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Comment by Fnoord | Hacker News Reader

I mean there are so many epic sports moments. Thinking about football (you may know it as soccer) and not just goals Gerard's goal vs Germany, Maradona's hand of god, or Zidane's headshot versus Materazzi.

So you'd have to be an expert on all of these epic moments, being able to draw them in proportion, and then have the expert pick the best. With panels, seasons of different topics, and a grand finale it would make a great TV show. You could sell the format, and become a millionaire..

..or accept the author's humility (with word 'probably'), assume the author is no expert on the field (neither am I regarding football), and go on with your life.

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He's not arguing that Tiger's chip was the greatest moment in sports (although it is certainly up there), he is arguing that it's the best "television shot", superior to the one discussed in TFA.

And it's a strong argument. The BBC rocket shot was about timing, and it was pretty damn good, but everything was 100% scripted and precisely timed, and could have been practiced and rehearsed dozens of times. The Tiger Woods shot was live, obviously, and relies on a confluence of good fortune -- of 360 degrees, the cameraman was exactly behind the ball, he did a masterful job of following its movement while continuously tightening up the shot (an ultra-close-up of the ball is uncommon), the producer sticking with that shot an extra two seconds rather than switching to a reaction, the ball displaying the Nike logo, and finally, the extraordinary physics of the the ball stopping before finally dropping into the cup. And of course the person, place and time -- 16th hole on Sunday at the most famous golf course at the most famous tournament by the most famous golfer to take the lead and ultimately win the Masters. And finally, Verne Lundquist making one of the greatest and most memorable calls of all time, just naturally off the cuff, amazing. In your life!

> And finally, Verne Lundquist making one of the greatest and most memorable calls of all time, just naturally off the cuff, amazing.

I had to go back and watch it again (not memorable enough to me after just the length of time to read your reply, apparently!) - are you talking about 'Oh my goodness. Oh wow! In your life did you seen [sic] anything like that?!'? I don't follow golf, or know the name (Lundquist I mean, obviously Woods) but what's.. what am I missing, why's that 'amazing' 'just naturally off the cuff'?

"in your LIFE have you seen anything like that?" is highly unusual in the order of phrasing, the emphasis on LIFE, and the timing, stepping and extension of the first three words (all single syllables), that he only had one chance to compose and then speak, in about 10 seconds. Additionally, by asking a question, he engages the collective audience which raises the sense of amazement even further than if he had stated introspectively "in my life I've never seen that".

At 3:20:50 of [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PreYFbNZpVU) is another all-time legendary shot at the Masters. But the announcers say nothing for nearly a full minute and finally concede "words do not do justice to the greatness of that shot." By contrast, Verne found the perfect words instantaneously and delivered them masterfully (no pun intended).

Subjective I suppose, just doesn't seem like anything to me. He's excited sure, but just reacting like any excited sports fan, he doesn't say something amazing 'off the cuff' or any extraordinary quick wit or something like that, he just reacts, and fumbles it in his excitement at that. (It wasn't 'have you seen' as you quoted, but 'did you seen [sic]' as I did - a blend of the former & 'did you ever see' I suppose.)

You are entitled to your opinion, but there's a reason Verne Lundquist is an iconic hall-of-fame broadcaster assigned to the biggest events, and you're not. In the moment, he could have stuck to describing the athletics "a perfectly-executed chip shot" or the situation "Tiger Woods takes the lead" but he immediately recognized this shot was truly once in a lifetime, highly-emotional, bigger than any individual event, and spoke to that instead.

As far as the words he improvised, I would challenge you to find examples of other sentences in news or literature or culture that start with the exact phrase "In your life" (followed by "have you seen", not "did", your prior comment is incorrect). The guy basically created a new sentence structure in the language right on the spot, on the biggest stage.

And I'm far from the the only one who considers this a great call. Here are a few lists which place this specific call as the top-ranked golf announcing moment and among the top 10 sports calls, ever: https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/1433660-the-most-... https://nypost.com/2020/01/08/ranking-the-greatest-sports-br... https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/the-32-best-calls-in-spor... https://golf.com/news/ranking-the-greatest-broadcast-calls-o...

> he is arguing that it's the best "television shot", superior to the one discussed in TFA.

TFA doesn’t say “best television shot” though, it says “best timed television shot”.

> The BBC rocket shot was about timing, and it was pretty damn good, but everything was 100% scripted and precisely timed

Well, yes. That’s why everybody is talking about it as the best timed television shot and why people are puzzled at this golf shot being brought up where timing is not particularly relevant.

It was late at night and I was about to go to sleep. I saw this article with a very cool video. That made me think, hey, maybe people who are into neat videos will also like this other one I know about, and because I’m sleepy, that ball hanging on the edge of the cup is kind of perfect timing, too.

That’s all. I was sleepy and wanted to share another cool video.

A ball went in a hole, and a camera was recording it.

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