The ones that give us goosebumps are the best

I saw this commercial the other day, and found it on Youtube without much trouble. Since then, I feel like I have watched it an almost unhealthy-for-my-eyes amount of times. I sent the link to may parents, my uncles, a bunch of my friends. But I still want more. It's like a miracle that I'm not sick of it yet, but even more astonishing is the fact that every time I watch it, I get the same feeling.

The hair on my arms seems to stiffen a bit, and the flesh on my upper body starts to get little goosebumps all over, as if I've just seen something eerily awesome. Even after a dozen viewings.

Any person who considers themselves a Red Wing fan, and I know there are a lot of you, more than likely has seen the footage from this video. The video itself is an ad promoting the NHL, which is fine and good, but the reason this clip is so cool is because it shows Red Wing captain, a legend even back in 1996, beating St. Louis goalie Jon Casey on a slapshot from the blue line. The goal ended a marathon, double-overtime Game 7 to send St. Louis to the golf course, and Detroit to the Western Conference Finals.

The Wings lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the next round, falling in six games. But still, that video clip is iconic. It's earned a place in Red Wing lore, where, if you are talking to a real fan, the simple words, "the Yzerman goal against St. Louis" will immediately put you on the same page. Despite the fact that Yzerman played in dozens upon dozens of games against St. Louis, that goal is the one that lives in the minds of the fans.

It's special for me for a few reasons.
I vividly remember watching that game. I was 13, and one of the very few rabid hockey fans in the Thumb of Michigan. I was in my parents' living room, and it was a Thursday night. The goal gave the Wings the victory, and extended the playoff run, so that alone made it special.

But looking back, there was a little more to it. That game lasted well into the night, and I remember when the first overtime ended, my mom decided to go to bed, but my dad stayed up. As my mom gave him a goodnight peck on the cheek, he told her that, even though he was "dog tired", he just would never forgive himself if he went to bed not knowing if the Wings would live to play another game. But I think he had another reason for staying up so late.

We watched the game together, right up until that special, game-ending goal, even though it ended much later than my folks normally expected me to be awake. But that didn't matter. When Stevie found the back of the net, we cheered like crazy, just us, the only conscious ones in the house.

The win was great. It was a kind of excitement you don't get to experience often. But having the chance to experience it with my dad, even though we were just hanging out in the living room, is what really made special. It's what made it memorable for me.

Sports have a way of taking over our lives in a way that causes us to get so caught up in everything, we often forget that every time we get a chance to witness something incredible, we also have a chance to share that experience with someone special.

For me, on May 16, 1996, that person was, and is still, the most important and special man in my life: my father. And every time I see that video, I think of how it made me feel, how the elation of victory was just so much better when I got a chance to look over my shoulder from the couch and see my dad's Cheshire cat grin. My dad said that he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he missed the end of the game, so he stayed up even though he was exhausted, and I think that's true. But I also think he did it because he wanted to share something special with me, even if he knew it might end in temporary heartbreak.

In a little less than two months my fiancee and I are going to welcome our first child into the world, a little boy. I hope someday that I can be the kind of dad to him that mine was to me. I can't wait to share the kind of moments with my son that my dad shared with me, moments that, even now, more than 14 years later, I still look so fondly on.

Sports are fun to play and fun to watch. But they can also be a vehicle. So fans should make events special, they should embrace the jubilation of victory as well the disappointment of defeat. But don't get too wrapped up in the game, because your presence just might be giving someone close to you a memory they will hold onto.

The plays that give us goosebumps are the best, but when we get to share those goosebumps, that's even better.