Best Sports Commercials

Damn ESPN. Every time I think of some clever "Best Of" post, I discover they have already beaten me to it. I wanted to do a Best Sports Commercials post this week, but alas, it has already been done. Who knows? I might have seen this post years ago and only convinced myself that my idea was original.

Either way, I am going to push ahead with my own Top Ten Sports Commercials list. It is derivative, to be sure, but I do have a couple that aren’t on the ESPN list. It also allows others to chime in, which is always fun. I have also attempted to find links to the actual commercials, so that people can take a gander.

***Note** I did this post about two weeks ago, and have been looking for a few commercials ever since. It is amazing to me that companies don't keep these ads on their pages. Even new ads, like the Gatorade and MasterCard ones, aren't up on the net. Mind-boggling, really. I am tired of looking, so some of the commercials are missing links. Such is life, I guess.

***Update*** As I noted here, the new Air Jordan commercial, "2nd Generation", needs to be added somewhere to this list. I will sit on it for awhile, and slot it in somewhere once reflection clears my mind.

---

Honourable Mention:

Ad: Mean Joe Greene
Company: Coke
The Pitch: Mean Joe Greene gets a Coke, gives a Jersey. This is old school, baby.

Ad: 1975 Rucker Park, Harlem
Company: Nike
The Pitch: Vince Carter as “Dr. Funk”, with music from Bootsy Collins.

Ad: Junior High Girls Basketball
Company: Nike
The Pitch: Another Spike Lee classic, playing off the rivalry (if you can call it that) between him and Reggie Miller.

Ad: Tomorrow
Company: NFL Network
The Pitch: Two ads with NFL players not in the playoffs bemoaning their fate and anticipating next season.

Ad: The Jordans
Company: Gatorade
The Pitch: Old Jordan vs. Young Jordan.

Ad: Peyton Manning
Company: MasterCard
The Pitch: Manning plays a rabid fan of workers in a grocey store.

---

The Top Ten:

10.
Ad: Showdown
Company: McDonalds
The Pitch: Michael Jordan & Larry Bird play H-O-R-S-E. Nothin' but net.

9.
Ad: NFL Fans Before The Season
Company: NFL Network
The Pitch: Nice Pick Cowher!

8.
Ad: Winning Formula
Company: Gatorade
The Pitch: A new commercial that shows three famous sports endings in a different light. Jordan misses “The Shot”, Giambi beats out Jeter’s throw at home, and Dwight Clark drops “The Catch” from Montana. All that is missing is Buckner making the play at 1st.

7.
Ad: Terry Tate: Office Linebacker
Company: Reebok
The Pitch: Linebacker Terry Tate smartens up the employees of Felcher & Sons.

6.
Ad: Utah Jazz
Company: Fox Sports
The Pitch: Allan & Jerome talking smack about the Jazz. Again, there are a few different commercials starring the two. Type in “Utah Jazz” and “San Antonio Spurs” to view.

5.
Ad: Bo Knows (Audio Files)
Company: Nike
The Pitch: Two-sport athlete playing a variety of other sports, featuring Bo Diddley.

4.
Ad:The Squeeze
Company: ESPN
The Pitch: These four clips about Uncle Mack and the Red Sox actually make me cry. I know they aren’t really commercials, but they are too awesome not to mention. It’s also available here if you have ESPN Motion.

3.
Ad: Red Sox Fans Lose It
Company: Fake Mastercard
The Pitch: "Priceless" commercial based on the Red Sox winning The World Series.

2.
Ad: Mars Blackman & Michael Jordan
Company: Nike
The Pitch: A whole series of commercials with Michael Jordan & Spike Lee. These ads launched Michael Jordan into the stratosphere. Type in “Nike” to view. Is it the shoes?

1.
Ad: Air 120
Company: Nike
The Pitch: The “Chicks Dig The Longball” commercials. This one has Ted Williams and Gene Simmons in it. How could I go wrong?