What are the 20 greatest moments in New York sports history?
That’s open to interpretation, but author and New York sports TV producer Todd Ehrlich has some thoughts.
A five-time Emmy winner and longtime New York sports TV producer who co-wrote the 2023 book “The 20 Greatest Moments in New York Sports History” with Gary Myers, Ehrlich shared some of his top moments in the city’s sports history — spanning the period from 1960 to today — as part of a recent “Let’s Talk Sports!” class hosted by The Society of the Four Arts.
About 25 guests participated in the program, which was moderated by David Darby, who heads marketing and communication efforts for the Four Arts and is a former longtime sports journalist.
The program was the first in a three-part “Let’s Talk Sports!” series at the Four Arts this season and drew on Ehrlich’s decades-long presence in the New York sports world to highlight some of its most significant events.
Ehrlich’s top moment, which prompted nods of agreement from the audience, was the New York Giants’ upset 17-14 victory over the unbeaten and heavily favored New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII in 2008.
The victory came after a fourth-quarter comeback by the Giants, capped by a game-winning drive led by quarterback Eli Manning, which included David Tyree’s “Helmet Catch” and a touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds remaining. The Giants’ win ended New England’s perfect season.
Tyree, a wide receiver and special teams player who spent six seasons with the Giants, wrote the forward for Ehrlich’s book.
Ehrlich spoke with both Tyree and Manning at length for the book, and Manning shared an anecdote about the play that spurred one of the biggest upsets in NFL history.
“There are two things he said about that play,” Ehrlich told the audience during the Dec. 12 class. “First, he said, you always trust your guys. If you don’t, you hesitate. And if he had hesitated on the Helmet Catch, he would have been sacked and the Giants would have lost the Super Bowl.”
Ehrlich said the quarterback also explained why the throw went against conventional wisdom.
“He said it’s usually not a good idea to throw over the middle in that situation, because if the ball gets tipped, it’s likely to be intercepted,” Ehrlich said. “But on 3rd-and-5, he couldn’t take a sack. He couldn’t let it become fourth-and-12 in the Super Bowl. He had to trust his guy — and it worked.”
Ehrlich, a five-time Emmy winner who has been a sports producer in New York for more than four decades, said he was inspired to write his book after grabbing three books at a bookstore on his way to a train station.
He said he grabbed the books based solely on their colors, because he knew what they would be about.
“As I settled into the train … it dawned on me that sports were hyper-local, that people love sports,” he said. “People really loved their teams, and so I came up with the idea of writing ‘The 20 Greatest Moments in New York Sports History,’ with that idea in mind.”
He added: “I had the access to all these people to get inside stories that other people didn’t have, and wouldn’t have. That was in 2003, so I was basically an overnight sensation. The book came out two decades later. It takes a second to get a publisher, and then (comes the process of) writing a book.”
Ehrlich conducted more than 100 original interviews for the book with the biggest names in New York sports history, including Joe Namath, Phil Simms, O.J. Anderson, Bucky Dent, Chris Chambliss, Clyde Frazier, Mark Messier and Marv Albert.
Namath, a quarterback who led the New York Jets to an upset win over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in 1969, spoke with Ehrlich at length for the book.
Today a Tequesta resident, Namath offered Ehrlich insights into why he raised his index finger in the air as he was jogging off the field following the Jets’ 16-7 win at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
“I’ll tell you what I was thinking,” Ehrlich said Namath told him. “The game was over. I was running off the field when I looked up and saw a section of Jets fans. The smiles on their faces were unbelievable. They were all giving me the No. 1 finger.
“I looked back at them and said, ‘You know, we’re No. 1,’ and I meant that humbly.”
Ehrlich also highlighted several other standout moments in New York sports history, sharing anecdotes that included Mets catcher Mike Piazza’s two-run homer in the eighth inning of the first baseball game played in New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; and New York Yankees first baseman Chris Chambliss’ walk-off home run to beat the Kansas City Royals in the 1976 American League Championship Series.
He mentioned Bucky Dent’s three-run homer against the Boston Red Sox in a one-game playoff in 1978 that sent the Yankees to the postseason and discussed Yankees catcher Jim Leyritz’s game-tying, three-run homer against the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the 1996 World Series that helped New York rally and eventually win the world championship.
Ehrlich said choosing the 20 moments wasn’t difficult, as each one clearly stood out for its drama, excitement and lasting impact on New York sports history.
He added that he picked 1960 as his starting point so the selections would reflect moments from his lifetime — and many of those involved would be able to share first-hand accounts.
“I wanted to go out and talk to the guys and get the real stories, because I wanted the book to have some heft to it.”
“The 20 Greatest Moments in New York Sports History” is available online and in bookstores.
IF YOU GO
The next installment of the Society of the Four Arts’ “Let’s Talk Sports!” series will begin at 10:30 a.m. Jan. 9 with guest speaker Nick Pugliese, longtime sports editor of The Palm Beach Post. The program will be held in the Dixon Education Building, 240 Cocoanut Row, Palm Beach. Tickets are $20. For information, visit FourArts.org.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Author Todd Ehrlich discusses top New York sports moments in Palm Beach
Reporting by Jodie Wagner, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
