Best Games of 2012

Look, this blog started with a sports rants and every year I like to recall the best sport games and events of the year. Overall, this focuses on the games with a) what's at stake b) news c) hype d) quality of the game and occasionally e) a NY biased. This year saw a ton of great games and a ton of storylines that I couldn't make it ten.

Blake Griffin tried, but
Kobe and the Lakers won
the Division again.

20) Clipper/Lakers 4/4 "Battle of Los Angeles"- A game that began with a MONSTER-putback dunk by Blake Griffin, this intra-building matchup for the division title was off-and-running with flare. Kobe Bryant was his usual brilliant, but he needed the help of Andrew Bynum to get the win. The Clippers closed to within 3 after a late run, but the Lakers would close the game out and keep themselves as LA's team for a few more months.

19) Duke at UNC 2/9 "Rolling on the Rivers"- College Basketball is usually in my top 5, but this year was pretty pedestrian except this game. With a ten point lead and two minutes remaining, Duke would close it to within two and that's where Austin Rivers (son of Doc Rivers) made an impression. With time winding down and a two point deficit, Rivers took the ball, waited for the time to trickle down before launching a 3 point attempt into the basket as time expired.

Man City stepped out of the shadow
out Man U this season.

18) Man City vs Man U 4/30 "No Soup for U" - Manchester City was playing in one of their most important games in years. With the top of the Premiership in their reach and all they had to do was beat the most successful team in English Football. In the first half, Vincent Kompany's header put City on top of United for the only scoring that they'd need. Man U would make several desperation attempts late in the game, but would come up empty.

Brad Richards' go ahead goal
capped a 3 goal comeback for NYR.

17) The 2012 Winter Classic  "Outdoors but Plenty of Heat"- Hyped perfectly by HBO's 24/7 series, the NHL's premier regular season game featured the NY Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers. After a two goal second period by budding star Claude Giroux, the Rangers tied the game with a pair of Mike Rupp goals. However, a couple minutes went by and Rangers' star center Brad Richards roofed a puck of Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. During the final minute, Rangers' goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped Flyers winger Danny Briere on a penalty shot secure the win.

Deron Williams welcomed the Knicks
to their first Intra NY game in 40 years.

16) Knicks/Nets 11/27 "Welcome to Brooklyn" - The Brooklyn Nets started off hot in their first season, but their Season Opener against the Knicks had to be moved because of Hurricane Sandy. The result? The Nets and Knicks played a classic seesaw game that required overtime before Deron Williams' squad gathered in a Carmelo Anthony rebound to secure the 96-89 win.

15) Bruins/Capitals Game 7 "Ward Scores...and is Hated For It" - With a Game 7 to decide the fate of Alex Ovechkin and Tim Thomas, Alexander Semin opened scoring before Bruins youngster Tyler Seguin tied it in the third. Overtime saw the Caps on the rush, when Capitals winger Joel Ward poked home a rebound, sending the Stanley Cup champions home with their fans EXPLODING a racial tirade on Twitter to condemn Ward for ending their season based off the color of his skin. A Great game ruined by horrible fan reactions.

14) Knicks at Raptors 2/14 "Linsanity of Valentine's Day" - The NY papers couldn't stop talking about the never used bench player that rose to stardom for the Knicks, but this was the height of Linsanity. With time winding down in the game, Jeremy Lin dribbled to the 3-point line after waving off his teammates. Lin drained a three-pointer and turned around like it was never in doubt.

Cameback from 7-1 and 10-7 in this classic

13) Texas Rangers/Angels 8/1 "Two Comebacks in One Game?!" - The LA Angeles started making a push at the AL West and they asserted their dominance by taking a 7-1 lead Albert Pujols homering, but the Rangers would chip away at the lead until the ninth inning, when Ian Kinsler homered to left. In the tenth inning, Chris Ianetta and Albert Pujols BOTH homered for a three run lead. Not done yet, the Rangers stormed back in the bottom of the tenth, Nelson Cruz began the SECOND comeback with a homerun and won the game with a single by Elvis Andrus five batters later.

Tynes kicked the Giants into the Super Bowl.

12) 49ers/Giants NFC Championship Game "Tynes Again in OT"- In a Championship game that brought back memories of the 80's, the Giants returned to San Francisco and battled the 49ers. Trailing 14-10, 49er Kyle Williams muffed a punt and Eli Manning took full advantage with a Touchdown pass to Mario Manningham. In Overtime, Williams fumbled again and Lawrence Tynes sent the Giants to the Super Bowl for the second time in four years with a game winning kick in the extra session.

Santana did the impossible on 6/1

11) Johan's No-No "Hell Freezes Over" - The New York Mets have played over 8,020 games in the history of the franchise without a no-hitter. Then on June 1st, manager Terry Collins handed the ball to his ace who was still recovering from shoulder surgery. Santana was brilliant through five, but a Carlos Beltran line drive went unnoticed by third base umpire Adrian Johnson, who called it foul. Santana retired Beltran and got through the sixth. In the seventh, Met-villain Yadier Molina sent a ball deep to left field that Mike Baxter caught and gathered in just before hitting the wall and breaking his collarbone. Then it was all Santana. With World Series hero David Freese at the plate, Santana got him to chase a ball in the dirt and complete the first no-hitter in the franchise history, putting to rest the "Curse of Nolan Ryan".

After a Gold medal, Andy Murray won
his first major.

10) Murray/Dojkavic US Open final "Murray Answers Critics" - There was a different feeling about Andy Murray after the London Olympics. Previously, Andy Murray was "always a bridesmaid" or John Elway pre-Terrell Davis. After beating Roger Federer at the Olympics, Murray engaged in a five hour final against the world #1 player Novak Djokavic. This final was the longest in US Open history as Murray finally broke through for his first major.

LeBron guarded Durant and took
home court from the Thunder.

9) Miami/OKC Game 2 "Heat Take Home Court" - After Oklahoma City rolled in their Game 1 win, LeBron James and the Heat stormed out after the opening tip to take a big early lead. James dropped 32 points to go along with Dwayne Wade's 24, but the lead was chipped away by OKC as Kevin Durant's 32 points brought them back. With the Heat's lead down to 2, Kevin Durant took the ball on the final possession with LeBron James guarding him. The MVP candidates squared off with James defending the ball away from Durant, who argued for a foul. The Heat evened the series and took home a Championship in 5 games.

Man City won the Premiership for
the first time in 44 years.

8) Man City/Queens Park Rangers 5/13 "Blue Moon Rises" - With a win sealing the Premiership for the first time in 44 years, Man City took a 1-0 lead in the first half on Pablo Zabaleta's header, but QPR would take a 2-1 second half lead. During stoppage time, Man City would rally to tie the game off a corner kick and header by  Edin Dzeko, but as Man U won their game- a tie wouldn't help City. In the 94th minutes, Sergio Augero got the ball inside the box and booted home the Title for Man City inside the right goalpost.

Local boy Bubba Watson won the Masters.

7) The Masters "Bubba's Homecoming" - Georgian golfer Bubba Watson grew up near Augusta and rallied to tied Louis Oosthuizen to extend the golf tournament. On the second sudden death playoff hole, Watson found himself within the trees. Going for broke, Watson curled an iron shot around the trees and on to the green, where he was able to two putt his way to victory. Watson would dedicate the win to his late father.

Brad Richards has showed a flair for the dramatic in 2012.

6) Rangers/Capitals Game 5 "Richards Comes up Clutch"- After a 3OT Game 3 and a ton of drama, the Rangers found that the Capitals just wouldn't die. Anton Stralman scored for the Blueshirts, but the Capitals would tie the game on a goal by Brooks Laich. The game setup for a fiery third period, where John Carlson one-timer from the point found the back of the net. As the Rangers swarmed the Capitals rookie goaltender Braden Holtby trying to tie the game, he repeatedly turned them aside. With 30 seconds remaining, Caps Game 7 hero Joel Ward was whistled for a four-minute high sticking. The Rangers would go to the power play and Michael Del Zotto's shot was deflected by Ryan Callahan, starting off a melee in front of the Capitals net. During the net mouth scramble, Winter Classic hero Brad Richards swatted the puck past Holtby and John Carlson into the net to tie the game. In Overtime, Ranger defenseman Marc Staal slapped a point shot past Holtby and into the net. At the time, it appeared the Rangers were the team of destiny.

In this back and forth game,
Vernon Davis trotted into the end zone
for the win.

5) 49ers/Saints Divisional Playoff game "Mediocre Offense Beats the Adequate Defense" - Seesaw games always make it high on the list. Pit a hard defense against a high powered offense and it's a lot of fun. The New Orleans Saints visit to San Francisco  was a game that took your breath away. After the 49ers took a 17 point lead, the Saints scored 17 of the next 23 points and took the lead on a Darren Sproles catch-n-run. But the 49ers didn't crumble as they took the lead back on a 28 yard run by Alex Smith. 27 seconds after that, Jimmy Graham halled in a Drew Brees pass and ran 66 yards to paydirt! So with 1:37 remaining, Alex Smith justified his Number One Overall status, as he drove the 49ers down the field and capped it with a 14 yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis.

LeBron began his championship
legacy in this game.

4) Miami/Boston Game 6 "LeBron Begins His Legacy" - Staring at elimination, LeBron James had his biggest game of his Miami Heat tenure. After answering questions about the Heat's future and possible split, James poured out 45 points and collected 15 rebounds to lead the Heat past the Celtics and bring the series back to Miami. He scored 30 in the first half, but Boston cut the lead down to three, when the Heat scored the next ten points to seal the game. After this game, the Heat would lose once more the rest of the post season.

T.J. Yeldon ran through the Georgia
defense to win the SEC Championship.

3) SEC Championship Game "Saban Returns to Championship"- Essentially a play-in game to get into the National Championship against Notre Dame, Georgia and Alabama locked up in a game for that was as spirited as you could expect. After a week of complaining about the Championship Game that he avoided last year and still made the BCS Championship, Saban's Crimson Tide trailed midway through the third quarter 21-10, but scored the next 15 points once they got their running game going. Aaron Murray lead Georgia right back down the field again for another go-ahead touchdown capped by a Todd Gurley 10 yard run. With time the enemy of Alabama, AJ McCarron drew the safeties in with a play action fake and hit Amari Cooper with a 45 yard touchdown pass. Murray wasn't done, driving the Bulldogs all the way down to the Alabama 8 yard line, but that's where Georgia made a mistake. Instead of Murray spiking the ball, he threw for the end zone, but the ball was tipped right into the hands of receiver Chris Conley, who's receiver instincts forced him to catch the ball. Because he did, the clock ran and time ran out, making Alabama SEC Champions.

Adam Henrique put the Devils into the Stanley Cup Finals
and broke a lot of hearts in Manhattan.

2) Rangers/Devils Game 6 "History Repeats Itself...Almost"- 18th Anniversary of Mark Messier's "Guarantee", the Rangers and Devils found a worthy successor to their epic 1994 Eastern Conference Final. Like the 94 Game 6, the Devils came out and tried to bury the Rangers in the first period with goals by Ryan Carter and Ilya Kovalchuk. The latter goal was a thing of beauty with tic-tac-toe passing by David Clarkson and Dainuis Zubris with Kovalchuk finishing with a hard one-timer. Unlike 94, the Rangers didn't wait to tie the game. In the second period, Ruslan Fedotenko deposited a Ryan McDonagh wrap-around and Ryan Callahan tipped a slap shot from Dan Girardi to tie it. In the third period, the goaltenders were impenetrable as Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur turned aside every shot- including Brodeur's stack pads to stop Brad Richards on a rebound attempt. In Overtime, the Devils countered a Rangers' neutral zone turnover and a net mouth scramble seemed under control, but the puck squirted though Lundqvist's pads and Adam Henrique swept it into the empty net, sending the Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals and breaking Manhattan hearts.

Game of the Year:

Eli Manning beat Tom Brady for the second time in four years.

Super Bowl XLVI "Repeating Eli's MVP" - In Super Bowl XLII, Eli Manning was awarded the MVP though plenty of people would argue it was the defensive line's MVP. It featured a miraculous catch on a fourth quarter game-winning drive. This one was more of the same. The Giants took a 2-0 lead on a Tom Brady intentional grounding, the Giants took the ball down the field and scored on a touchdown by Victor Cruz. That's never enough to beat Tom Brady as New England scored the next 17 points (featuring TWO Brady TD passes to Danny Woodhead and Aaron Hernandez). Late in the fourth quarter, Brady's passes to the dependable Wes Welker just missed and stalled a drive leading to the Giants having the ball on their own 12 yard line. To begin the drive, Eli Manning scanned the field to throw deep down the left sideline to Mario Manningham. The throw was dead perfect as well as the catch and it stood after replay. The Giants drove down to the New England six, where the defense allowed Ahmad Bradshaw to run easily into the end zone. With the ball back and plenty of time, Tom Brady tried to engineer one more game-winning drive, but like their first Super Bowl matchup, New England couldn't get anywhere. UNLIKE their first matchup, Brady's hail mary did reach the end zone and narrowly missed the finger tips of Rob Gronkowski for the winning score. As the Giants won, Eli Manning was named MVP again and the Giants were the first team with 9 wins to win a Super Bowl.

Here are my games of the year. Feel free to comment on the order or if I forgot one.