| Year | Event | Date | Location | Comment |
| | | | |
| 1991 | Chicago Bulls 98, Seattle Supersonics 83 (NBA Exhibition) | October 15 | Rupp Arena (Lexington, KY) | MJ’s only trip to Rupp Arena. Jordan scored 20 points in the game. |
| 1992 | # 19 Kentucky 107, Alabama 83 (College Basketball Reg. Season) | February 12 | Rupp Arena (Lexington, KY) | Pitino mocks Wimp Sanderson by wearing plaid coat in game and then pulls off blowout win over the Tide which catapulted them to the # 2 seed in the NCAA tournament East Regional that setup the “greatest game ever played” in Philadelphia that March 28th against Duke. |
| 1993 | (E2) Kentucky 82, (W2) LSU 65 (SEC Basketball Tournament Title Game) | March 14 | Rupp Arena (Lexington, KY) | Kentucky bball wins the last SEC tourney held in Rupp Arena |
| 1994 | Northeast Louisiana 21, Kentucky 14 (College Football Reg. Season) | November 12 | Commonwealth Stadium (Lexington, KY) | The game that sealed Kentucky’s fate as a 1-10 team that would end the season with 10 straight losses (worst season in school histoiry since 1982) |
| 1995 | Kentucky 24, LSU 16 (College Football Reg. Season) | October 14 | Commonwealth Stadium (Lexington, KY) | A minor upset of the Bayou Bengals that marked the first time the Cats had won back to back home games against LSU since 1977. |
| 1996 | # 5 Mississippi State 60, # 1 UConn 55 (NCAA Tourney- Sweet 16) | March 22 | Rupp Arena (Lexington, KY) | The Bulldogs pull off upset that ended Ray Allen’s college career and also catapulted MSU all the way to the Final Four. |
| 1997 | Kentucky 40, # 20 Alabama 34* (College Football Reg. Season) | October 4 | Commonwealth Stadium (Lexington, KY) | The first game in Commonwealth Stadium that the goal posts were torn down and still serves as Kentucky’s most recent over Bama. I will never forget the Lexington Herald-Leader headling the following morning that read “The Night No One Thought About Basketball Season”. |
| 1998 | Philadelphia Phillies 9, Chicago Cubs 8*** (MLB Reg. Season) | June 19 | Wrigley Field (Chicago, IL) | Sammy Sosa hits 2 of his 66 home runs in his record setting 1998 season in my only trip to Wrigley Field. |
| 1999 | Vanderbilt 11, South Carolina 10 (College Football Reg. Season) | October 23 | Williams-Brice Stadium (Columbia, SC) | South Carolina’s best chance at winning a game during the school’s only winless football season since 1897 which was also Lou Holtz’s first season at the helm. |
| 2000 | South Carolina 21, # 10 Georgia 10 (College Football Reg. Season) | September 9 | Williams-Brice Stadium (Columbia, SC) | The only time goalposts have been torn down in consecutive games in college football history, as the Gamecocks ended a 21 game losing streak with a win over New Mexico State the week prior and then followed it up by ending their 18 game conference losing streak with this stunning win over a top 10 Georgia team. Quarterback Quincy Carter’s Heisman campaign went up in flames as he threw 5 interceptions in this one. |
| 2001 | New England Patriots 38, Carolina Panthers 6 (NFL Reg. Season) | January 6 | Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC)- known as Ericsson Stadium at the time | The last regular season game the Patriots played before Tom Brady became a national hero and he led them on their improbable run to the franchise’s first Super Bowl title. This is the game the Pats needed to win to lock up the division title and secure a first round bye. Meanwhile, this marked the end of one of the worst seasons in NFL history by the Panthers as they finished 2001 with a 1-15 mark. |
| 2002 | (4) Charlotte 80, (5) Orlando 79 (NBA Playoffs- First Round) | April 20 | Charlotte Coliseum+ | The first NBA playoff game I ever attended was a thriler as the Hornets edged out the Magic enroute to a 3-1 series win in the first round of the 2002 NBA playoffs. Sadly, that would be this franchise’s last playoff series in Charlotte as the team re-located to New Orleans the following season. |
| 2003 | # 15 Florida 24, South Carolina 22 (College Football Reg. Season) | November 15 | Williams-Brice Stadium (Columbia, SC) | I went to a bunch of South Carolina football games this year as I was dating a Gamecock freshman duirng my senior year in high school and I would frequently visit her on weekends. The best of those games was this near upset of then freshman phenom Chris Leak’s 15th ranked Florida Gators. |
| 2004 | # 15 Clemson 37, Wake Forest 30** (College Football Reg. Season) | September 4 | Memorial Stadium (Clemson, SC) | Wake loses a heartbreaker in Death Valley, as they nearly stund a top 15 Clemson team in Week 1 of the season. The Tigers had to execute a final minute drive and then a last second two point conversion just to force the game into overtime. This matchup also served as they collegiate debut of one Wake’s most highly regarded football recruits in Ben Mauk. |
| 2005 | # 4 Wake Forest 95, # 3 North Carolina 82 (College Basketball Reg Season) | January 15 | Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Winston-Salem, NC) | In one of the most highly anticipated regular season games in Wake Forest history and the only time I ever camped out for tickets to a game, Chris Paul’s Deacs blow by the eventual national champions by hitting all 32 free throws they attempted during the game. |
| 2006 | # 16 Wake Forest 9, # 23 Georgia Tech 6 (ACC Football Championship Game) | December 2 | EverBank Stadium (Jacksonville, FL)- known as Alltell Stadium at the time. | This is still one of the most underrated Cinderalla stories in sports history. The Deac’s 2006 ACC Championship was so improbable that students were laughing during an early season game against Clemson when the PA announcer said, “The Path to the Orange Bowl runs through Winston-Salem”. The Deacs won a college football record of SEVEN games that season as an underdog (7-1 reg season record) including this shocking upset of Calvin Johnon’s Georiga Tech squad. |
| 2007 | # 15 Wake Forest 13, # 5 Louisville 24 (Orange Bowl) | January 2 | Hard Rock Stadium (Miami, FL)- then known as Dolphin Stadium | The only major bowl (then known as a BCS Bowl and now known classified as a New Years Six Bowl) that I ever attended and that Wake Forest has ever played in. |
| 2008 | Wake Forest 86, # 2 Duke 73 (College Basketball Reg Season) | February 17 | Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Winston-Salem, NC) | The only court storming I experienced as a student at Wake Forest and the school’s biggest basketball wins since the forementioned victory over UNC in 2005. |
| 2009 | Mine that Bird wins the 2009 Kentucky Derby | May 2 | Churchill Downs (Louisville, KY) | This still ranks as one of the all-time great upsets in Triple Crown history, as I watched the Bird’s improbable come from behind victory as a 50-1 shot from Churchill Down’s Infield |
| 2010 | (8) Wake Forest 81, (9) Texas 80 (NCAA Tournament First Round) | March 18 | Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, LA)- then known as New Orleans Arena | Ish Smith’s buzzzer beater gave Wake the stunning overtime victory in what is still the Deacs’ most recent NCAA tournament win and appearance in the main 64 team bracket. The shot and subsequent stop of Texas led me to strip off my Screamin’ Demons shirt and run through the concourse of the New Orleans Arena with just my undershirt on, much to the horror of my father-in-law. |
| 2011 | (6) Virginia Tech 52, (3) Florida State 51 (ACC Tournament Quarterfinals) | March 11 | Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, NC) | The Hokies seemingly clinched an NCAA tourney bid with this absurd buzzer beater in the quarterfiinals that was initially waved off and then awarded to VT after replay review. Sadly, the NCAA tournament selection committee denied the Greenberg’s Hokies a bid the following Sunday. |
| 2012 | # 6 South Carolina 35, # 5 Georgia 7 (College Football Reg Season) | October 6 | Williams-Brice Stadium (Columbia, SC) | What is widely considered the second greatest game of Steve Spurrier era (behind only the 2010 shocker of Alabama). This is by far South Carolina’s most dominant win over any top 5 team in school history. |
| 2013 | (1) Louisville 82, (4) Michigan 76 (NCAA Basketball National Title Game) | April 8 | Georgia Dome (Atlanta, GA)+ | The first final four I ever attended featured three really good games and made Rick Pitino the first coach ever to win a national championship at two different schools. |
| 2014 | (14) Mercer 78, (3) Duke 71 (NCAA Tournament- First Round) | March 21 | Lenovo Center (Raleigh, NC)- then known as PNC Arena | This is by far the biggest upset in an NCAA tournament game that I have ever witnessed in person! |
| 2015 | American Pharoah wins 2015 Breeder’s Cup Classic | October 31 | Kenneland Racecourse (Lexington, KY) | The last race of American Pharoah’s incredible Triple Crown winning career was a dominant victory in the first ever Breeder’s Cup held at Kenneland in Lexington, KY. |
| 2016 | (2) Villanova 77, (1) North Carolina 71 (NCAA Basketball National Title Game) | April 4 | NRG Stadium (Houston, TX) | The most legendary sporting ever I have ever attended or will ever attend and possibly the only event on this list they will be talking about long after I pass away. I am so glad I captured my incredible reaction to Kris Jenkins’ buzzer beater on video on my phone. |
| 2017 | Wake Forest 55, Texas A & M 52 (Belk Bowl) | December 29 | Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC) | Wake Forest’s most impressive bowl victory in my lifetime. |
| 2018 | (9) Kansas State 50, (16) UMBC 43 (NCAA Tournament- 2nd Round) | March 18 | Spectrum Center (Charlotte, NC) | The Retrievers made history in this game by being the lowest seeded team ever to play in a Round of 32 game. They acquitted themselves very well as they hung with the K-State Wildcats until the final minute of the game. |
| 2019 | (1) Duke 77, (9) UCF 76 (NCAA Tournament- 2nd Round) | March 24 | Colonial Life Arena (Columbia, SC) | Zion Willason’s Blue Devils survive one of the great second round scares of all-time as UCF misses their game winning layup with a heart breaking rim out. |
| 2020 | # 18 Coastal Carolina 22, # 13 BYU 17 (College Football Reg Season) | December 5 | Brooks Stadium (Conway, SC) | The Chants pull off the biggest win of their Cinderella 2020 season with this nail-biting win that many consider the game of the year that season in college football. This is also one of the only college football games played in the history of the sport where a team’s opponent changed mid-week. Coastal was originally supposed to play Liberty but then when the Flames had a Covid outbreak the Cougars agreed to make the trip to Conway. |
| 2021 | # 12 Wake Forest 45, # 16 NC State 42 (College Football Reg Season) | November 13 | Truist Field (Winston-Salem, NC) | The Deacs’ most recent field storming was also the first field storming of my son’s life and only the second I have been apart of at Wake (2006 win over BC was the other). The Deacs pulled off this nail biting upset to set themselves up for their eventual ACC Atlantic Championship. |
| 2022 | # 18 Tulane 45, # 22 UCF 28 (AAC Championship Game) | December 3 | Yulman Stadium (New Orleans, LA) | This win gave the Green Wave their first-ever American conference title as well as theri first major bowl bid since the 1939 Sugar Bowl! |
| 2023 | UNC Wilmington 80, # 12 Kentucky 73 (College Basketball Reg Season) | December 2 | Rupp Arena (Lexington, KY) | After not going to a game in Rupp Arena in 26 years, I make my return in dramatic fashion as my hometown Seahawks stun the Wildcats on their homecourt. |
| 2024 | # 9 Duke 84, # 2 Auburn 78 (College Basketball Reg Season) | December 4 | Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, NC) | An epic early season battle between the teams that ended up being the # 1 and # 2 overall seeds in the NCAA basketball tournament. |
| 2025 | Seattle Marines 3, Detroit Tigers 2 (ALDS Game 5)****** | October 10 | T-Mobile Park (Seattle, WA) | The first postseason baseball game I ever attended was a 5 hour/15 inning epic that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years and was arguably their biggest win in franchise history. |
Ramblings of the Ultimate Sports Sentimentalist 