I wrote a column about the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame trying to determine what the best sports moment in N.C. history is. (They want your vote at www.ncshof.org).
It's an admirable effort, although somewhat awkward since they don't differentiate between team and individual performances (or even a meeting, in one case). But a panel of experts did narrow an original list of 22 down to five, and you're voting (once each, please) on the final five.
Here's the original list of 22 moments (which also left out some great stuff, of course, including Michael Jordan's shot to beat Georgetown in the 1982 NCAA title game and Duke's 2010 thrilling win over Butler in the NCAA final).
I have put in bold-face the 5 finalists that the hall of fame named. Most of them can be found on YouTube, of course, including Jim Beatty's four-minute mile in 1962 and highlights of the various basketball games.
What do you think is the best moment of these? Or would you pick something else not even on the list?
The N.C. Sports Hall of Fame's list of 22 greatest sports moments in the state's history (the five finalists are bold-faced)
October 16, 1895: College football’s first forward pass, thrown by North Carolina in a game against Georgia.
January 1, 1942: The Rose Bowl football game is played in Durham less than a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Oregon State defeated Duke, 12-7.
July 1, 1946: N.C. State hires Everett Case, the driving force behind the Tobacco Road basketball phenomenon.
September 26, 1948: North Carolina defeats Texas, considered the nation’s best college football team, with Choo-Choo Justice playing a prominent role.
May 8, 1953: The Atlantic Coast Conference is voted into existence with seven original institutional members.
March 8, 1957: North Carolina maintained its perfect record with a controversial win over Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament.
March 23, 1957: North Carolina defeated Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain to win the NCAA basketball championship with a 32-0 record.
February 10, 1962: North Carolina’s Jim Beatty became the first man to break the 4-minute indoor mile (3:58.9) in Los Angeles.
March 2, 1974: North Carolina’s basketball team trailed Duke by 8 with 17 seconds left, and won dramatically in overtime, 96-92.
March 9, 1974: No. 1-ranked N.C. State defeated Maryland in “the greatest college basketball game ever played” for an NCAA berth.
March 23, 1974: N.C. State snapped UCLA’s 38-game post-season streak in double overtime to advance to the national title game.
April 4, 1983: In what some regard as the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history, N.C. State beat Houston for the national title.
July 4, 1984: Richard Petty won his 200th and final automobile race beating Cale Yarborough by one foot at the finish line at Daytona.
March 30, 1991: Duke upset UNLV en route to the NCAA crown the year after losing to the Runnin’ Rebels by 30 points in the title game.
March 28, 1992: Christian Laettner hit a dramatic turn-around shot just before the buzzer and Duke beat Kentucky, 104-103, in the East finals.
March 15, 1997: Dean Smith passed Adolph Rupp for his 877th career victory, beating Colorado in the East Region in Winston-Salem.
January 18, 2004: Just two seasons after a 1-15 record, the Carolina Panthers defeated Philadelphia and advanced to the Super Bowl
February 13, 2006: Greensboro’s Joey Cheek became one of North Carolina’s most unlikely heroes winning the gold in Olympic speed skating.
June 19, 2006: The Carolina Hurricanes beat Edmonton, 3-1, in a dramatic seventh game in Raleigh to bring the Stanley Cup to the state.
March 24, 2007: Anthony Atkinson scored 10 points in 39 seconds to lead Barton College to the NCAA Division II basketball crown.
September 1, 2007: Appalachian State shocked the college football world with a 34-32 victory over fifth-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor.
April 6, 2009: North Carolina’s basketball team won its fifth national championship beating Michigan State, 89-72, in Detroit.
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9 years ago
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Unquestionably one of the top five sports stories ever in NC was the Panthers going to the super bowl. Anyone remember how crazy it was downtown after they beat philly? I don't remember that happening after any other sports event.
i remember that night. a girlfriend of mine and myself went down there. it was wild...but in a controlled way thank god. that was a fun night for sure. but id have to go with app st over michigan. i was fortunate enough to attend that game and let me tell you, thats the most fun ive had at a sporting event. that was national news for a long time and is still considered one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
I think you mean the refs felt bad for DOOK after their 40 point ASS whoopin' the year before and gave them the rematch with UNLV... just making sure you got the deets right on that one.
Nothing tops this one:
1957 -- UNC's Triple overtime over Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas with center Joe Quigg sinking two free throws to win the game. . . . and what is not told that the Tar Heels had just come off another triple overtime victory over Michigan State in the semifinals, thanks to a jumper by forward Pete Brennan.
Whoever made this list must bleed Carowhina Blue.
Must have been a lot of Hole and Pack fans voting, haha. Typical Tar Heel Observer propoganda.
How about this "moment"...Coach K passing Dean on the wins list, COMPLETELY solidifying the fact that he is the best coach in ACC (and obviously NC) history.
So Wilmingtons Laney HS freshman Jordans winning outside jumpshot in 1982 in the NO Superdome to give Dean Smith his 1st ever NCAA title over a favored Georgetown coached by Thompson with his 7 ft center Ewing does not qualify? That was UNC-CH first since 1957 and coach Frank McQuire who went on to head up the USC Gamecocks.
The UNC-hating national sports media went beserk raving on and on how this unknown nobody skinny freshman was so lucky and it was a fluke to take out the mighty G'town blah blah blah ... F--K the punkz...
Duke beats undefeated UNLV in semis in 91, goes on to win back to back titles and ushers in an unprecedented era in NC basketball, 7 Final 4s in 9 years.
UNC and DU have 20 Final 4s in past 25 years combined.
Glad to know you Duke people and UNC people are so worried about this list. This is about HISTORY not on just things that happened while you are alive. The top one will either be the 1957 UNC moment or one of the NC State moments. I am a panther fan and winning the NFC Championship was great and I've never been more excited, but come on....it wasn't a championship. Hell, did the Canes cup run even make the list?
What about the Davidson run to the elite eight? Not UNC or Duke, but truly a great moment for sports in the state.
One NASCAR event? Really?
The night I banged 2 blondes and a brunette on 10-1 odds I couldn't do all 3 chicks at once
Kerry Collins leaving the police station smokin a big ole cigar was very cool
NASCAR?
Then they need to tell the truth that Dale Earnhardt Sr died of a heart attack at age 49 like his dad at 45, at Daytona in 2001.
On the last lap his car drifts left and then veers right smacking the rt wall with medium severity certainly not enough to kill a driver. His wife refuses to release the autopsy report. Paid off by France sworn to secrecy like the hospital?
Its iconic macho to be KIA at Daytona than die of some wimp heart attack. NASCAR loves its mythical heros who die in battle. Same for the heroic soldier in battle as the military would never admit to death by heart attack as opposed to KIA.
They lied about NFL Pat Tillman friendly fire death.
Even JFK or Lincoln were much bigger in death than life killed on the job.
Earnhardts death rates as the greatest moment for NASCAR and one of the greatest for NC sports history.
A lot of deathers feel DE autopsy death certificate should be released.
It would be an even greater moment in sports history if they would get rid of the Tom Sorensen reject and ship him back to that vast cold wasteland up there with a few others like him.
Mikey
Take the Greens with him.
Michael Jordan is a legend, he is my idol, I think that he is the best basketball player in the history !
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