What’s the best sports game you’ve ever seen in person?

One of the best feelings when watching a game has to be just sharing that experience with other people. You can watch it with friends, family, or strangers at a bar. But when something special happens, you’re all part of it. And you can do this with just a TV.

But some events are more unique just because you were at the arena or stadium. The game itself doesn’t have to be a championship game or anything. In fact, a random regular or preseason game that you remember vividly could be as important to you than any title. It’s all on how you experienced and remember it.

We asked you what was your favorite sports game you attended in person. These are our picks:

Paul Pierce’s buzzer-beater that wasn’t for the Wizards in 2015 was so freakin’ cool ... until it was called off. This was the same series that Pierce “didn’t call bank, he called game.” I’ll never forget hearing my mom scream for like two straight minutes and the entirety of the Verizon Center shook. I wish I could forget having to explain to her that the shot didn’t count though.

- Matt Ellentuck

For Christmas 2004, I got a pair of tickets for Heat-Lakers. I have no idea how my parents got me those tickets and I have never asked, but I probably should. This was Shaq’s first game back in LA after his beef with Kobe finally imploded and he was sent to the Miami Heat in exchange for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler, and Brian Grant.

My younger brother and I sat in the cheap seats before the game speculating about what would happen right before tip off. Would Shaq and Kobe acknowledge each other (they did, but barely)? Would the Lakers have an emotional video package during player introductions (duh)? Would I buy an overpriced meal from the in-arena McDonald’s (also, duh)?

I don’t remember much from the video but I do think it was mostly a bunch of people in the Lakers organization saying “Thank you, Shaq.” There might have been a cute kid or two in there. It was emotional and I felt the crowd at Staples Center feel the same way.

Anyway, at some point in the game I spilled my soda on a person in front of me. He was probably mad that a dumb teenager just ruined a good blue sweater that looked to be his Christmas gift. We both got over it and focused on the game, which was great since the game was close throughout most of it.

It even went to overtime even after Shaq fouled out of the game for fouling Kobe. How perfect is that? Shaq got the admiration from the Lakers and it turned into animosity after that whistle for the sixth foul. Fans at Staples Center got to both love and hate Shaq in the span of four quarters, and I learned that basketball can tell some beautiful stories.

- Hector Diaz

Sitting in Madison Square Garden all day waiting for your team to play a rival is one of the best parts of the Big East Tournament. You get all the benefit of March Madness heating up combined with the knowledge that your favorite team might put forth a classic performance.

During the 2011 tournament, in which UConn ended up winning five games in five days to win the whole thing (in the last year it was possible), being in the room to watch the Huskies was electric. But never more so than against Pitt, which was a duel for the entire time. In the last seconds, Kemba Walker broke some ankles and sunk a basket for the win.

Every single UConn fan present went through the roof, especially since it was still the afternoon and everyone had energy to spare when rooting on their team. I only remember spilling my food everywhere, getting water spilled on me as someone in the row behind our group dumped a water bottle everywhere in their excitement, and texting my dad “OH MY GOD KEMBA I CAN’T BREATHE THAT WAS AWESOME!” By the time the celebrations were over nobody in the section had a voice left.

I found out later my dad had actually taped the game and wasn’t watching live, so he then knew Kemba did something show-stopping but didn’t get spoiled on what it was. Sorry dad!

- Whitney McIntosh

Olympic basketball doesn’t belong on this list — but this game does, because I witnessed something iconic, and a moment I will never, ever, ever forget. I saw Vince Carter “Dunk of Death” over Frederic Weis in person.

The video thumbnail above is almost the exact angle I had. I was behind the basket, just a few rows up. My mum surprised me with the best seats you could apply for in the Olympic ticket lottery.

The game had really been a disappointment up until this moment. Team USA was already pretty weak if you’re a 15-year-old who was hoping to see Kobe and Shaq make the trip. But all of that washed away when Carter didn’t just put Weis on a poster, he etched the image into stone.

The crowd exploded when this happened. Cheering and screaming was almost endless. It was a cacophony or realization that we’d all just seen something that might never happen again. The clip was replayed over, and over, and over again on the screen in the arena — each time being met with more applause.

One family in front of my friend and I said they were going to “talk to Vince” after the game. I assumed they were fans hoping to meet Carter and get his autograph. They ended up being Gary Payton’s family and extended family.

I can’t tell you much else about that game, but that dunk will be with me forever.

- James Dator

It was Game 4 of 2013 Eastern Conference Finals matchup between the Pacers and the Heat, with the Heat leading the series, 2-1. It was before Lance Stephenson thought he should be an all-star. It was before Roy Hibbert fell off the Earth. It was when Paul George was young enough that Pacers fans felt like we had the entire world ahead of us.

The Pacers won that game, 99-92, tying up the series and eventually forcing a Game 7. Hibbert had 23 points and 12 rebounds, Stephenson dropped 20 points in the most Lance Stephenson way possible, and every starter for the Pacers scored in double figures. But what I will never forget as long as I live is Stephenson’s corner three-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the third quarter, with Dwayne Wade flying past him, and after he hit the shot he just sat on the floor and let the Pacers fans celebrate around him. I thought Bankers Life Fieldhouse was going to explode that night.

The Pacers never won a series against LeBron James and the Heat but those games, and especially this one, will always be my favorite.

- Whitney Medworth

I was a freshman at Mizzou in 1997, and the school was just two years removed from getting Tyus Edney’d and seven years removed from getting Fifth Down’d. I saw all the typical “be prepared for heartbreak” cynicism and defense mechanisms from the upperclassmen around me and brushed it off.

And then, in my fourth home game as a Mizzou student ...

When the ball deflected away from Shevin Wiggins, the student section surged to rush the field, assuming victory. My seats were in the 14th row, and at one point I had my foot on the wall at the front of the stands. Attacking from the hill on the north side of the stadium, a dorm mate of mine was the first one to reach the goal posts and climb on. And while trying not to fall over and get trampled, I saw the ref’s hands signal touchdown.

The ending was a nightmare, but ... what a game. Nebraska was incredible, and Mizzou, a four-touchdown underdog, was going toe-to-toe. The touchdown the Tigers scored in the fourth quarter resulted in probably one of the two or three best crowd pops I’ve ever heard. We’ll just say the game was called after 59 minutes and 50 seconds.

- Bill Connelly

Once I attended a Knicks game at which the halftime show was people throwing Frisbee for dogs, who would jump really high to catch them. During one such throw, a dog slipped on a Frisbee that had been left on the floor and totally lost its footing. It ended up doing a full, accidental barrel roll in mid air, but STILL caught the Frisbee it had been thrown. It was the greatest sports highlight I ever saw in person, thus making whatever shitty Knicks game that was the greatest sporting event I ever saw in person. I also attended Game 2 of the 2000 World Series.

- Seth Rosenthal

This was the 49ers’ first playoff game in nine years. Jim Harbaugh took over a team that had gone 6-10 and turned into an embarrassment under Mike Singletary. The team stormed to a 13-3 record and a first-round bye. The 49ers were built more on their defense than offense, but they jumped out to a 17-0 lead. The Saints stormed back to take a 24-23 lead. The 49ers recaptured the lead on a designed QB run that saw Alex Smith go 28 yards for the score. The Saints re-took the lead with 1:37 to go, but Smith drove the 49ers down the field and connected with Vernon Davis for the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds to go. Given all the crap Smith went through dating back to 2005, this game felt like a catharsis for him and the fans.

It was particularly great for me because I had a chance to be down right at the goal line when he ran in his touchdown and then again when Vernon Davis caught his game-winning touchdown. After the Davis touchdown, I found myself jumping up and down hugging the 49ers team president on the sideline. It was an amazing day of football.

- David Fucillo

The Beast Quake game. I can’t do it justice in so few words; please read about it here.

- Matt Ufford

The greatest moment in sports I ever witnessed was Game 6 in the Wizards vs. Celtics series last year. I covered the game and, as a Wizards fan, it was a heart attack. But at the same time, it was entertaining as hell. There were lead changes galore, but John Wall hit the eventual game winner to force a Game 7 in Boston. I graduated from grad school the next morning a few hours after I finished my column on the game.

- Michael Sykes