So, Manny Pacquiao defeated Timothy Bradley on Saturday night to avenge his controversial loss. The world has been talking about a Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that fight will ever happen, leaving the sports world to wonder what could have been.
So I began to think of some of the sporting events that everyone would have wanted, but didn’t get to see. These are some that I came up with.
#Super Bowl XX: Miami Dolphins vs Chicago Bears (1985)
In 1985, the Chicago Bears had one of the greatest defenses and teams of all-time. They went 15-1 in the regular season. Once they got into the playoffs, they outscored their 3 opponents 91-10 on their road to winning the Super Bowl. Only one team after Week 5 was able to score more than 17 points on the fierce Bears Defense. The Bears defense stifled every team they faced except one…The Miami Dolphins. In 1985, the Dolphins got off to a slow start. Newly-drafted QB Dan Marino held out in training camp, and Miami had a tough time, starting just 5-4 to begin the season. Then, everything started to click. From Week 10 on, the Dolphins won 8 straight games including a 38-24 win over the undefeated Bears in Week 13. Dan Marino and the high flying Dolphins scored 31 points on the Bears in one half (1st half) which hadn’t been done on Chicago in 13 years. Miami had the Bears D on its heels so badly, that coach Mike Ditka and and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan came to blows at halftime. After that game, the Bears allowed on a measly 7.2 ppg. Miami made it to the AFC Conference Champ. Game, but lost to the New England Patriots. The Bears went on to beat the Pats in Super Bowl XX 46-10. But what would have happened if the Dolphins had beaten the Pats (as expected) and faced the Bears in the Super Bowl? Would the Dolphins offense have overwhelmed that legendary Bears defense again? Or would the Bears defense have avenged that embarassing loss and proven that the Dolphins loss was nothing more than a fluke? We will never know.
#Super Bowl XXXIII: Minnesota Vikings vs Denver Broncos (1998)
The 1998 Denver Broncos were coming off a Super Bowl win over the Packers the year before. They started off 13-0 and picked right back up where they left off. It was assumed that this would be John Elway’s last year and they were clearly the best team in the AFC. There was even talk that these Broncos would go undefeated, but they lost in Week 15. Even when Elway was hurt in 1998, they went 4-0 with backup QB Bubby Brister starting. In the NFC, the Minnesota Vikings were rewriting the offensive record books. The Vikings went 15-1 and scored a then-record 556 points. Their lowest offensive single-game output was 24 points and they scored 30+ points 12 times. The assumption was that these two great teams would meet in the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, the Vikings couldn’t hold up their end of the deal as they lost to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship game. The Falcons went on to lose to the Super Bowl to the Broncos 34-19. But what would have happened if the Vikings and the Broncos had met in the Super Bowl? Would Minnesota’s offense have been too much for Denver to overcome, or would Denver still have sent John Elway out a champion?
#NBA Finals: Houston Rockets vs Chicago Bulls (1990’s)
From 1991 to 1993, the Chicago Bulls won 3 straight NBA Titles. Once the Michael Jordan-led Bulls broke through the Detroit Pistons, the Bulls owned the league. And then Michael Jordan retired to play baseball. In Jordan’s absence from the league, the Houston Rockets beat the NY Knicks in the 1994 NBA Finals. Michael Jordan returned from the failed experiment to play for the Chicago Bulls midway thru the 1995 season. While Jordan was still great, he wasn’t quite the Michael Jordan that people were accustomed to. The Bulls lost to the Shaquille O'Neal-led Orlando Magic in the E. Conference Semiinals in a 4-2 series. The Houston Rockets (as a #6 seed) did what the Bulls couldn’t do and beat the Magic in the NBA FInals. In 1996, the Bulls went 72-10, dominated the NBA and won the NBA Championship. Again, the Bulls won back-to-back-to-back championships from 1996-1998. What would have happened if Jordan had never retired? Would the Bulls have won 8 STRAIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS? It’s awfully hard to imagine a team winning 8 straight titles in anything nowadays. But with Jordan, anything would have been possible, right?
#French Open Final: Novak Djokovic vs Rafael Nadal (2011)
In 2011, Novak Djokovic had one of the greatest years in tennis history. He won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US open. He went 70-6 and finished the year as World #1. He began the 2011 season with a 41-0 record and (going back to the previous year) had a 43 match winning streak. 2011 wasn’t the best year for Rafael Nadal, but it was still pretty damn great for most standards. He went 68-15 and finished as the #2 ranked player. The French Open is played on clay and Rafael Nadal is known as the “King of Clay” because he is so dominant on the surface. Rafael Nadal has won the French Open 8 times, the most any male as ever won a specific Grand Slam tournament. He is an astonishing 59-1 at the French Open. After Novak started the season off 41-0, he faced Roger Federer in the French Open Semifinals. While many consider Roger Federer the greatest tennis player of all time, 2011 Roger Federer isn’t the same as the dominant 2004 Roger Federer. However, the veteran managed to upset #1 Novak Djokovic in 4 sets. While this Djokovic-Federer was matchup was amazing and led to a Nadal-Federer Final that wasn’t bad, the prospect of an undefeated Novak Djokovic playing Rafael Nadal in the final of the tournament that Nadal owns like no one as ever owned a Major tournament might have been the most hyped matchup in men’s tennis history.
