Rich's Greatest Fan Moments

Rich ran his own power rankings, a personal list of the greatest sports moments of his life, and the ordering tells you exactly who he is as a fan.

Number ten: November 23rd, 1991. A year out of college, sitting at home, watching Desmond Howard return a 93-yard punt against Ohio State and strike the Heisman pose in a 31-3 Michigan win.

Number nine, the lone Knicks entry: January 31st, 1984. Fifteen-year-old Rich watching Bernard King go 20-of-30 from the floor and 10-of-10 from the line for 50 against Dallas, then drop another 50 the next night in Dallas. First back-to-back 50-point games since Wilt in 1964. King took zero threes in the stretch, and only four all season.

Number eight is pure broadcaster lore. Game 4 of the 2001 World Series. Old Yankee Stadium had one visitor tunnel and one home tunnel. The media had to commit to one based on who would lose. With the Diamondbacks up 3-1 in the top of the eighth, Rich and the pack ran to the Arizona side. Then Tino Martinez took Byung-hyun Kim deep. Then they ran back to the Yankee tunnel. In the bottom of the tenth, Rich watched on a small TV in a side room as Jeter hit what would make him Mr. November, then got pushed out onto the field in time to see Jeter rounding third, pumping his fist, the cheap seats where he grew up going nuclear.

Number seven: the 1997 Michigan Wolverines. National champs by the AP, split title with Nebraska because the coaches wanted to hand Tom Osborne a gold watch on the way out. Backup quarterback on that roster: Tom Brady.

Number six: October 26th, 1996. The Yankees beat Greg Maddux and the Braves in six to end an 18-year title drought. Rich was stuck behind the SportsCenter desk wishing he was at the stadium.

Number five, the fresh one: the 2026 Michigan Wolverines tournament run. Rich calls them the best Michigan basketball team he has ever seen.

Number four: Reggie Jackson's three-homer night in the 1977 World Series. Eight-year-old Rich watching Reginald Martinez Jackson become Mr. October.

Number three: the 1989 Wolverines cutting down the nets while Rich was on campus working at the Michigan Daily.

Number two: Team 144, Jim Harbaugh, and Michigan finishing undefeated to win the national title a couple years back. Rich took years of abuse on set for that one.

Number one: his own 5.94 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine in a suit in 2016. He is going to try to beat it on Saturday running his annual 40 at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.

No Jets moments. Rich looked, could not find a place for one. The guys pushed back on putting 1989 Michigan above everything Yankees, and Rich had the same answer each time: he was 20 years old, on campus, and that kind of memory does not get unseated.