One fan's brilliant sports moment is another fan's heartbreak—that's just the zero-sum nature of the beloved games we collectively refer to as “sports.” The following moments won't be fond memories for all, but nobody can deny their consequence. 

Note that these moments are in list format, but you could reshuffle many of them to your liking. We won't be offended.

1. Jesse Owens Stuffs Hitler in a Locker

Adolf Hitler planned on making the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin a showcase for the Reich, but Jesse Owens clarified that American sprinting remained the gold standard. Owens became the first Olympian to win four gold medals, including the 4 x 100 relay in which the American team smoked the competition. 

2. Miracle on Ice

You've seen the movie and the documentaries. You know the David vs. Goliath narrative and how it follows the same script as the Bible's version. The Miracle on Ice occurred at the 1980 Winter Olympics when a seemingly unbeatable Soviet Red Hockey-Playing Machine fell to an unlikely crew of scrappy Americans.

We haven't seen a hockey match with such monumental stakes and such an unlikely outcome since.

3. Joe Namath Delivers on His Guarantee

Joe Namath and the New York Jets were supposed to lose by 18 points to the Baltimore Colts in 1969's Super Bowl III, if you let the bookmakers tell the story. Yet, Joe Namath not only guaranteed the Jets would cover the spread, but he also guaranteed they would win! And they did!

4. Texas Western Tops Kentucky to Become First All-Black National Championship Winner in College Basketball

Memorialized in the film Glory Road, Texas Western's upset of the vaunted Kentucky Wildcats in the 1966 NCAA men's college basketball final was significant for several reasons. For one, Texas Western beat Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats, for John Wooden's sake!

Secondly, Texas Western was the first college basketball team to start five black players. Texas Western would become the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) in later years.

5. Wayne Gretzky Cements His Status as Greatest Ever

While rare phenoms like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid inspire muted comparisons to Gretzky, Wayne remains the greatest offensive hockey player of all time. He cemented that status on March 23rd, 1994. 

Gretzky passed Gordie Howe with his 802nd career goal at the ripe age of 34. Gretzky ended his career with 894 goals, a record that Alexander Ovechkin is perilously close to surpassing.

6. Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier

On April 15th, 1947. Jackie Robinson became the first black player on a Major League Baseball roster when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

7. 28-3

The game that cemented Tom Brady's already rock-solid resume was the 28-3 comeback over the Atlanta Falcons. Super Bowl LI saw the Falcons holding one of the most improbable Ls in sports history.

8. Pele's World Cup

The 1958 World Cup is the Pele World Cup. The 17-year-old Brazilian phenom dropped the first hint at his future legend status by scoring a goal to secure Brazil's victory over Sweden in the final.

With the World Cup hosted in Stockholm, Pele proved steely nerves and fleet feet before he could grow a proper mustache.

9. Muhammad Ali Lights the 1996 Olympic Torch

Any number of Muhammad Ali's career highlights could make this list, from knocking out Liston to The Rumble in the Jungle. So, Ali lighting the Olympic Torch at the 1996 Games in Atlanta feels like a fittingly stirring moment to encapsulate the Greatest's contribution to sports.

10. Tiger Woods Becomes Youngest Masters Winner Ever

Tiger Woods wasn't just the youngest golfer to win the Masters in 1997 at 21 years, three months, and 14 days old. Tiger was the youngest Masters winner to blow out a field of far-more-experienced veterans by 12 strokes. A brilliant moment in a brilliant career, Tiger's record for youthful brilliance at Augusta still stands today.

11. USA Women Win the 1999 World Cup in LA

If you've ever seen the iconic Brandi Chastain knee-slide to jersey-ripoff photo and wondered where it's from, now you'll know. The third installation of the FIFA Women's World Cup went to the Yanks thanks in part to Chastain's winning penalty kick against the Chinese. 

12. Boston Red Sox Break the Curse in the 2004 World Series

The Red Sox's improbably back-from-the-dead playoff run in 2004 is the subject of several documentaries and even a Hollywood film in Fever Pitch. It wasn't just a World Series title over the St. Louis Cardinals, but instead an exorcism of the Curse of the Bambino, which began in 1918, two years before the Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees for a pittance. 

13. Brett Favre Dominates Monday Night Football After Dad's Death

There are few blows that will keep a hardened NFL player from playing, especially a man who is arguably the toughest quarterback of all time. Losing a parent is one of those blows.

When Brett Favre threw for 399 yards and four first-half touchdowns, Oakland Raider fans cheered the Green Bay Packers quarterback, who had lost his father to a heart attack one day earlier. It was as tear-generative as a sports moment gets.

14. Pete Rose Becomes the All-Time Hits Leader

Pete Rose has tarnished his legacy since his playing days, though many still believe his lifetime ban for gambling as a manager is overkill. No discipline can take away Rose's all-time hits record, which stands at 4,256 and will likely stand until the end of baseball.

15. March Madness Begins

What would sports fans' Marches be without the Madness? We don't even want to consider that (and we'll pretend COVID never robbed us of March 2020). 

The tournament dates back to 1939 when Oregon beat Ohio State in the first-ever NCAA men's basketball tournament. The 65-team field debuted in 2001, and the field has only expanded from there.

16. Babe Ruth Calls His Shot

As legend has it (and video reportedly confirms), Babe Ruth extended his bat while at the plate in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs. Ruth then hit a home run near the spot where he had extended his bat.

Call it a coincidence, or call it a called shot. Your perspective will determine whether Ruth's shot-calling belongs on this list.

17. Secretariat Wins the Triple Crown

Every horse since 1948 has been running in Secretariat's shadow. The Virginia-born thoroughbred took home the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, winning the races in record times. According to jockey Ron Turcotte, Secretariat took the reins out of Turcotte's hands to take the Belmont Stakes on his own. 

18. The Immaculate Reception

The Immaculate Reception is on this list because it is a) miraculous, b) consequential (it occurred with 22 seconds in a playoff game, and c) iconic. Thankfully grainy film captured the moment where Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris caught a deflected football on his shoestrings and took it past a bewildered defense to the end zone.

14-7, Steelers win. Though Pittsburgh would lose the AFC Championship to the Miami Dolphins, this play is no less iconic because the Steelers failed to win it all.

19. One-Legged Kirk Gibson Propels the Dodgers to World Series Victory

The grainy-but-iconic video of Kirk Gibson rounding first base, limp-jogging as he pumps his fist repeatedly, is a staple of all-time baseball highlight reels. Vin Scully on the call makes the moment all the more legendary.

The fact that Gibson had two leg injuries that had kept him from the starting lineup before pinch-hitting the walk-off home run to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series (a series the Dodgers would eventually win) makes the moment the stuff of lore. 

20. Cal Ripken Breaks the Iron Man Record

Cal Ripken's record of 2,632 consecutive games played is another sports record that is unlikely to be surpassed. The astonishing figure is a testament to Ripken's skill, throwback attitude (rest days are for sissies), and love for the game of baseball.

21. Joe DiMaggio Hits in 56 Straight

With pitchers in Major League Baseball only becoming more dominant, DiMaggio's record of recording a hit in 56 straight games appears untouchable to most. The fact that the record has stood since 1941 is a testament to how Herculean a feat DiMaggio's was.

22. Lance Armstrong Wins Tour de France

Nobody in sports has carpet-bombed their good name and reputation like Lance Armstrong. Once you accept that blood doping is a fact of life in cycling (especially during Armstrong's era of dominance), the fact that Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France in 1999 after overcoming testicular cancer is awe-inspiring. The fact that Armstrong won six more in the following six years is downright hard to believe. 

23. Jack Nicklaus Sets the Record for Most Majors Ever

Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major tournament wins remains the standard in golf and has since his final major victory at the 1986 Masters. We thought Tiger would beat the record easily, but that now seems unlikely. Unless young, accomplished golfers (looking at you, Brooks Koepka) can consistently rise above a hyper-competitive field of talented golfers, The Golden Bear's majors record will continue to be golf's Gold Standard.

24. Nadia Comeneci Defines Gymnastic Perfection

Gymnastics is something of a niche sport, but one that many sports fans (even casuals) gather to watch every four years. When Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci recorded the first-ever perfect ten score at the 1976 Olympics during the uneven bars competition was a big deal. She wasn't done, going on to earn six more perfect scores, inscribing her name in the pantheon of sport.