There are a few truly great sports days and most of them you can see coming. Granted many more disappoint but one of the main ingredients of a great sports day is that there are many scheduled events of at least some local importance. New Years Day used to be like that before they diluted the bowl games over a two week period. But how many New Years Days do you recall for ALL the action that day, not just your favorite team getting a win? Not many. An example of a great sports day was June 5, 1999 when the NY Knicks were playing the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Yankees and Mets were playing an interleague game (this was only the 3rd year of interleague so it was still a big deal) and Charismatic was running in the Belmont Stakes for a chance at a Triple Crown. This day had all the makings of a great sports day if for no other reason than there was all day sports, a major ingredient in being a great sports day, get it? June 5, 1999 ended up being great because the action was also great. The Knicks and Pacers played a game that came down to the final 5 seconds, and LJ hit his famous 4-pt shot; the Yankees and Mets played an entertaining 6-3 NYY win and Lemon Drop Kid upset Charismatic. This was a great day.

Additionally, there are a few games that you wish would never end because of the continued drama and unbelievable action. Three instances that come to my mind:

Add yesterday to both of the lists, and it all happened with only one event

Not all the ingredients were in place, but many were. Two fierce rivals, two stellar athletes, amazing play after amazing play, a comeback, an upstart, the dominant one and what turned a special event into a special day, some rain. You add all those ingredients and you get not only a great tennis match on one of the grandest of stages but for those of us watching on the east coast we got drama from 9 am until 4pm, an all-day event.

I went to the store and it was still on, I did some chores and it is was still on. Only a little would I feel bad about wishing players that had endured so much to endure a little more just for my pleasure. Yesterday I wanted the match to go on. I thought let Federer and Nadal play until neither could grip a racket, play until they broke all their rackets, just keep playing.

July 6, 2008 will go down as a special day in sports.