My top 5 sporting moments

These are the top 5 sporting moments I can recall:

1. Cadel Evan’s time trial the year he won the Tour de France. Inspirational effort from the only rider of his era doing it drug free.
2. Greg Inglis’s try for the ages against the Broncos in 2014. Watch it.
3. Tony Lockett kicking his 1,300th goal 1999 at the SCG. Never again.
4. Cathy Freeman’s 400m gold medal run in 2000. Never was there so much pressure applied.
5. John Eale’s Bledisloe winning kick on the siren in 2000. Not the designated kicker but he just stood up and kicked it.

Honourable mentions:

In the NSW U16’s Knock Out tournament of 1979, I scored the winning goal in the last minute of the grand final. I was a right-footed left winger that night (🤷) and faced with multiple defenders I attempted a left-foot cross to my centre forward whilst running flat out. I sliced it and it lobbed all the defenders and the keeper for both the goal and player of the tournament awards, and a spot in the state squad.

In 1975, 1975 or 1977 (I forget) I was cox of Drummoyne Rowing Club’s first 8 (open seniors) which won the national 8’s, coached by the legendary Rusty Robinson (👹). My one and only National medal at the age of 11 or 12. I got free chips and lemonade, a dunking in the Parramatta River, and a trophy that I lost years ago.

In 1995ish, after over a decade of comp squash I was finally in a team that won a comp. Grade A8 or so which was pretty good quality back then. We got fluffy pink towels as trophies (💕).

In a scratch football game at Jubilee Park in Glebe, which I played in for over a decade in the 90s, one night I scored a goal which was a double nutmeg and in. One of those defenders had previously played for Croatia. The other was a then current NSL player. The keeper was useless (🐥).

One night around 1986 at the E.S. Marks field in Sydney I ran under 10 minutes for the 3km. My body wasn’t designed for that effort. Running coach helpfully said I ran like a footballer (💯).

One night in Baltimore my work colleagues took me to a baseball net with a ball pitching machine. Having played the game for a year at high school I could hit the ball. That night, even at top speed, I hit every ball out of the park. Much amazement (😬).

Oh yeah, that’s right. Me and a mate came 3rd in the K2s in the 111km Hawkesbury canoe (🛶) classic in 1986 (or thereabouts). That was on top of only a couple of training runs. Possibly the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, voluntarily, and it’s a long and impressive list.