2 0 / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED KIDS BRKIDIWANILER COLLECT BAHR/GETTY IOIMN/AGEDIAMS (CHONDIEF IMSAGE); S/GETTY IMAGES (LOHRKE ) ;
HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES (HAND OF GOD);
In the Endgame
The excitement of Week 18 of the NFL season (formerly
Week 17) is all about the playoff scenarios. Before their
final regular-season game of the 2006 season, the
8–7 Chiefs were a long shot to make the postseason.
They had to beat the 8–7 Jaguars. They also needed
the 7–8 Steelers to top the 8–7 Bengals, the Titans
to lose to a Patriots team that had already clinched,
and—unlikeliest of all—the 6–9 49ers to beat the 9–
Broncos. The Chiefs beat the Jags by five, then watched
as the Steelers won in overtime and the Titans lost
despite the Pats playing 43-year-old Vinny Testaverde
in the fourth quarter. The 49ers then came back and
kicked an OT field goal to send a very fortunate Kansas
City to face Peyton Manning in Indianapolis (where all
the luck in the world couldn’t save them).Hand of God,
Or Eyes of Ref?
Diego Maradona’s handball goal that opened
the scoring in Argentina’s 1986 World Cup
quarterfinal game against England continues
to generate controversy almost 40 years later.
English players and fans consider it the
ultimate act of cheating, for which Maradona
never sufficiently apologized. For his part,
Maradona called it “revenge” for the ’
Falklands War, in which the United Kingdom
defeated Argentina. Whatever one’s view of
the goal’s sporting and political significance,
all parties have to admit it was pretty lucky:
The referee plain missed it, and Argentina
went on to win its second World Cup.Fated for the Field
Jack “Lucky” Lohrke earned his nickname.
The infielder’s pro career was delayed by
World War II, during which he survived a
transport train crash, the allied invasion of
Normandy, and the Battle of the Bulge. He was
bumped off his first flight home from the war,
and the plane crashed. Then, in the minors
in 1946, he was called up by the Padres in
the middle of a bus ride. He got off when he
received the news at their next stop. The bus
then fell 300 feet down a ravine and caught
on fire. Finally, in 1947, the man who cheated
death time and again made his debut for the
New York Giants, for whom he had a somewhat
unlucky .235 batting average on balls in play.