{image1} It's that time again. The old year is expiring and a new one is beginning. What's a sports columnist to do? Why, write a "Best moments of the year" column, of course. I have no choice; so, here goes:
Here are the 10 most memorable Wisconsin sporting events of 2004. And, no, the Paul Hamm Olympics fiasco is not included.
1. (tie) Packers 34, Minnesota 31 (Dec. 24, 2004): While this game gets a boost because it's so fresh in my memory, it also stands on merit as the most memorable state sporting event of 2004. The in-game scores were 7-0, 7-7, 14-7, 14-14, 21-14, 21-17, 24-21, 24-24, 31-24, 31-31 and finally 34-31. That's as good as it gets. The drama of Brett Favre bouncing back from a critical interception to lead a 10-point rally in the final quarter clinches its status as the most memorable and happy game of 2004.
1. (tie) Philadelphia 20, Packers 17 (Jan. 11, 2004): This is probably atop the Pennsylvania list, too. The Packers were 5.5-point underdogs, but most of the football world felt the momentum generated by the season's last four games and the previous week's playoff win over Seattle would propel the Packers to the NFC Championship Game. And when the Packers took a 14-0 lead in the first half, that consensus felt validated. But Ahman Green failed to get into the end zone on fourth-and-inches just before halftime, and a prospective 21-7 lead was merely 14-7. The "other" fourth-down play is still too raw to review. Unless the Packers win another title behind Favre -- and even if they do -- this one will forever be remembered (and lamented) in Wisconsin.
3. UW 20, Purdue 17 (Oct. 16, 2004): As comebacks go, this was vintage. The Badgers trailed 17-7 after a Kyle Orton touchdown scramble with just 7:55 remaining in West Lafayette. It certainly looked like No. 5 Purdue would remain undefeated at the expense of No. 10 Wisconsin. But John Stocco engineered a steely TD drive to make it 17-14 with 5:29 left, and the Badgers defense made the play of the year on the ensuing drive to grab the lead. On a naked Orton third-down scramble, the would-be Heisman candidate had a first down within reach when corner Scott Starks and safety Robert Brooks upended near the first-down line. Brooks' knee jarred the ball loose just before Orton hit the turf, and Starks scrambled to his feet, picked up the pigskin and ran 40 yards untouched for the winning score. Purdue kicker Ben Jones subsequently missed a last-minute 42-yard field goal attempt, allowing the Badgers to remain undefeated at 7-0.
4. Packers 33, Seattle 27 (Jan. 4, 2004): Ex-coach Mike Holmgren and ex-Favre backup Matt Hasselbeck gave the Packers all they could handle in this memorable postseason game at Lambeau Field. But it was Al Harris' 52-yard interception return, with left index finger pointing skyward for at least 40 yards of it, which sealed things as the Packers outlasted their personal rivals from the Northwest. Seattle erased a 13-6 deficit with two fourth-quarter scores for a 20-13 lead. The Packers then rallied for two scores of their own to lead 27-20 with just 2:44 left. But that was too much time for Seattle, which marched 67 yards to tie it and force overtime. After both teams traded punts, the Packers blitzed Hasselbeck, who fired to Alex Bannister near the left sideline. Harris jumped the route and returned the pick in stride, dreads a-flyin'. Only the next week's shocker could overshadow this finish.
5. Brewers 4, Braves 1 (May 16, 2004): What's that? Baseball, you say? Well, believe it or not, baseball was an interesting topic of conversation 'round these parts until mid-July. And on a Sunday at Miller Park in mid-May, Ben Sheets staged one of the best pitching performances in franchise history. In the long shadows of a spring afternoon, Sheets had his best curveball working. He struck out a career- and franchise-high 18 Braves in the victory, one of his nine double-digit K games in 2004. And before the dominating three-hitter against Atlanta, Sheets' previous single-game strikeout high was 10. Sheets went on to set the single-season strikeout record (264) for Brewers hurlers.
6. UW 70, Illinois 53 (March 14, 2004): Dethroned by the Illini in the Big Ten regular season, the Badgers gained sweet revenge with a surprisingly one-sided Big Ten tournament title game win over Illinois, 70-53, in Indianapolis. In his last great performance as a Badger, guard Devin Harris poured in 29 points against No. 1 seed Illinois. Despite the title and a 24-6 overall record, the Badgers receive only a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, though they do get the honor of playing in Milwaukee in the sub-regional. A week later, they are eliminated by Pittsburgh in the second round, 59-55.
7. Marquette 63, Wisconsin 54 (Dec. 11, 2004): Maligned for playing a soft non-conference schedule and nominal underdogs despite being undefeated, Marquette dominated Wisconsin from the opening minutes and handed the Badgers their second loss of the season, 63-54, at the Bradley Center. Travis Diener exploded on UW for 29 points, including five three-pointers, in front of a raucous home crowd. Neither team shot 40 percent in a game that the Golden Eagles once led by 17. Diener, a senior from Fond du Lac, evened his personal mark against UW to 2-2.
8. Brewers 10, Reds 9 (April 28, 2004): In a more successful season, this game would have ranked much higher. Just one night after Bill Hall's two-run, ninth-inning homer beat the Reds, the Crew came back from a 9-0 deficit at Miller Park to stun the Reds again, 10-9. Hall capped off the biggest comeback in team history with a game-winning squeeze bunt in the 10th inning just two innings after his bases-loaded double had tied things. The win improved the Brewers to 12-10 and guaranteed a winning month of April, a major catalyst of the renewed enthusiasm for the team throughout the first half of the season.
9. Bucks 93, San Antonio 92 (Jan. 26, 2004): Things weren't always this bleak at the Bradley Center. In fact, last year around this time the Bucks were one of the surprise teams in the NBA. The pinnacle of the team's first-half success came on a January night at home, as Terry Porter's team won a thriller against San Antonio. Tim Duncan's last-second dunk was waved off for occurring fractions of a second after time expired, allowing the Bucks to escape with a one-point win against the defending NBA champions. It also improved the team's home mark to 18-5. Damon Jones jumped on the scorer's table in jubilation afterward, exhorting the crowd to join in the fun. There is no truth to the rumor, however, that no one has had fun at the Bradley Center since.
10. Brewers 4, Cubs 0 (July 7, 2004): Due to a scheduling quirk, the Brewers didn't meet the division-rival Cubs until July. But the wait was worth it for Brewers fans, as Doug Davis finished off a three-game sweep with eight shutout innings in a 4-0 win to improve the Brewers to 44-38, one game shy of the season's high-water mark of seven over .500. Davis improved to 9-6 prior to the All-Star break as the Brewers limited the Cubs to just two runs in the three-game set. The huge Cubs contingent at Miller Park drove back to Illinois decidedly unhappy.
Sports shots columnist Tim Gutowski was born in a hospital in West Allis and his sporting heart never really left. He grew up in a tiny town 30 miles west of the city named Genesee and was in attendance at County Stadium the day the Brewers clinched the 1981 second-half AL East crown. I bet you can't say that.
Though Tim moved away from Wisconsin (to Iowa and eventually the suburbs of Chicago) as a 10-year-old, he eventually found his way back to Milwaukee. He remembers fondly the pre-Web days of listenting to static-filled Brewers games on AM 620 and crying after repeated Bears' victories over the Packers.
