One famous moment in football (that’s soccer, not the American game) is the ending of the 1989-1990 English Division 1 season, immortalised in Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch. Arsenal, in 2nd place, played Liverpool, needing to win by 2 goals to win the league. 90th minute, the Arsenal are up 1-0, and Ian Wright pops in and scores the league clincher in the dying seconds of the game. Brilliant.
It was one of the defining sporting moments of my childhood, and now that I look back, it may have been what led to my equanimity when the Sox were down 0-3 in the ALCS. It ain’t over till it’s over. It never is.
(Fever Pitch is a great book, incidentally, for anyone who’s a fan of any sport - I love the part where he gets his wife into the game, then gets upset because that means they might have to take turns going to the games on the weekend since someone has to look after the kid.)