Lucky enough to have had one great sports event

It isn't often that I overlook books by my favorite authors.

When Dan Jenkins died recently at the age of 90, I wasn't surprised.

Hey, 90.

But with everything of his I've read, all the way back to "Semi-Tough," I somehow missed the semi-memoir that came out five years ago.

Much of what was in there was in one earlier book or another, but it was still a great read.

One of Jenkins' stories of his childhood in Fort Worth was of the amazing 1937 college football game between undefeated Texas Christian and undefeated Southern Methodist. SMU won the game, but each school was named national champion in different polls.

"Two national champions from Texas, and I'd seen them play. Every kid should have a big sports event in his life."

So what was mine? As a kid, there wasn't much. The only memorable performance I saw as a kid was Yankees rookie pitcher Mel Stottlemyre pitching a complete-game, two-hit shutout against the Washington Senators in September 1964, going 5-for-5 at the plate as well.

Great? Maybe to Stottlemyre, but it was a meaningless game in front of a small, desultory crowd.

Two years later, at a Baltimore double-header with my dad and my grandfather, I saw Frank Robinson hit a massive home run down the left-field line that because the first ball ever hit out of Memorial Stadium.

Great? For a minute, but I don't remember who they were playing or who won either game.

I saw a lot of great things in baseball, including a no-hitter by an aging Fernando Valenzuela for the Dodgers in 1990, and another one against the Dodgers in 1994 by Atlanta's Kent Mercker.

I actually saw the rarest play in baseball in 1995, although it loses a little of its luster because it was in the Class A California League.

Gabe Alvarez was playing second base for Rancho Cucamonga. With runners on first and second and no outs, the batter hit a line drive up the middle. The runners were both going on the pitch, so Alvarez snared the liner, stepped on second base for the second out and tagged the runner coming in from first for the third out.

It's a play that in the big leagues happens on average once every five or six years.

The quote I got from the second baseman really made the story.

"Last year at USC, the same thing happened," he said. "But without thinking about it, I threw to first base for the third out. One of my teammates asked me if I realized I could have had an unassisted triple play. I told myself if it ever happened again, I could do it differently."

Seriously.

Twice in a lifetime.

Great? Yeah, but just a minute of great. Not a memorable game.

Well, I do have one big sports event that is every bit as memorable as TCU-SMU football. Without a doubt. I covered what many people consider the greatest college basketball game of all time.

April 1, 1985.

Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky.

Villanova's celebration.

The NCAA men's basketball championship game.

Some have called it the perfect game. Georgetown was the defending national champion and had posted a 35-2 record going into the game. The Hoyas had beaten conference foe Villanova twice already that season, although both games had been close and one went to overtime.

Villanova had lost 10 games and was only a No. 8 seed going into the tournament. But the Wildcats beat three top 10 teams -- Michigan, North Carolina and Memphis State -- to get to the title game.

They took only 28 shots from the field, while Georgetown took 53.

It wasn't as if the Hoyas shot poorly. They made 29 of their shots. but Villanova made 22 of their 28, and added 22-of-27 free throws. Maybe the most amazing stat of all was that Villanova took only 10 shots in the entire second half -- and made nine.

The final was Villanova, 66-64.

The biggest sports event I ever saw.