What's the greatest sports moment of your life?

This is something I've been thinking about since mid-2018, when the Golden Knights lost in the Stanley Cup final in their first season. I thought to myself "if they had won, that would have been the greatest sports moment of my life"...but they didn't win.

So what was the greatest sports moment of my life? It has to be something I actually witnessed, so the Rangers, which would go on to become my favorite team, their 1994 Stanley Cup victory doesn't count, even though I do remember the coverage on the news.

Here are some of the candidates:

2017-18 Stanley Cup Finals. The team that had gotten me into the sport- which is now #1 sport for me- made it all the way to the finals, something no one thought possible. That was fantastic! But, they lost...badly.

2014-15 Warriors Championship. The Warriors had been my Western Conference team since they traded for Muggsy Bogues in the late 1990s. (surpassed by the Clippers when Elton Brand played there, but only while he played there). I'm used to rooting for teams that just aren't very good. This time, they won it all. And not only that, but I got to see them become a powerhouse, having gotten back into the sport in 2012, when the Warriors Big Three was formed with the drafting of Draymond Green. I saw them go from a team to watch into the future, to being one of the all-time greatest teams ever. And while they won three, the first one was the most special, the most fun for me, because it was the first one. While the franchise had won titles in the past, for most of my life they were near the bottom of the standings- the previous championship coming a decade before I was born.

2014 Daytona 500: Dale Earnhardt Jr., my all-time favorite athlete, won the biggest race of the sport, and overcame several years of struggles. Honestly, this would be the unequivocal winner, except, during the race, a family friend lost her battle with a disease, which we found out about during the rain delay. I can't really think about that race without thinking about our lost friend.

2004 Daytona 500: Dale Earnhardt Jr's first Daytona 500 win. There's nothing bad about this race, but for some reason I don't remember it well...even though I've seen it multiple times, including just last month.

2001-02 Nets Finals run. The Nets have been my team for a long time. I don't know why...I just took to them. But they were awful for most of their time in the league. Then, they traded for Jason Kidd and went all the way to the NBA Finals...only to blow it and lose, mainly because they refused to even try and get offensive rebounds. That first season he was there was just magical, and a much-needed distraction, since my dad lost his battle with cancer just around mid-point of this season. Had they won, I suspect this would be the winner of this thought exercise. It's the NBA season I remember the best for sure.

2001 Pepsi 400: Another Dale Earnhardt Jr. victory...this one one of the most emotional of his career. At the Daytona 500 earlier that year, his father was killed in a last lap crash. It was one of the worst days in the sport, and a day I'll never forget...unfortunately. When the series returned to the track on the July 4th weekend, the team, which was the best on restrictor plate tracks in that era, worked extra hard on that car, and Dale Jr. led the most laps en route to the victory...and he was pushed across the line by Michael Waltrip, his teammate, who had won the Daytona 500, his first ever win in over 400 races, but wasn't able to enjoy the win at all. (the photo of Waltrip breaking down into tears in Daytona 500 victory lane, literally collapsing to the ground, is gut-wrenching and haunting). The celebration at the end of the 2001 Pepsi 400 is my favorite win celebration in history. Triumph over tragedy, the power of family and friends, it had everything. (The 8 car's crew chief is Dale Sr.'s cousin- thus the family aspect)

1998 Daytona 500: I have to be honest...I was not a Dale Earnhardt Sr. fan (while he was alive, after he was killed I realized that I missed his presence). Because I'm such a big fan of Dale Jr., people automatically assume that I am a bandwagon fan from his father. Not so. (Dale Jr. became "my driver" in 1996, when I saw him compete for the first time.) Yet, the 1998 Daytona 500, the greatest of Dale Sr.'s 76 career victories...that race is so important, for the sport and for me personally. I had become a NASCAR fan at Christmas 1992, but I was more a casual fan. It was important to my life, but it wasn't THE important thing in my life. For example, I rarely watched qualifying or even the Busch races. I only started watching them regularly in 1998, due to Dale Jr. being in them full-time.  I didn't know a lot about the history of the sport, although I had begun to learn some of it. That all changed with the 1998 Daytona 500. It was the 50th anniversary of the sport, and the race broadcast began with legends walking on the beach, talking about the sport's history. The entire season was a celebration of the sport's history, and from that moment on, learning as much as I could about the history of the sport became the biggest part of my life. It's really a defining moment for me. And then the race started. Earnhardt, who is arguably one of the best ever, had been trying and failing to win the Daytona 500, the sport's biggest moment, for 19 years. The race in 1998 was his 20th try. And all kinds of freak things had happened. Besides crashes and things like that, he lost a tire in 1990 on the final lap, while leading...he hit a seagull in 1991 which damaged the radiator...in 1997, he flipped but still managed to finish the race when he realized the car was still capable of driving. And so many second place finishes! (including the first race I ever saw) In 1998, he was finally able to win the Daytona 500...and then, totally unexpectedly, everyone from every team came out to pit road to congratulate him...even guys he had put into the wall in the past. That, more than the race itself, is the iconic moment to me. Although I've slacked on the study of NASCAR history over the years, that's still a defining moment for me, one of the days that truly changed the course of my life.

So, those are the things that come to mind. Which is it? I don't really know. The 1998 Daytona 500 is the one that's clearest in my memory, and the 1998 season is my favorite in the 71 years of the sport, but is that race the greatest moment? It stays in the back of my mind at pretty much all times...the others I have to actually think about if I want to stroll down memory lane. Even the 2001 Pepsi 400, my favorite athlete of all time's most important win. (Until they replayed it during the Corona virus delay, I hadn't really remembered the race itself...although the celebration stayed with me).

What's more, I'm not sure if anything in the future can top these. My all-time favorite NBA player retired without ever getting close to a championship. My all-time favorite NASCAR driver retired, and while he did get close to a title, was unable to win it. My favorite hockey player is likely going to retire at the end of this season or next season, and while he did get to the finals, it was not a victory...and if they can finish this season, they currently would miss the playoffs, likely ending his chances. While I do expect to see the Nets win a title now, there is a definite disconnect for me with the team since they moved to Brooklyn in 2012. It's just not the same. I just don't know if anything can even make this list, let alone dethrone any of these moments. But, not knowing the future, who's to say?

So, what say you? Obviously, greatest moments will vary for each person. A Chicago Bulls fan would have 6 different years to choose from, whereas I wouldn't rate any of their NBA titles among my favorites, for example.