The 5: The best plays from championship games played in the Phoenix area
Mar 29, 2017, 12:00 PM | Updated: 3:58 pm
The Final Four descends on Glendale this weekend with its share of storylines.
There’s South Carolina surprising and Gonzaga finally breaking through. Pac-12 power Oregon is still in it ready to face No. 1 seed North Carolina in the other matchup.
Those Saturday games and the following national title on Monday will add to the lore of championship events that have taken place right here in the Valley. Expect incredible memories to come from it.
Where will those memories stack up in the history of sports championships that have taken place in Arizona?
It’s anyone’s guess, but here are our five best plays from five different deciding title games in the Phoenix area.
Gonzo’s lofting World Series-winner
Arizonans know this well. It led to the Valley’s only major league championship trophy, after all.
Luis Gonzalez’s bloop RBI to push the Diamondbacks past the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series will be forever etched in the minds of local fans — and baseball fans everywhere, really.
And while it came after D-backs closer Byung-Hyun Kim gave up leads via ninth-inning home runs in both Game 4 and Game 5 of the series — both were in New York — it allowed the D-backs to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy on their home field.
John Paxson’s dagger at America West Arena
Game 6 of the 1993 NBA Finals brought heartbreak to Phoenix.
The Suns trailed the series 3-2 but at America West Arena had a two-point lead with 14.4 seconds left. Bulls forward Scottie Pippen beat Phoenix’s Charles Barkley off the dribble, and two passes later Chicago guard John Paxson found himself left wide open to hit a dagger three, putting his team ahead by a point with 3.9 seconds remaining.
Kevin Johnson couldn’t score for Phoenix out of the timeout, and a stunned Suns crowd watched the Bulls win their third Jordan-era championship.
Auburn’s Michael Dyer wasn’t down
University of Phoenix Stadium’s first foray into stardom came in the Oklahoma-Boise State Fiesta Bowl of 2007, where the Statue of Liberty play became one of the most celebrated moments of the old BCS bowl system.
But the Cardinals’ home hosted its first college football title game — BCS style — in 2011 when Cam Newton’s Auburn Tigers beat the Oregon Ducks.
With two minutes to play and the game tied at 19 apiece, Newton handed off to freshman running back Michael Dyer. Taking a handoff to his right, he was tackled but never touched his knee to the ground. After rolling over an Oregon defender, he got up, realized the whistle hadn’t blown and rushed 37 yards to set up a game-winning field goal for the Tigers.
Butler’s pick for the Pats
Remember when FXX’s show “The League” kicked off a season by making fun of the Seattle Seahawks’ very important goal-line play-call in Super Bowl XLIX?
Marshawn Lynch went along with it after his Seahawks lost the Super Bowl to the New England Patriots in 2015.
At the goal line with 26 seconds left in the game and New England ahead 28-24, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson was picked off by Patriots defensive back Malcolm Butler on quick-hit pass play — this, when handing the ball off to Lynch seemed like the obvious move.
David Tyree’s helmet catch
Some call it one of the best Super Bowl plays ever.
Go back to 2008, University of Phoenix Stadium’s first time hosting sports’ biggest spectacle.
The clock read 1:15 and the Patriots led 14-10 in Super Bowl XLII when the New York Giants faced 3rd-and-5 on their own 44-yard line. New York quarterback Eli Manning looked all but sacked, but he escaped the arms of pass rushers to loft a 32-yard pass to David Tyree, who with Rodney Harrison in coverage, pulled down a pass by pinning the football to his helmet as he fell to the ground.
That kept a drive alive, and New York would score a Manning-to-Plaxico Burress touchdown to go ahead for good, 17-14, with 35 seconds left.