Best Sports Commercials

I'm definitely going to be missing alot of my old favorites, so I reserve the right to add to this list later on, but off the top of my head, I thought it was about time that we gave some credit to some of the greatest sports commercials of all time. So here we go...

1. Mean Joe Greene Tunnel Jersey Toss: This is the first TV commercial I can remember in my lifetime. Is there anyone between the ages of 30 and 40 who saw this commercial and was not dying to be that kid who tossed Joe the coke and got his jersey back in return? This is by far the best sports commercial ever.

2. Chicks dig the Homerun: The funniest sports commercial, ever, period. There was nothing better than watching Glavine and Maddux take BP. What made it especially great was that you just knew they really did care about their real-life hitting. Two of the greatest competitors (not just pitchers) of our lifetime.

3. I want to be like Mike: Cheesy as hell, but totally identified with a generation of kids who idolized MJ like perhaps no other athlete of our generation.

4. "Nothing but Net": Another great NBA commercial from the MJ era. The "H-O-R-S-E" game with MJ vs. other NBA great. "Out the door, Through the window, Over the building, under the bridge, around the water, into the window, bouncing off the ceiling... nothing but net."

5. "I love this game.": Give the NBA credit for some great commercials! This was a whole series of spots and they were all great. Perhaps not coincidentally, these commercials coincided with the NBA at perhaps its height of popularity.

6. Sportscenter spots: Some were better than others, but the great ones (see, i.e., the Manning Family) were pretty great.

7. Righetti Spaghetti: I know no one else will remember these spots, but I loved them as a kid. I think it was for Ronzoni in 1983 or 84 and it featured Dave Righetti saying "Righettie Spaghetti. Hey, I like that!"

8. Steinbrenner Ads: I'm kinda blanking here, but I remember a Great spot with the Boss and someone he had a major feud with, basically mocking the feud and pretending they were best friends in the commerical. It was later than the billy martin era, but i cant quite remember who it was with. mattingly? showalter? torre? damn, i cant quite place it. i do remember that the spot was very funny.

9. "What if....?": These ads featured fancy video editting and showed MJ missing his famous shot over Ehlo, jeter's "relay to the plate" throw sailing wide, and john taylor dropping the throw from montana. Good stuff.

10. "I'm Going to Disneyworld!": Few remember that this all began with Phil Simms in '86. Few also recall that, at the time, it was quite revolutionary. It was truly the first ever "reality TV" as the QB was literally walking off the field from the actual game as the spot was filmed. Great job by Disney conceiving and even attempting such a (at the time) daring spot.

11. "Those Yankees are alive!": Sure, it sounds silly, but In the pre-ESPN/web gems era, kids basically used commercials as our models for great plays and highlights of our favorite plays. On my way to little league games I remember dreaming of making a play like I saw on the channel 11/yankees are alive commericials. Remember Dave Winfield nailing a guy at the Plate? Reggie of all poeople making a diving catch? Great stuff in it's day.

12. "Bring it home." This was perhaps the last time that tv stations actually invested in commericals. WWOR actually had an agency write and compose a theme song for the 86 mets and it was pretty great. it was used with various highlighhts of that great mets team and began an eram, which actually still exists, of yearly mets slogans, all of which sucked except for that original one which was great. "Bring it home Mets, bring it home, bring it home."

I'm definitely missing ALOT, but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head. Feel free to add and help with this list...