MMR: Perfect Sports Weekend

It's very rare for a sports fan to have what they would consider a perfect sports weekend. First, your favorite teams would have to line up when they were playing. Second, they would both (or all) have to do something great/historic. Third, you would probably have to be in attendance at one of them, and witness both of them. All in all, it's sheer luck.

This weekend is the closest I've ever gotten to a perfect sports weekend for me.

My favorite sports teams are the Sharks and the A's. This is not new. I love the Niners too, but they're definately third on my list (and off season right now). The Dodgers, Lakers, and Jags take a backseat as well. So, any perfect sports weekend of mine will probably involve both the Sharks and the A's. Who, coincidentally, are both playing at the same time right now.

My near perfect weekend started Saturday Night, when I was in attendance at the Shark Tank for Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Detroit Red Wings. Let's put this into context really quickly here. First, the Sharks had failed to get past the second round of the playoffs since the lockout, despite putting up some of the best regular season records of any team during this timeframe. Second, the Red Wings had been to the Conference Finals each of the last 3 years, been to the Stanley Cup Finals each of the last 2 years, and had been a continuous thorn in the side of the Sharks for years. In short, no one was really giving them a chance this series, despite the Sharks being the better seed.

The Sharks were up 3-1 in the series. Thus, the Sharks could actually win the series and move onto the Western Conference Finals, and in turn slay the defending Western Conference Champions, with a win in Game 5 in front of their faithful crowd.

The Tank was LOUD! Gray, main writer of the site Couch Tarts, put is like this:

Speaking of the Tank, it was LOUD! Someone said they saw the actual noise meter (not the fake one they occasionally throw up on the big screens) hit 115 dB. For the record a jet engine is 120 dB. Sure, the scale is logarithmic but still, it was easily 110-115 there during the loudest moments, and many of those moments were nearly a period long.

I mean, it was just an amazing atmosphere to be a part of. When the Sharks took the lead in the third period, the roof almost blew off the place. From then til the final second ticked off, it was a festive/anxious atmosphere. And when the final horn sounded, and the Sharks were off to the Western Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history, the party had begun!

Downtown was nuts, as it tends to be after a winning Sharks playoff game. People were running around high fiving one another, hugging one another, packing the bars, etc. Cars leaving the area were all honking their horns and waving the free t-shirts we got out their windows like rally towels. It was jubilation like I've never been a part of. For a fanbase that was getting used to disappointment in the postseason, this series win was a breath of fresh air. A huge weight was lifted off the city, and they could celebrate a second series win in a single year!

Yes, there is a long ways still to go to get to the ultimate goal this season. But getting over the hump that had been there for so many years, against a team that has been our nemesis, and also the embodiment of everything we wanted in the postseason...well, it's definately an amazing feeling. The Sharks are still rolling, and hopes have never been higher!

And that was just Saturday night. The best game I've ever been to, for sure, but not enough, on its own, to make this a near perfect sports weekend. On Sunday, Dallas Braden and the A's chipped in their part!

The A's pitcher accomplished one of the rarest feats possible in baseball. On Sunday afternoon, Dallas Braden became only the 19th pitcher in MLB history to throw a perfect game!

A perfect game is a game in which not a single batter from the opposing team reaches base. Not only do they not get a hit, but they also do not reach base on a walk, or an error, or anything at all. 27 up, 27 down. In baseball, where one has to face 27 batters, each one with a batting average of about 32% for getting on base or 68% of not getting on base, this means that the odds are about 16,000 to 1 of pitching a perfect game. Rare odds, indeed.

Dallas Braden became the second A's pitcher to ever throw a perfect game. Jim "Catfish" Hunter threw a perfect game for Oakland on May 8, 1968 (Braden's was on May 9, and both players won their games by the score of 4-0). Oakland is one of 4 franchises now to have thrown 2 or more perfect games; the others being the New York Yankees (3), Chicago White Sox (2), and Cleveland Indians (2). It was the first time a perfect game has been pitched against the team with the best record in the majors at the time (The Rays had the best record in baseball heading into Sunday's game).

I was at home, visiting my mother, of course, on Sunday. We were watching basketball, and in a break in the action, they mentioned that Braden was pitching a perfect game. So I flipped over to that game, and it was the bottom of the 8th, the A's were batting. Which meant Braden was only 3 outs away from perfection. I got to watch those three outs, and when the third out was recorded, bedlam at the Coliseum! Braden was pumped, the team was pumped, it was just awesome. Then Braden's grandmother (who raised him since he was in high school after his mom died) came out onto the field for one of the more emotional moments in baseball history. For a kid who was drafted in the 24th round, was only in his second full season in the majors, and had never pitched a compelte game in the majors before, this was as unlikely as it was awesome!

And there it was, a near perfect sports weekend for yours truly. A Sharks second round playoff victory, followed by an A's perfect game! Unreal. I will never forget what it felt like to be a fan this weekend. Things like this happen very, very rarely in sports.

Here's to hoping both teams have much more in store for me this spring and summer!