Letters

Thanks for making me realize that the best games aren't decided by points scored but by the lives changed after the games end.
BRIAN MEIERHOFF, Lake Bluff, Ill.

Better than Any Script
The 1982 San Diego Chargers-Miami Dolphins playoff was a great pick for your favorite game, and Rick Reilly captured the essence of that inspiring showdown (Life and Sudden Death, Oct. 25). The thrilling end of the first half was unmatched: the hook-and-ladder play; the bewildered leading team; the celebrating trailing team; and the screaming fans anticipating what was to follow. After that, wild horses couldn't have dragged me away from the screen.
RANDY NICKEL, Portland

People ask me why I'm such a rabid Dolphins fan when I haven't lived in Miami for nearly 20 years. Axe you kidding? I was at the Game, man!
LADD BIRO, Fairfax, Va.

I remember babysitting during the game. The two boys were supposed to be in bed, but I was too transfixed to move. Their father was angry when he came home just before overtime. Our explanation of what had already happened must have been good: The four of us were glued to the set through overtime.
CLIFF POSEL, Toronto

It was touching to see the parallels between Rolf Benirschke's second chance in the game and his second chance in life, and how the idea of a second chance was extended to his adopted sons. The game was a microcosm of life's struggles.
MIKE LEWIS, San Diego

Missing in Action
How can you leave out Game 1 of the 1988 World Series (Our Favorite Games, Oct. 25)? Kirk Gibson hit the first bottom-of-the-ninth, come-from-behind, game-winning homer in World Series history. And he could barely walk.
KURT GRAHAM, Lucerne, Ind.

Nobody remembers where he was when McEnroe beat Borg. Who knew? Who cared? But 48 years after the fact, millions can tell you where they were and what they were doing when they heard on the radio Giant Bobby Thomson's ninth-inning home run that beat the Dodgers in the final game of the 1951 National League playoff.
JARED LEBOW, New York City

The 1984 Orange Bowl game in which Miami beat undefeated Nebraska 31-30 for its first national championship. If this game had been included, the Orange Bowl would have been the site of four of your 20 favorite games.
JEFFREY D. SEGAL, Marietta, Ga.

The Giants' defeat of the Bills by the narrowest margin of victory in a Super Bowl game, 20-19, on Jan. 27, 1991.
DOV ABRAMOWITZ, Brooklyn

Nebraska 35, Oklahoma 31 on Thanksgiving Day 1971. Not only did No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Oklahoma match touchdowns in "an unending fury of offense from both teams" (SI, Dec. 6, 1971), it was also a contest that fulfilled the pregame hype of being the game of the decade.
PAUL GOLASHESKY, Williston Park, N.Y.