Sweetest moments in Arizona Sports history

Sep 28, 2011, 4:07 PM | Updated: 8:50 pm

People around the world are celebrating Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.

As part of the holiday, many children (and adults who like good food) will be eating apples and honey in hopes the next year will be a sweet one.

With that in mind we’ve compiled a list of some of the sweetest moments in Arizona Sports history, presented in no particular order.


They didn't win the Finals, but the Suns' battle with Michael Jordan and the Bulls was pretty sweet for the Valley. The team, having added Charles Barkley before the season, was on an incredible ride all throughout the season. Chris Jacke's 52-yard field goal went through the uprights, giving the Cardinals a 16-13 win over the San Diego Chargers and a Wild Card spot. Not long after those goalposts were under siege, as excited fans stormed the field and celebrated the team's first trip to the playoffs since moving to Arizona. Never has ball one been so sweet. Andy Benes' pitch to Mike Lansing was the first in Diamondbacks history, as opening day in 1998 was certainly one of the sweetest moments in Arizona Sports history. "The Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl" are words few fans ever thought they'd hear. But on January 18, 2009, that's exactly what happened. 
Arizona beat Philadelphia 32-25 at University of Phoenix Stadium, sending the team to Supber Bowl XLIII and fans into a state of unprecedented happiness, if not shock. The Arizona Wildcats beat three number one seeds in the 1997 NCAA Tournament to win the school's first men's basketball championship. The championship game with defending-champion Kentucky went into overtime, with UA prevailing 84-79. Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) breaks away from Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor (24) and linebacker James Harrison (92) to complete a 64 yard touch down during the fourth quarter of the NFL Super Bowl XLIII football game, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009, in Tampa, Fla.(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey) Nebraska came into Sun Devil Stadium as the two-time defending national champions and number one ranked team in the country, winners of their last 26 games. Didn't matter.
Domination may not quite sum it up, as the Sun Devils owned the night. They beat the Cornhuskers 19-0 and proved to America they were legit. This embrace had certainly happened before, but never quite like this. Steve Nash and his Phoenix Suns, having fallen to the Spurs in 2005, 2007 and 2009, swept their nemesis right out of the playoffs en route to the 2010 Western Conference Finals. Beating the Spurs was great, but sweeping them? It doesn't get much sweeter than that. Topping the list would have to be Luis Gonzalez's World Series-winning single off Mariano Rivera. The blooper capped an amazing season with a victory, giving the D-backs' best player the storybook ending he deserved and the Valley its first major sports championship.

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Sweetest moments in Arizona Sports history