The anniversary of “The Thrilla in Manila” got me thinking about some of the great sports events I have seen. I have been a sports fan since the age of 6 in 1967. I remember watching the 1967 World Series and rooting for the Boston Red Sox. 1967 that was 45 years ago. Where has time gone?

Over the years my two favourite teams in sports have been the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Steelers. There have been a lot of great moments supplied by those teams. The Pirates won 2 World Series in the 1970’s.  I have seen the Steelers go to 8 Super Bowls, winning 6 of them. Oddly enough, when narrow down my “Mount Rushmore of Sports Events I’ve seen” neither the Steelers or the Pirates make my Final 4 that are carved into the mountain.

The moments I’ve chosen all took place from the years 1975-1980. Maybe the moments when you are young for some reason stay the strongest in your mind.  All four happened in my life when I was 14-19. When I had a lot of time on my hands. When I was a total fanatic.

4. Franz Klammer’s Downhill Run leads to Gold In 1976 Innsbruck Winter Olympics. A very odd choice. I could not tell you right now the name of one current skier. I could count on my hand the number of skiing races I have watched in my life that were not in the Olympic Games. It is not a sport I follow except every Winter Olympics. Austria hosted the 1976 Winter Olympics. Their big gold medal hope was the great downhill skier Franz Klammer. ABC Sports did a great job in pumping me up for this event. They did a profile on Klammer. They talked of the pressure that was on Franz Klammer to deliver. The pressure on him  seemed enormous. His run down the course was exciting. He was on the edge of disaster his entire trip downhill. It appeared he was going to crash. He didn’t. He won the gold. I watch the video of his run a couple times a year. The race was 36 years ago. I know the result, I know Klammer won but everytime I watch this I think he’s going to crash! He never does.