of great memories, including two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche and an Olympic gold medal with Team Canada. But it’s that first game with Quebec that he still remembers most — Oct. 6, 1988, against the Hartford Whalers at the old Hartford Civic Center.
“You spend your whole life waiting for that game to happen, and when it did for me, it was so exciting. I still remember everything about it.”
Coby Karl
Karl has been through a lot in his 27 years. Growing up the son of a famous NBA coach, Coby continues to play in the pros after playing at Boise State collegiately as well as battling cancer in 2007. It’s the memory of his father, Nuggets coach George Karl, coaching Seattle in the 1996 playoffs that brings Coby the biggest smile.
“My dad was the coach of Seattle, and the Sonics beat the Jazz to go to the NBA Finals (in 1996), and it was purely emotional. I was a ballboy, and I ran and jumped into my dad’s arms. . . . He had gone through so much — and we, as a family — with first-round exits, the media, the kids at school were talking about it. So that was fun.”
Justin Bannan
Hours before thousands of University of Colorado students stormed onto Folsom Field and tore down the goalposts on Nov. 23, 2001, Justin Bannan and his fellow CU seniors had a feeling something great was about to happen. Bannan’s class had never defeated Nebraska, and all the experts expected the streak to continue that overcast day, with the Cornhuskers ranked No. 1 and on a 13-game winning streak. Not only did CU end the streak, it did so in emphatic, 62-36 fashion.
“There was just a lot of frustration, so we were looking forward to going and just putting it on them. They didn’t know what was coming. They were the No. 1 team in the country, and we just killed them. I just remember that emotional high I had. That was the best thing ever. I’ll never forget it.”
