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"Did you enjoy your time in Ann Arbor?" "Why yes, yes I did."

WHEN IT COMES TO SPORTING SCREWJOBS, THE TUCK RULE HAD THE GREATEST EFFECT!

It's Bret Hart's birthday. While we tend to remember him fondly for the SummerSlam '92 main event at Wembley against his brother-in-law The British Bulldog, most associate him with being on the wrong end of "The Montreal Screwjob." Basic summary: (a) wrestling is fixed; (b) Shawn Michaels threw him in a submission hold at Survivor Series '97 and the ref immediately called for the bell; (c) the pre-scripted match had called—in Bret's mind—for it to continue. Essentially, dude was screwed by Mr. McMahon. Getting screwed over happens a lot in sports. Here's a couple of examples.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (13)	THE TUCK RULE GAME	Brady gets nailed—by a fellow Michigan man, no less—and seemingly fumbles the ball. But oh no! Tuck rule applies (At the time, no one had any idea what "the tuck rule" was). Raiders had the game sealed, ultimately blew it. Three weeks later, Pats win first of three Super Bowls. We resent Boston. Is that unhealthy?
	2 (44)	THE SNOWPLOW GAME	Also involves the Pats! In 1982, Pats coach Ron Meyer summons the snowplow operator (oddly, he was a convict on work release) to clear a place for his kicker. Don Shula, coaching opposing Miami, goes nuts but the field goal is good and the Pats win 3-0. The next year, the NFL bans the use of snowplows on the field during games.
	3 (36)	THE JEFFREY MAIER GAME	It's not the biggest deal, because the Yankees eventually won the '96 ALCS 4-1. But in the 8th inning of Game 1, they were trailing when Jeter's fly became a HR. They ultimately won the game, and their first title under Torre in those same playoffs. We resent New York too. Is that unhealthy?
	4 (161)	LAKERS VS. KINGS, GAME 6 IN 2002	If it's true that this game was rigged—all circumstantial evidence points in that direction, but we're a Magazine of facts, damn it!—then the Kings got royally (HA! Get it?) screwed.
	5 (73)	THE FIFTH DOWN GAME	Colorado won the national title in 1990; in a game in October they beat Missouri, 33-31, on a fifth down. 'Fifth Down' may be the name of NYTimes.Com's football blog, but uh, it doesn't exist in actual football. The refs messed up, Missouri got screwed and the legitimacy of the Buffaloes' national title can indeed be questioned.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	187 (54)	2002 PAIRS FIGURE SKATING	Too long to completely summarize, so check this detailed rundown. Basically: French judge was told to vote for Russian pair no matter how the other pairs performed. As a result, the Canadian team—who NBC was absolutely gushing over—got screwed. The Canadians did eventually get a gold medal, although the Russian team is also listed in the history books as having one.
	291 (187)	1972 USA VS. RUSSIA HOOPS	This would be higher, 'cept when Russia finally did score to win the game (on their third chance), it was on a spectacular full-court heave play (think Hill and Laettner). That's cool. However, when you get three shots to win a game with :01 left, you can say the U-S-A got S-C-R-E-W-E-D.

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		STANFORD FOOTBALL (The band was on the freakin' field! The clip will never go away.)
		HEAT AND HAWKS HAVE TO REDO GAME! (Who cares?)

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