Last week, TV Guide ran a cover story outlining its "Fifty Reasons to Love TV." "Gadzooks!" I observed. "Another opportunity to steal someone else’s idea and make a ‘Sporting Eye’ feature out of it." Of course, I’ve molded the subject matter to fit into the parameters of this column, so herewith, in no particular order, are one man’s "50 Reasons to Love Sports."

1) The buzz at Fenway Park when Nomar Garciaparra comes to bat. Nothing to do with the Coors Light drafts.

2) Sudden-death overtime during the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs. The scenario in place could potentially have the teams playing all night.

3) Watching some of the great masters — including Dallas’s Roger Staubach, Denver’s John Elway, Miami’s Dan Marino, San Francisco’s Joe Montana, and Green Bay’s Brett Favre — execute the two-minute drill when their team is trailing by a touchdown or less late in the game. This is enjoyable, of course, unless it is your favorite team that is holding the lead and defending against these maestros.

4) The rarely called, and thus rarely seen, penalty shot in hockey. Also, for soccer aficionados, the penalty kick in that sport.

5) Game Seven of the World Series. Should be a national holiday. Extra innings are a bonus.

6) The anticipation of a heavyweight prizefight. Granted, in past years the bloom has come off the rose in this field, since the numerous sanctioning bodies and the inherent politics and corruption in the sport have taken away a lot of the luster. Nonetheless, those of us who can remember Ali-Frazier, Hagler-Hearns (granted, not a heavyweight bout), or Tyson-Spinks know of what I speak.

7) Watching Pedro Martinez pitch. Even if it’s only on TV.

8) The final round of the Masters. For this purpose, all talk of discrimination and women’s rights should be put aside, and attention should turn to the beauty of the course, the difficulties of the layout, and the inherent pressure and glory that come with competing in and capturing this tournament.

9) Wrigley Field.

10) Watching the old Lakers-Celtics playoff match-ups. Sometimes you can stumble upon these replays on the ESPN Classic channel, and only then do you see how exciting NBA basketball was, and still could be.

11) Bottom of the ninth, score tied. Whether your favorite team is the home team or the visitor, there’s nothing like the potential for immediate — or drawn-out — euphoria or heartbreak.

12) The amazing possibility of an earth-shattering sports upset. Exhibit A: Chaminade 77, Virginia 72. This 1982 stunner saw an 800-student NAIA school from Honolulu knock off the country’s number-one-ranked NCAA team, a team that was led by 7-4 giant Ralph Sampson and coming off a Final Four berth a year earlier. Exhibit B: NC State 54, University of Houston 52 in the NCAA championship game a year later. Exhibit C: Buster Douglas knocks out Mike Tyson in 1990.

13) The Yankees–Red Sox rivalry. Also included: Ohio State–Michigan, Auburn-Alabama (college football), LA-SF (baseball), Montreal-Boston (pro hockey), and numerous others.

14) Watching Larry Bird play.

15) Watching Michael Jordan play.

16) The biennial Ryder Cup golf competition, particularly on the final day if the score is reasonably close.

17) Tiebreakers at Wimbledon. None of this namby-pamby "first to win seven points wins the set" nonsense here; nope, you have to win the set by two games, which has led to some memorable slugfests, none better than Borg-McEnroe in 1980 (the Swede won, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 16-18, 8-6).

18) Watching Katarina Witt skate. Okay, this may very well be a bit of a, how shall we say, personal favorite.

19) The NCAA Final Four weekend, particularly the Monday-night finale.

20) The atmosphere at any Division I college hockey rink. Boston’s annual Beanpot Tourney is a prime example.

21) The BCS College Football championship game. Sometimes it’s ridiculous to figure how the two teams even got to this game, but that’s not the case this season. Ohio State and Miami are the nation’s only two unbeaten Division I teams, and they’ll fight it out for all the tortillas on January 3.

22) Watching a game from the Fenway Park lower box seats. If you’ve done it, you know what I mean.

23) September pennant races.

24) The TV ads unveiled at each Super Bowl. And sometimes even the game itself.

25) Watching heart-tugging sports films like Hoosiers, The Rookie, Rudy, Remember the Titans, Field of Dreams, and Caddyshack. Okay, maybe not that last one. N-n-noonan!

26) Watching non-heart-tugging sports films like Caddyshack, Slap Shot, and Bull Durham. Particularly over cold beverages with close friends who share your affection for these cinematic treasures.

27) Tailgating. Unique to American football.

28) Shoot-outs in soccer. Certainly no true way to decide a competition, much less a World Cup, but they are still mesmerizing and pressure-packed.

29) Watching a college-football game at Notre Dame or Michigan Stadium, a pro-football game at Lambeau Field, or a college-basketball game at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome or Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium.

30) Bill Parcells’s press conferences. (could there be an imminent return to these in Big D?)

31) Thanksgiving Day high-school-football games.

32) A late-inning no-hitter in progress.

33) Listening on radio or TV to national announcers Al Michaels, Joe Buck, Marv Albert, Bob Costas, and Tim McCarver; local voices Sean McDonough, Joe Castiglione, Gil Santos, and Gino Cappelletti; and former legends Johnny Most, Bob Wilson, Ken Coleman, and Fred Cusick. Enjoy ’em while we still got ’em.

34) Rooting against a team you hate, and subsequently watching them go down to defeat. Regional favorites include the Yanks, Jets, Lakers, Dolphins, Cowboys, and Canadiens.

35) The Stanley Cup Trophy award ceremonies. Coming to an arena near you. Or not.

36) Watching Doug Flutie (in his heyday) play.

37) A sunny Saturday afternoon in the Fenway bleachers.

38) Hockey Night in Canada.

39) Memories of the Sammy Sosa–Mark McGwire home-run duel in 1998.

40) The frenzy of activity that precedes the baseball’s late-July trading deadline. Also, hot-stove discussions and free-agent courting and wheeling/dealing.

41) Watching Wayne Gretzky play.

42) A shoulder-to-shoulder sprint down Boylston Street to determine the winner of the Boston Marathon.

43) USA 4, USSR 3.

44) Watching villains lose — the recent travails of Barry Bonds, Albert Belle, Tyson, George Steinbrenner, and Jerry Jones all come to mind. And bring a smile to one’s face.

45) The possibility, or achievement of catching a foul ball or a puck in the stands.

46) Walking up the ramp and into a ballpark for the first time.

47) The sports pages over lunch, which could include your regional newspaper’s, along with Sport Illustrated, ESPN: The Magazine, the Sporting News, or the Hockey News.

48) Sudden-death overtime in a sport’s championship game. Particularly applicable to college hockey, the Super Bowl, and World Cup soccer.

49) Watching your team win a world championship. In particular, the still-powerful but becoming ever-more-distant memory of New England 20, St. Louis 17.

50) Thinking about, imagining, and visualizing what it would be like if the Boston Red Sox actually did win a World Series title in your lifetime.

Happy holidays, sports fans!

Sporting Eye will return on Monday, December 30 at BostonPhoenix.com. Christopher Young can be reached at cyoung[a]phx.com