Daylight savings is this weekend, and even though we only go back an hour, time travel is still time travel. Einstein the dog only traveled a minute into the future, but he still counts as the world’s first time traveler.
While those of us with young kids can’t take advantage of the extra hour of sleep we’re supposed to get, cheers to those of you who will be fresher than ever this weekend.
The rest of us get to spend an extra hour awake on Sunday, wondering what we would do if Doc Brown showed up and tossed us the keys to the DeLorean.
What would you do? Witness a historic moment you either missed out on the first time around or want to see one more time?
We often discuss what we would change about things that didn’t go according to plan, but the well-documented issues with changing the past are worth noting and avoiding altogether. You can’t know if you will create a better future; for all we know, the current timeline is the best-case scenario, and any changes made might be irreversible and worse.
So if you’re going back as an observer, where and when would you want to go? On that note, here are some memorable moments in Northwest sports history that would be fun to revisit.
1995 AL West tiebreaker playoff game
The Seattle Mariners spent their first 18 seasons as a fun regular-season story and the only “local” team, but had never won their division or made the playoffs. They would not make it easy on themselves in a strike-shortened 19th season, losing star center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. to injury for a few months but still managing to keep pace with the first-place California Angels, and found a way to catch them before the end of the season.
Seattle would force a one-game playoff to decide the division winner, with a trip to the playoffs on the line. The Mariners would not disappoint in their first postseason action, torching the Angels for nine runs and only allowing one. It was a defining moment for the franchise, marking their best season at the time and helping them become the team they had always known they could be.
1994 Oregon Ducks vs Washington Huskies
For nearly a million years, the Ducks had tinkered around and tried their very best, but they just weren’t on the same level as the Huskies when it came to football.
But not this time.
From the Oregon 10-yard line with just over a minute left, Huskies QB Damon Huard dropped back and threw a quick pass to receiver Dave Janoski at the two-yard line. Still, Oregon CB Kenny Wheaton jumped in front of Janoski, picked off the ball, ran down the sideline while dodging Huard and tight end Mark Bruener to go the distance for the game-clinching score.
The win would solidify Oregon as a legit threat to the then-Pac-12 of Washington and USC, and serve as the foundation for the program they would build over the next 30 years. Sometimes fortune changes over time, and then there are situations where you see the fortunes of a group of people change in an instant. This was definitely an instant change of fate for both programs that day.
2013 Seattle Seahawks week 13 against New Orleans
There were signs that the Seahawks and their Legion of Boom defense would become the monster we saw in the Super Bowl in February, but their announcement to the world came on a rainy Monday night game in the first week of December.
Although they were 10-1 at the time, many of their games had been close or against bad teams – we didn’t really know just how great this team really was. Not yet.
They hosted the 9-2 Saints on Monday Night Football, and in rainy and cold conditions, they put the high-powered Saints offense in a blender, making them beg for mercy. They would get none, as Seattle stormed out to a 27-7 halftime lead, and things only got worse for the visiting team in the second half. Future HOF QB Drew Brees averaged less than four yards per completed pass, finishing with just 147 yards and one touchdown.
You might think the weather made the Saints look worse than Seattle, but then how would you explain Seattle QB Russel Wilson throwing for over 300 yards and three touchdowns on the same field? While averaging 10 yards per completion?
Seattle pitched a shutout in the second half and still added another touchdown of their own to make the final score 34-7. The Saints had fewer than 200 total yards and scored only seven points.
It was the gut-wrenching, disastrous, can’t look away train wreck of a butt kicking the Seahawks needed to prove to the league they were not just an excellent team, but a historically significant defense and a superb offense.
It wasn’t just a precursor for what they would do to whoever had the nerve to face them in the Super Bowl; it was a warning.
2001 Fiesta Bowl: Oregon State vs Notre Dame
The Beavers had not been invited to a New Year’s Day bowl game since 1964, and had not won one since 1941.
Against the #11 Fighting Irish, the 6th-ranked Beavers led 12-3 at the half, and the game had the look of a snooze fest. Oregon State would wake up in the third quarter, exploding for 29 points and found themselves up 41-3 going into the fourth quarter.
Beavers QB Jonathan Smith threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns, connecting with star receivers Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmanzadeh in the end zone, and running back Ken Simonton had a rushing score as well.
It was the overwhelming victory they deserved, and everything the Beavers had been waiting to experience, and it remains the high point in team history.
To date, it’s their most recent invite to a major bowl game.
Game Six 1977 NBA Finals
Heading into the fourth quarter, Portland held a 91-82 lead and was ahead 3-2 in the series. There were just 12 minutes of basketball standing between them and their first title in franchise history.
The 76ers would not make it easy, outscoring Portland by seven points in the final frame. With just 18 seconds left, Portland had the ball at half court. Bill Walton inbounded the ball to Bob Gross, but George McGinnis managed to force a jump ball. With 16 seconds left, the teams met at center court to see who would have possession of the ball and if the visiting team would be able to force a deciding Game 7.
McGinnis would win the tip and award the 76ers the ball. Dr J missed a shot from the top of the key. World B Free would get the rebound and try his own shot, but Gross would block it. The ball went out of bounds in Portland, and the 76ers still had a chance with five seconds left.
Free would inbound the ball to McGinnis, who would try a leaner that would hit the front of the rim, and the Blazers smartly pushed the ball down the court to run out the clock and clinch their first and only championship in team history.
You would never have guessed that the team that had never had a winning season before, had never made the playoffs before, had never won a playoff series before, had never been to the NBA Finals before, or had been down 2-0 in these Finals would storm all the way back to win 4-2. Of course, it had to be in such a wild finish that you would assume it was about to go back to Philadelphia for a game seven.
Instead, Portland won the title in front of its home crowd and never looked back. It’s the most special moment in Portland sports history, and to be there in the Memorial Coliseum stands and refusing to sit for even one minute and shouting with every little speck of voice you have left, I can only imagine how that must have felt.
What an incredible moment. Just watching the videos, you can see and feel how special it was. It must have felt 1,000 times more special to be there in person and witness it with your own eyes in the very room it was taking place.
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