New Sister

I guess this sort of applies to one Katrina Riddell, though I was intending instead to refer to a disc that arrived in my mail today bearing new (to us) songs from Sister Hazel. It's a collection of b-sides that didn't make their last few albums, and thanks to a nice relationship with the label, I have myself a complimentary copy (it could theoretically be complementary too, like if it came with a little stand that matched or something) and I'm listening to it right now.
On another note (the note that provided the impetus to post today), I had the pleasure (?) of taking in a 1-0 victory by the US National Team over Guatemala last Thursday night in the Gold Cup. Yes, we won, but it was a pretty underwhelming effort, and--Fox Soccer Channel is actually rebroadcasting the game right this second, I just noticed--was lowlighted by Oguchi Onyewu's ejection for a second yellow card (frustration built up from marking Carlos Ruiz all night). We added a 2-0 win over Terrible & Tobago (their first-choice players are in a contract dispute with the national federation, so they've got a bunch of scabs playing) on Saturday (I watched from my baseball-viewing seat at Fox and missed both goals) and look good for the quarterfinals (one more group match against El Salvador tomorrow).
Eric and I were talking on the way in about the last time we had each seen the national team play, and we came up with a January 2000 friendly between the US and Iran (for some reason I fell asleep multiple times during this game, which ended in a 1-1 draw). I conveniently forgot about getting to see the team play twice in Korea in 2002, and it's with that in mind that I've decided to come up with a list of the best games I've ever had the pleasure of attending. It starts today with soccer and will hopefully extend to every other sport before too long...

As I've started thinking about how to organize, this has become far too vast an undertaking for a list of just 10, so I'm putting them in reverse chronological order (16 games total), adding a few honorable mentions, and then I'll try to rank:
3/12/06 Manchester United 2, Newcastle United 0 (Rooney 8, Rooney 12) - Old Trafford (Manchester, England) - 67,858...being at Old Trafford (with B) was an amazing enough experience, but getting to watch my guy Alan Shearer (pretty much THE reason I'm a soccer fan today) and seeing Wayne Rooney net a brace (two goals, for the uninitiated) can't be overlooked
3/11/06 Reading 0, Watford 0 - Madjeski Stadium (Reading, England) - 23,724...boring game, but well played by Bobby Convey, and I had the best seat in the house--roaming the sidelines with my video camera. Got to meet and chat with Marcus Hahnemann, Convey and Jay DeMerit after the game as well
3/4/06 Arsenal 4, Fulham 0 (Henry 31, Adebayor 35, Henry 77, Fabregas 86) - Craven Cottage (London, England) - 22,397...best player I've ever seen in person: Thierry Henry. It wasn't even fair how much better he was than anyone else on the field
11/26/03 Santa Clara 1, Loyola Marymount 0 (Irvine 98) - LMU (Los Angeles, Calif.) -725...Eric scored the game-winner on a header off a crossbar rebound in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and a massive celebration ensued. We had a great Eric-centric crowd at the game as well, family and friends, so it was pretty awesome
9/18/03 Santa Clara 2, CSU-Monterey Bay 0 (Irvine 40, Irvine 69) - Buck Shaw Stadium (Santa Clara, Calif.) - 507...I made the trip up to NoCal for a couple different things, the primary of which was getting to watch Eric start and score, and he did one of the two. His first was headed home off a cross from Wolfe, and his second slid past keeper off another cross. I think I saw all three of his goals this season
6/10/02 USA 1, Korea 1 (Mathis 24, Ahn Jung-Hwan 78) - Daegu World Cup Stadium (Daegu, Korea) - 60,778...incredible atmosphere, great performance by Brad Friedel, huge goal from Clint Mathis, a deserved tie
6/5/02 USA 3, Portugal 2 (O'Brien 4, Jorge Costa own goal 29, McBride 36, Beto 39, Agoos own goal 71) - Suwon World Cup Stadium (Suwon, Korea) - 37,306...nothing really needs to be said about this one, right? Sitting right behind the goal on which all three of our tallies were recorded, and in shock for every one. The neutral crowd started with chants of "Figo" and ended with "USA"
11/6/98 UCLA 3, UCSB 2 - UCSB (Santa Barbara, Calif.)...NCAA record for quickest goals scored by two teams--Gauchos scored to tie it up, Seth George scored from midfield on the kickoff, over the backpedaling, still-celebrating 'keeper, to give us the lead and the win
10/1/98 Galaxy 6, Burn 1 (Pena 10, Hermosillo 16, Cienfuegos 20, Hermosillo 32, Welton 41, Washington 47, Pena 69) - Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.) - 10,047...Octavio Zambrano's team was the best offensive squad in league history, and this was one of its finest performances
2/10/98 USA 1, Brazil 0 (Preki 65) - Coliseum (Los Angeles, Calif.) - 12,298...greatest goalkeeper performance I ever saw (Kasey Keller), one of the greatest goals I've ever seen (Preki, as usual, cutting back to his left and letting one fly from outside the area), and great seats (thank you Marcelo Balboa, via Steve Shak)
12/14/97 UCLA 2, Virginia 0 (George 80, George 82) - UR Stadium (Richmond, Virg.)...NCAA Championship Game, almost anti-climactic after an amazing semifinal, but tremendous work by Matty Reis in goal to deny Brian West, Ben Olsen and cronies
12/12/97 UCLA 1, Indiana 0 3OT (Tennyson ?) - UR Stadium (Richmond, Virg.)...the Indiana native got the previously-undefeated Hoosiers in triple-OT, what a marathon
11/23/97 UCLA 3, Santa Clara 0...my Bruin friends against Joe Cannon's Broncos
11/2/97 UCLA 4, Duke 2...my Bruin friends vs. Josh Henderson, Jay Heaps, Gaston Haupert & co.
7/4/97 Galaxy 2, Revolution 0 (?) - Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.) - 51,704...4th of July, installment number two
7/4/96 Revolution 1, Galaxy 0 (?) - Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.) - 62,073...first MLS game, fireworks and 98 Degrees (the band, and the temperature, I think)

Honorable Mention for games watched:
11/13/05 Galaxy 1, Revolution 0 (Ramirez 107) - Pizza Hut Park (Frisco, Tex.) - 21,193...Pando Ramirez, who had done nothing all season or all game, knocked in the game-winner after Matt Reis had punched out Landon's corner, giving us Cup No. 2
12/15/02 UCLA 1, Stanford 0 (Lopez 89) - Gerald J. Ford Stadium (Dallas, Tex.)...I still had a few friends on the team, most notably Ryan Futagaki, who sent in a cross that Aaron Lopez converted for the late game-winner
10/20/02 Galaxy 1, Revolution 0 (Ruiz 113) - Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.) - 61,113...finally, after years of post-season frustration, we broke through and won an MLS Cup, thanks to El Pescadito (and Tyrone Marshall)
10/12/01 Santa Clara 2, San Diego 1 (Irvine 45, Martin 60, Cronin 90)...(didn't actually watch this one--listened to it on the internet) freshman Eric scored the first goal of his career and assisted as buddy Steve Cronin (a goalkeeper subbed in late as a forward) scored the winner in the final minute. Great drama sitting by myself and listening
9/1/01 England 5, Germany 1 (Jancker 6, Owen 12, Gerrard 45, Owen 45, Owen 66, Heskey 74) - Olympic Stadium (Munich, Germany) - 63,000...dressed up in a jersey and headed to an English pub (I think it was the Princess Pub) and watched Beckham, Owen and friends romp to an easy win (maybe the country's best since 1966?)
5/26/99 Manchester United 2, Bayern Munich 1 (Basler 6, Sheringham 90+, Soleskjaer 90+) - Camp Nou (Barcelona, Spain) - 90,000...the greatest finish to a match maybe ever, and I was definitely rooting for the Red Devils here. Nothing to show for an entire match, and then two injury-time goals to just destroy the Germans (the face of Lothar Matthaus was unforgettable)
9/17/97 Newcastle United 3, Barcelona 2 (Asprilla 22, Asprilla 30, Asprilla 48, Enrique 72, Figo 88) - St. James' Park (Newcastle, England)...Shearer was injured, so Tino Asprilla stepped in and collected a spectacular hat trick, thanks in large part to the running and crossing of Keith Gillespie. This was one of the first times I knew I was a Toon fan, even without Shearer in the lineup

Okay, so that's obviously way too much to digest (it took me two days to compile, and I'm sure I've forgotten a few things), but I think I can figure out a top ten (with a quick two-word summary):
10. Galaxy vs. Revolution on 4th of July '96 - FIRST. GAME.
9. UCLA vs. Indiana in the Final Four '97 - KEY. CLUTCH.
8. Santa Clara vs. LMU in the NCAA Tournament '03 - ERIC. WINNER.
7. Reading vs. Watford at Madjeski Stadium '06 - SIDE. LINES.
6. USA vs. Brazil at the Coliseum '98 - PREKI. KASEY.
5. UCLA vs. Virginia for the NCAA Championship '97 - MATT. REIS.
4. Arsenal vs. Fulham at Craven Cottage '06 - THIERRY. HENRY
3. USA vs. Korea at the '02 World Cup - FRIEDEL. MATHIS.
2. Manchester United vs. Newcastle United at Old Trafford '06 - ROONEY. SHEARER.
1. (easily) USA vs. Portugal at the '02 World Cup - WE. WON.

I have no idea how I'm going to do this for basketball (or baseball or football), but I'll try to come up with something...don't hate me for loving soccer