I am a sports fan because of my father. I used to jump for joy whenever I saw that he came home from work with tickets sticking out of his shirt pocket.
Now, the obsessive, immature behaviors over the teams I root for that have haunted me from childhood through middle age? That's on me.
Still, I've always cherished those father-son bonding sessions at various stadiums and arenas in my formative years. With three kids of my own, I have tried to pay it forward, taking them to events that I hope will live forever in their minds.
Of course, we're on a break now with the COVID-19 pandemic. So, on Father's Day, I asked my father, Allan, to give me his top five games that we attended. Feel free to tell me yours at the Twitter handle below. Here's his list:
5) November 19,1978: Eagles 19 Giants 17 (The Fumble)
Though a Jets fan, I happened to be sitting in Giants Stadium on this sunny late afternoon Sunday believing the Giants, my father's favorite team, were well on their way to victory with a 17-12 lead on Philadelphia. Though my eyes were affixed on the crucial affair below, I also had one ear attached to a transistor radio listening to Spencer Ross' end-game call of the Jets/Patriots game. Trailing 19-17 in the final minute, the Jets were set up for a potential game-winning Pat Leahy field goal from 33 yards out. From the edge of my seat, I heard Ross' voice rise, "It's high enough, it's long enough, it is…no good!." Dejected, I turned to my father and said, "Well, at least one New York team will win today."
Of course, with 30 seconds remaining and the Eagles out of timeouts, Giants coach offensive coordinator Bob Gibson inexplicably opted not to have quarterback Joe Pisarcik take a knee and instead had him attempt a handoff to fullback Larry Csonka. The exchange was muffed. Eagles cornerback Herman Edwards scooped up the ball and incredulously raced 26 yards into the end zone. This is one memorable game my father would like to forget—his reaction to my bringing it up on Father's Day elicited what best could be described as what "The Simpsons" writers call Homer's "annoyed grunt."
4) November 18, 1972: Knicks 87 Bucks 86 (The Comeback)
My seventh birthday present was a trip to Madison Square Garden with my father and grandfather to see the Knicks take on mighty Milwaukee featuring center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and guard Oscar Robertson. When the Knicks got down by 22 points in the fourth quarter, however, I was none too pleased. My father swears that we, unlike many other patrons that day, did not leave early to beat the traffic. We stayed and watched one of the more miraculous comebacks in NBA history, with New York finishing the game on a 19-0 run.
The victory upped the Knicks record to 16-3 and was viewed as a statement game in their championship run. Though it was Earl Monroe who knocked down the final bucket with 36 seconds left, my father remembers rookie center John Gianelli's emphatic dunk over Abdul-Jabbar the most.
3) April 22, 1973: Knicks 117 Celtics 110 (The Double Overtime)
I've always felt that the 1972-73 Knicks were vastly underrated, especially when compared to the mythical squad that captured the first title three years earlier. Hall of Fame guard Walt Frazier agreed. "Unequivocally, (1972-73) was the better team," Frazier once told me. "It was more talented. The '70 team was more about teamwork—we personified teamwork. The '73 team, (Monroe) came in—he could score, (Jerry) Lucas off the bench could score. We had a lot more firepower on that team."
Before the Knicks could capture their second ring by throttling the Lakers in five games, however, they had to get past the pesky Celtics, who were trailing 2-1, going into a pivotal Eastern Conference Finals Game 4 at MSG. The Knicks were again down big in the fourth quarter but fought back to send it to overtime. I remember Celtics guard Jo Jo White had chances to win the game at the end of both the fourth quarter and the first overtime before the Knicks pulled away in the second extra session.
Besides getting me tickets to that classic contest, my father subsequently woke me up well after midnight near the end of Game 5 of the NBA Finals so I could watch the Knicks capture the title. When my mother objected, my father said, "But he might never see them win again."
2) May 17, 1983: Islanders 4 Oilers 2 (Four-peat)
Despite 15 consecutive series wins (en route to an unbreakable record of 19), the Islanders still had doubters before facing Edmonton in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final. The Oilers boasted six future Hall of Famers, led by Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier.
The Islanders, though, shut them down, holding them to six goals in a resounding four-game sweep. In the clincher, the Isles had the early jump but Edmonton rallied to get within 3-2 after two periods. In the final stanza, Islanders goalie Billy Smith, the Conn Smythe winner for standing on his head (when not swinging his stick at any Oiler who dared to approach his crease) all series, again slammed the door shut before defenseman Ken Morrow cemented a fourth straight Cup with an empty-netter from center ice.
Somewhere in my house are photos of various Islanders skating around the rink with the Cup raised as the Nassau Coliseum sound system attempted to blast Queen's "We are the Champions" over the roaring crowd. Gretzky always said that it took losing to the Islanders to understand the commitment required to win.
1) May 21, 1981: Islanders 5 North Stars 1 (Repeat)
I would have reversed the two Cup clinchers, given the quality of the games and the opponents, but my father said the first Cup he ever saw live was the most memorable. The year before, we watched Bobby Nystrom's thrilling overtime Cup-winner from our den (we went to Game 3, a 6-2 Islanders victory). It seemed like it was my father's intent not to miss any more.
However, that meant we needed the Islanders, up 3-0 in the series, to lose Game 4 in Minnesota. The North Stars accommodated (unlike the following year when we had tickets to Game 5 but Vancouver got swept).
If the North Stars had any desires of mimicking the 1975 Islanders, who came back from a 3-0 series deficit to oust Pittsburgh in the second round of the playoffs, the Islanders put that to bed by the middle of the first period of Game 5. Islanders buzzsaw center Butch Goring, who had a monster series, scored twice in the frame and Minnesota didn't put up much of a fight after that.
More memorable was the post-game scene outside the Coliseum—horns blaring to the tune of "Let's Go Islanders!" It was one of those rare times when no one, not even my father, cared about the traffic out of that lot.
Thank you for the memories—and everything, Dad. Happy Father's Day.
For a FAN's perspective of the Nets, Devils and Jets, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1.
