One stream on BigSoccer.com ask if the win by RSL over LA last Sunday was the biggest moment in Utah Sports history. It was if you are a soccer fan. And in the overall perspective, it was huge as it helps put Utah on the international sports map. This made news, even in England, as the scope of the upset is beginning to set in. David Beckham was denied his shot at becoming just the second player in history to be a member of a club champion in three different countries, having already won with Manchester United in England and Real Madrid in Spain. He will try again after the World Cup, but he may not be a member of the Galaxy when he comes back next summer. I can't imagine him coming back to the Galaxy if the rumors about Landon Donovan playing for Club America are true.
But back to History, here are the biggest ten moments, IMHO, in Utah's sports history.
1. 2002 Olympic Winter Games
2. Utah's 1944 NCAA championship in Basketball.
3. John Stockton sends Jazz to the finals.
4. BYU wins 1984 National Championship in football.
5. Real Salt Lake upsets Donavan and Beckham and the LA Galaxy for the 2009 MLS cup victory.
6. Gene Fullmer, a Utah Native, beats Sugar Ray Robinson for the World Middleweight Championship. He held the title for five years.
7. Utah dumps Alabama in the 2009 Sugar Bowl.
8. Utah's football team busts BCS in 2004 and gets a win over Pittsburgh in Fiesta Bowl
9. BYU's Ty Detmer wins 1990 Heisman Trophy.
10. Utes upset North Carolina in 1998 final four.
I have not been alive to experience all of these moments, but many of them I remember. I have to rank the Olympics first. Utah's 1944 NCAA championship bid did a lot to break down barriers between Utah and the rest of the Nation. It was the first big-time championship in Utah. Arnie Ferrin was the leader on that team. That has to rank high. John Stockton because of how basketball crazy Utahans are. And we are still feeling the ripple effect of BYU's 1984 title. That was the catalyst that led to the creation of the BCS.
It will be a few years before we see the final effects of RSLs championship. Tickets at Rio Tinto may be a little bit harder to get. But I doubt that C&C will ever displace the Jazz as the favorite sports team in Utah. I hope that some results will be the adoption of Men's Soccer by the local college teams and the Mountain West Conference. And I hope this will also lead to the promotion of the Spiders (or the Stars, as they are now called) to the WPS.
Maybe in a few years, this list will change. The RSL championship may be higher or may be a springboard to bigger things for soccer in Utah. It may turn out to be not so big of an event.
Here are some other moments in Utah sports history worthy of note--in no particular order.
Utah Stars win 1971 ABA championship.
BYU wins 1951 NIT title.
1980 Holiday Bowl, BYU erases a 45-25 SMU lead to win 46-45.
BYU wins 1997 Cotton Bowl.
Danny Ainge drives past Notre Dame to put BYU in elite 8.
Jazz battle Lakers in 1988 NBA playoffs.
Wayne Howard's post-game response makes BYU/Utah a real rivalry.
Utah Utes win 34-31 in Provo--first win in Provo for the Utes in the Lavell Edwards Era.
The Red Rocks first NCAA championship.
Merlin Olsen of Utah State wins 1961 Outland trophy.
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