The Hit Parade: March the Pens out
MEMORABLE MOMENTS: At this time of year, everybody likes to reflect on the greatest plays, players and moments from the past 12 months and we are no exception. Here are the Hit Parade’s top five sports moments from 2006: 5. Since we love our brain cramps so much in this space, one of the top five has to go to the top knucklehead. You could make cases for Detroit Lions assistant coach Joe Cullen (driving drunk and nude) or the two Idaho arena workers who took Zambonis to Burger King. But the winner has to be French soccer star Zinedine Zidane, who used his knucklehead as a battering ram to the chest of Italian defender Marco Materazzi and got tossed from the World Cup final. His team went on to lose on penalty kicks, one of Zidane’s specialties; 4. It was a completely forgettable Grey Cup game at Canad Inns Stadium until something totally unusual occurred — the Cup broke. We might not recall who the MVP of the game was, but we’ll sure remember who broke the Cup — offensive lineman Kelly Bates; 3. Cindy Klassen is Canada’s greatest athlete and a Winnipeg icon and in February she was queen of the Olympic Games, collecting a ridiculous five medals in speed skating. She’s already Canada’s most decorated Olympian and plans to add some hardware to her total in 2010; 2. Winnipeg’s Clara Hughes looked like her legs were about to give out and she was ready to curl up and die, but she somehow finished the 5,000-metre race and took home the gold. It was one of the gutsiest performances in Canadian sports history. 1. On July 20, many Winnipeggers turned off their TVs in disgust after the Blue Bombers seemingly blew a game against the Edmonton Eskimos. But with no time left and the Bombers on their own 10, Kevin Glenn threw a pass to Milt Stegall that turned into a 100-yard game-winning touchdown and one of the most memorable plays in CFL history … Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody. We’ll be back on Jan. 6.
