GABA Q&A: What sporting events would you attend if you could travel back in time?

Today's question is inspired by a comment made by DC3_TWEETS on last week's Q&A. The top 3 things on his sports bucket list were all past events that he wished he could time travel to attend. So today we are all going to imagine that we can time travel to sporting events that have already happened and list our own top 3. There are no limits being imposed on this, so you can pick things that are just legendary events in the history of sports or events that were huge for a team that you pull for.

Jorge

First and foremost, The Hit. I'm sure a number of you did see this in person, and feel free to share your account in the comments section. But man oh man I would have loved to experienced that moodswing in person. More importantly, the crack of Clowney making contact is a sound I'd want to experience; since there are no limitations, I'm going to stand right behind Vincent Smith like Christopher Lloyd in Angels in the Outfield. Oh also if we can change history I'd make sure Devin Taylor doesn't lunge for the ball so Clowney can score. Number two: Whit Merrifield's Rosenblatt walk-off, as plenty of folks will rightfully list and which requires no further explanation. Finally, I'm going to go with Babe Ruth's supposed called shot in the 1932 World Series. It's disputable as to whether The Babe actually did call his shot, but he certainly made some gesture before clobbering that longball (the last of his 15 postseason homers, by the way.) I get chills imagining how overwhelming it'd be to witness moment of such mythical proportions in person. Also, I'd report back to Katie and ChickenHoops with firsthand confirmation that the Cubs did at one point play in a World Series.

Cockaboose

Imagonna hop in my Hot Tub Time Machine and go 1988. And along for the ride, I've got a 6 pack of Stroh's beer and my little furry bud Spuds MacKenzie. It's October 15th 1988 Game 1 of the World Series between Oakland A's and The Dodgers. The roster on both teams is just-frickin-legendary in baseball history. It's Mark McGuire, Dennis Eckersley and Jose "Juiced Up" Canseco for the A's and for the Dodgers - Kirk Gibson, Orel Hershiser and Tommy Lasorda. Wow. I mean WOW! In the first game of the series, The heavily favored A's are about to close the game with a win. The closer, Eckersley, walks Mike Davis to be cautious because he sees Dave Anderson warming up, but wait a minute...Anderson goes back to the dugout and out walks Kirk Gibson with bum knee and all. He wasn't even supposed to play. Lasorda is a genius. Full count. 2 Outs. 9th inning. 4-3 Oakland leading with Davis on first. BAM!!  Gibson hits a home run! He limps around the bases pumping his fist as the Dodgers win the game and later go on to win The World Series. Now ask yourself how many times have you done that same fist pump as your rounded the bases as a kid!

I would love to have sat ringside and seen the greatest of all time Muhammad Ali fight. The Thrilla in Manila is my second visit. In 1975 Ali and Smokin' Joe Frazier in the hardest hitting and brutal boxing match you will ever see. But, honestly, I would love to see any of Ali' earlier fights too.

Last visit is The Hail Mary pass by Doug Flutie. A high scoring game with football legends on the Miami Hurricane side.  They were Goliath and Flutie was David.  No time left on the clock and Flutie flushed from the pocket he hurls it and Boston College scores to win the game.

‘Hoops

1. With March in the air, I think the 1992 Duke-Kentucky game would be a pretty fun event to attend, given it's widely considered the greatest college basketball game ever played.

Though this was also a pretty great buzzer beater.

2. For baseball, as much as the Cubs fan in me wants to go back to 1908, I think the Dave Roberts steal game might be the best one to go back and watch live.  Other games have great moments, but that game had a really nice build-up to a terrific reward.

3. For all the chills, give me Jesse Owens going into Germany in 1936 and torching world records and virulent racism all in one fell swoop.  Sports are normally made to be larger than life events when, in reality (as we all know deep down), they are nothing more than games that serve as wonderful distractions.  While Owens feat certainly didn't stop a war from breaking out, it did show that the underpinnings of one fanatic's belief system were fundamentally ridiculous, and he did so right in the face of that tyrant.

That's a pretty awesome moment.

Kaci

I would love to go to everything that's already been listed and I had trouble narrowing this down to three events, particularly when thinking about how many great moments/games there have been in all of sports history. So I decided to stick to events that the Gamecocks participated in:

-The 2010 CWS. If I have to pick one game, it's the final. Like Jorge said, this one really requires no explanation.

-2011 CWS. Specifically, I'd love to be at game 1 of the championship series against Florida. I know it's not the one where we technically won our second national title, but I think it's my favorite baseball game ever.

-Carolina vs Clemson 1992. I would really love to time travel back to some older rivalry games, and I almost picked a Big Thursday game for this spot. But I think I have to go with being there to watch Steve Taneyhill sign the paw and cement his status as a Gamecock legend.