Game of the Month

I've been thinking about doing a new feature on my blog for a while now, and it is the above title. I will choose what I consider to be the game of the month from all sports. So it could be a round of golf, a NASCAR race, a soccer match, a tennis match, a MLB game, what have you. If there are three worthy nominees, I will say which games are the nominees and then make my choice. Hope you all enjoy a small piece of it.

The nominees:
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics game 7, NBA Finals.
USA vs. Algeria, World Cup qualifying round.
John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut, Wimbledon, Gentlemen's singles 1st round.

Why each was chosen

L.A. vs. Boston: It was game 7 of the NBA Finals, the ultimate game to crown the champion in the league. It was a close game until the end. Both teams fought hard to the very end. It was very back and forth with some excellent defense. The Lakers and Kobe Bryant then came out on top for his 5th championship and the Lakers 16th overall title. Kobe was also the leader in the Lakers comeback in the final five minutes, when they were down 7.

USA vs. Algeria: The U.S. needed a win here in order to move on to the knockout stage, and come out on top in their respective group. If the U.S. had even just tied Algeria, it would've been considered a huge disappointment for the U.S. not to get into at least the knockout stage. With a blown call by the referee early in the match which cost the U.S. a goal. But, Landon Donovan scored the winning goal in extra time to send the U.S. into their first trip into the knockout stage since 2002. It was an exhilarating match, where you were on the edge of your seat the entire time as it was very hard fought and it was an elimination game for the U.S.

Isner vs. Mahut: The longest match in tennis history. Need I say more? Although it was just a 1st round match, it was at many consider to be the most prestigious grand slam, Wimbledon. Plus, the match was over three days, was the longest match in the illustrious history of tennis, not only breaking any and all previous records, but shattering them. Consider these astonishing facts: 11 hours, 5 minutes, the length in time of the match. 8 hrs, 11 mins., the time of the 5th set alone. 183 games in a match, and 138 in the fifth set alone. Then, there were a record number of aces recorded: 113 for Isner compared to 103 for Mahut.

Out of the three nominees, I chose the tennis match for the sheer historical nature of it. While the Lakers winning back to back titles and the U.S.A. moving on to the knockout stage certainly are great moments and games, I doubt you will ever see an 11 hour tennis match again. While some parts of the match may have gotten boring, you just had to stay tuned to see who would be the first to succumb to the other. Hence, the Isner-Mahut match is this month's game of the month.

I will continue to do this for every month for the rest of the year. At the end of the year, I will take the "winners" from each month and put them against each other for the game of the year. I will also choose other games from earlier months as well. If you disagree with my picks for the games or for the pick with the game of the month, please contact me on facebook, twitter @pjwalk85, or leave a comment below. Thanks!