1999 Stanley Cup Finals: Dallas Trumps Buffalo Again
The Dallas Stars and the Buffalo Sabres were two different types of teams who had taken two different paths when they met in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Dallas Stars and the Buffalo Sabres were two different types of teams who had taken two different paths when they met in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Yankees had won two of the previous three Fall Classics. The Braves were in their fifth Series of the decade and aiming for their second title. It was all set up to a great World Series Showdown…only it didn’t turn out quite that way.
Two electric college football players came to the Sugar Bowl to play for the national championship following the 1999 season. Peter Warrick, a wide receiver at Florida State, might have been in consideration for the Heisman Trophy if not for a two-game suspension earlier in the year. Michael Vick had burst onto the scene with Virginia Tech and the freshman quarterback took what was a good, competitive program and lifted it to new heights.
The Pedro Martinez 1999 season was one of the truly great pitching performances of the modern era and should have been recognized as an MVP year.
There have been great playoff battles, memorable regular season games, be it prime-time or the late afternoon window. Where did it all start?
Officially, the answer to that question is 2001, when Brady took over the starting reins of the New England Patriots—and ironically made his first start against Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. But how about we dig a little deeper. 1999 was the first football season that both quarterbacks made a significant mark simultaneously, even if Brady was still at college.tom
The St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans were not likely candiates to give America a great championship battle. They weren’t even good candidates to make the playoffs, much less the Super Bowl when the 1999 NFL season began. But in an unpredictable year, a great battle is exactly what America got, as the Rams-Titans Super Bowl came down to but a single yard.
Were the 2014 San Antonio Spurs the greatest story of sports redemption in recent years? That was the theory put forth by ABC/ESPN studio commentator Bill Simmons in the aftermath of the Spurs’ demolition of the Miami Heat in this year’s NBA Finals, as he compared them to the 2004 Boston Red Sox. I think Simmons drew a faulty correlation and overlooked another story that’s even better–the 2012 Baltimore Ravens.
The Kentucky Wildcats had won the national championship in 1996 and been to the title game in 1997. The 1998 team was a different animal though. There were no great players and Rick Pitino was gone to the NBA. Tubby Smith was the new coach and even though the roster might not have been loaded, Tubby made sure the beat went on in Lexington.
For the second straight year, the Detroit Red Wings had a nice regular season, but were seeded behind Western Conference rivals, the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. And for the second straight year it didn’t matter come playoff time, as the Red Wings rolled to a second consecutive Stanley Cup.
Jordan, now a 15-year veteran, and sidekick Scottie Pippen, had just enough gas in the tank to survive strong challenges from the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals.
The New York Yankees felt like they’d missed an opportunity in the 1997 playoffs when they lost to the Cleveland Indians in the Division Series. The 1998 New York Yankees took it out on the rest of baseball with a display that, even allowing the many great teams this organization has fielded over the years, was the absolute best.
The Denver Broncos got a long-overdue Super Bowl win in 1997 by going the wild-card route and then winning the Super Bowl itself as a double-digit underdog. The 1998 Denver Broncos completed a back-to-back run and they did it with considerably more authority, as John Elway completed his illustrious career.