In a time when heavyweight boxing was the most popular sport in America, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier squared off for a third time in the Phillippines. With plenty of bad-blood between them, both fights endured scoring heat and put their bodies and lives on the line for chance to capture or retain the title of heavyweight champion of the world.

One of the most celebrated, and simultaneously hated, college basketball players of all-time, Christian Laettner was cruising along the road to a fourth straight Final Four appearance, and with Coach K in his corner, they were the odds on favorites. But a Kentucky program in the wake of an academic fraud scandal, were scratching and clawing their way back to prominence. A game full of swings in momentum and unsung heroes, it would ultimately be Laettner with the ball in his hands and a chance to keep the dream alive. 

Defending Super Bowl champs, the smack-talking Seattle Seahawks had a chance at another title. Led by the infamous Legion of Boom defensive unit, accompanied by Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch, Seattle was poised to cement an NFL dynasty. But the aging patriarch of the NFL, Tom Brady, had found is way back into another Super Bowl. And with Eli Manning nowhere in sight, Brady and Bellichick were licking their chops at an opportunity to win a 4th Super Bowl. But with all the star power one could want in a Super Bowl, an undrafted rookie made the play that will go down in the history books as one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history.

There's nothing worse in sports than losing to your rival. But getting swept by your rival in a 7-game series is salt in the wound, and that gloomy fate was all but certain for the 2004 Boston Red Sox. A cursed franchise, the Red Sox hadn't won the World Series in 86 years, and trailing 0-3 to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, it was all but certain it would soon be 87 years without a title. But could one Kevin Millar pep talk get the Sox back in the mix? Game 4 was do or die.

In what is widely regarded as the greatest college football game of all-time, Pete Carroll's USC Trojans, featuring Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, put their 34-game winning streak on the line in an effort to win their third straight National Championship. A dominant force for three consecutive seasons, they were a shoe-in to win the 2006 Rose Bowl. But one man stood squarely in their path: Texas QB Vince Young.

You've seen the shot a millions times. But the setup to Michael Jordan's heroics in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals make the moment that much more beautiful. Staring down his imminent retirement, the 35-year-old Jordan put his team on his back after Scottie Pippen left the game with an injury. Trading blows with the pesky Utah Jazz, led by Karl Malone, MJ had the ball in his hands with a chance win one last NBA title, a climax to his illustrious basketball career.