top 10 sports moments (cont.)
the moment you've all been waiting for has arrived -- the top 5. no more talk, here goes.

5. paulino's game-winning 3-pointer against WV to reach the elite 8


i remember i was in my room working on a poster that took an eternity to ask ophelia to go to o&w with me. sat through a game before the UT one, and then watched the entire UT one while cutting up and gluing construction paper. if you know me, you know that college basketball is nonexistent to me until march rolls around because we all know it's all about march madness. UT had dominated the first half but allowed west virginia to crawl back into it, with them tying the game with a long 3. i couldn't believe that first 3 went in, i think i almost dropped the scissors i was holding in my hand. but then without calling a timeout, texas comes back, and paulino wins the game! man, 2006 was a great year for UT sports, wasn't it?

4. music city miracle


it was january 8, 2000. it had been less than 4 years since the houston oilers had been moved to tennessee, so i, along with many other houstonians, still considered ourselves titans/oilers fans. the titans jumped to a 12-0 lead, only to let buffalo take control of the game with a 1-point lead with 16 seconds left. it all seemed lost, as if it would be another repeat, to a lesser extent, of the 1993 playoff game between the oilers and bills, where the bills overcame a 32-point houston lead to win the game and complete the largest comeback in NFL history. but then, the miracle happened. i remember i was ready to turn the tv off so i wouldn't have to watch the bills celebrate on the field, when frank wycheck lateraled the ball across the field to kevin dyson, and the rest is history. this play has been the source of many IM football trick plays, believe you me. unfortunately, nobody else in my family cared/cares about football, so i was the only one rejoicing in my living room. good times nonetheless.

3. tmac game-winning shot against dallas in 2005 1st round


the beginning of the houston-dallas rivalry, this was my sophomore year at UT. i remember for this game, we had everybody and their momma pack into the jester fireplace lounge -- rockets and mavs fans alike. it was a back-and-forth game with one side cheering before being silenced by the eruption of the other side of I-45. then, finally, with dallas down 2 with less than a minute left, dirk did the impossible and made a clutch basket to tie the game. dallas fans were going nuts, but tmac, without calling timeout, calmly dribbled the ball up the court, got a pick from yao, and drained a 22-footer over keith van horn. THAT'S when the place went nuts. i remembering high-fiving dennis, chest-bumping MJ, and just yelling my head off. and then, for about 2 months after that, i copied that gesture he did after he made the shot.

2. vince young game-winning rushing touchdown vs. USC in 2006 rose bowl


ah, the 2006 rose bowl. never in my wildest dreams would i imagine the 2006 version being anywhere near as dramatic and exciting as the 2005 version against michigan, but man oh man, what a ballgame. i gathered with hundreds of other UTers at sugar land's town center, where they had set up a gigantic projector to display the game. i sat in the front in a "lucky" lawnchair -- can't remember whose it was -- but on vince's 2nd-to-last touchdown, as he was 5 yards away, i knew that he was gonna make it, so i stood up and raised my arms to the heavens. unfortunately for everybody else at town center that night, i also blocked the entire projector in the process, so nobody saw how he got in. suckas! anyhow, with UT down 5 points with 26 seconds to go, it was 4th and 5, and it was now or never, do or die, and insert whatever other cliche you can think of. it was the moment that would define vince young's college career and send him, inevitably, into the waiting arms of the NFL. vince dropped back to pass, then scrambled to the corner of the end zone, and the rest is history. 41-38, who wants some?


1. chris burke's game-winning, series-winning walk-off home run in game 4 of the 2005 NLDS against the braves

the MLB is very sheisty about its videos being put online, so no video for this one. but it's okay, cuz i remember this game like it was yesterday. took a short road trip back to htown for this game -- weili, simeon, and lawrence bought me my ticket as a birthday present. it was one of those typical low-scoring astros games, with good pitching and good defense, and it ended up going into extra innings. a LOT of extra innings. so many that by the 16th or 17th inning, i decided to look around the stadium for some grub cuz i was getting hungry. to my dismay, there was no food left in the entire building, but the show, or game, must go on. when i returned to my seat, it was the bottom of the 18th inning, and chris burke was up to bat. for you non-baseball people out there, a normal game lasts 9 innings. so there had been, in essence, another full game played. we got our money's worth fasho. anyhow, chris burke was up to bat, and with one swing of the bat, he hit the ball into the crawford boxes for a home run, and the house went CRAZY. storybook ending to the game -- couldn't have written it better myself. man, is it baseball season yet?


and thus concludes my top 10 sports moments of my life, and here's to the hope of many more.