Top-15 "Win-Win" Finals
15.) 2025 NBA Finals - Thunder over Pacers
It's weird how fickle opinions on teams change, because by this point now I hate the Thunder and want to see their downfall, but a year ago I was perfectly fine with them and was overjoyed with the Pacers (helps I was on a project in Indianapolis concurrently with that run). The fact the series itself was great helps, though I'll ignore the gut-punch of Halliburton's achilles tear. It was a refreshing small market finals to give the NBA brass heartburn as well, which is never a bad thing.
14.) 2009 NBA Finals - Lakers over Magic
It's weird that I have this here, but at this point I didn't hate the Lakers (never really did outright) and found that Magic team that would just bomb threes (relatively "bomb" for the time) and run Hedo as point forward and go four-out aroudn Dwight fascinating. Certainly like them more than the Cavs at that time (I was dumb, we were all dumb about LeBron). I just wish it was a better series, but I was absolutely on board for whoever won - especially after the Lakers rightly got trounced by Boston the year before, I was mentally ready to see Champion Kobe again.
13.) 2018 Stanley Cup Finals - Capitals over Knights
You would think I would find the 2018 Knights annoying, a team in their first year of existence making the Cup Finals. But then again, I've had my favorite team win the Cup - three times. So what do I care. Watching those miracle Knights was a joy. And the Capitals was obviously something I would root for to see Ovechkin win a ring. If anything, I was so behind wanting Ovie to a win a ring, that's the only reason why this isn't higher - because even if I would've found the Knights story cool had they actually done it with that rag-rag team (remember, the fact that we all expected them to be good because of the lottery rules is 100% revisionism - post expansion draft and trade chicanery they were still expected to be bad) that would've kept Ovie from winning one.
12.) Super Bowl LIX - Eagles over Chiefs
What makes this one work is the potential of a three-peat and Mahomes officially doing something Brady (and everyone else) couldn't do. Other than that bit, I was over the Chiefs, who stole that AFC Championship Game against Buffalo. But I digress - seeing Mahomes win a threepeat would've been cool, but seeing the Chiefs get choked out by one of the most dominant defensive performances was even better - I loved that Eagles defense of Fangio's and that team had a such graet swagger and got great revenge from the game two years prior (which, spoiler alert: is yet to come on the list) that it made it one of the rare, enjoyable Super Bowl blowouts.
11.) 2010 World Series - Giants over Rangers
There's mroe of the Giants to come, but what we had was a Giants team that had Hunter Pence (the first ex Astros to play in teh WS after escaping the depths of hell), a ton of other fun guys like Lincecum, and while they beat the Phillies with Oswalt - Roy himself had a fine NLCS. Anyway, the Rangers were super fun with teh Josh Hamilton of it all, and Nellie Cruz and their dominance over teh Yankees, adn Cliff Lee's cool-ness. Honestly, I'm regretting not having this higher up - probably would've been had the series itself been better.
10.) 2021 NBA Finals - Bucks over Suns
This is one of those that seems like a fever dream, even if the Bucks were hanging around the top for years, seeing them actually make the Finals was crazy, and seeing it be the Suns, the team that hadn't made the playoffs in 11 years, as the opponent was crazier. It was so refreshing to, coming off the back of either the Warriors or LeBron being in the finals each of the last ten seasons (and four times, of course, against each other). Those guys were long gone, and we just got two teams that were well built. Of course, the Suns had to fuck it all up by going all-in on KD, and the Bucks a bit the same on Dame, but at this one point in time, it was quite special.
9.) Super Bowl XLIII - Steelers over Cardinals
I know at the time people were annoyed at teh Cardinals being there - a 9-7 team that lost some games by embarrassing scores late in teh season, but I loved Warner, that offense and watching Fitzgerald's playoffs is a religious experience (only enhanced by the Super Bowl), so it was either them, or one of the great defenses ever finish the job. Even if I was sad it wasn't my Colts in teh game, the Steelers aren't to blame for that, went out and embarrassed the team that beat the Colts and swaggered their way to a title with one of my favorite defenses ever to watch. The context around the game (watchign it with a bunch of friends with us having Senior Cut Day the day after, so we all got lit during and after the game) only makes it better.
8.) Super Bowl XLVII - Ravens over 49ers
Lot of similarities to that last one - a great defense (two, in fact), and a team that beat my biggest enemy (with Baltimore's dominant 2nd half against New England) in a Super fun matchup. I ate up all teh Harbaugh v Harbaugh stuff. I ate up teh Kaepernick stuff, but more than that everything else about those 49ers, from their werid formations and use of Delanie Walkers. But hell, it was about Ed Reed and getting him his ring. I was definitely rooting for the Ravens, but would've been quite fun had the 49ers pulled it off.
7 & 6.) Super Bowl LVII / LVIII - Chiefs over Eagles & 49ers
Similar stories here, as while I do want the Bills or Ravens to win eventually, I was also perfectly fine at this time with Mahomes continuing to just be awesome. 2022 was the real pinnacle, where after taht stunning loss to the Bengals, and losing Tyreek Hill, he had just an amazing MVP season and then went against that super fun Eagles team. You know who else was super fun? The 2023 49ers and their CMC/Purdy/Kittle/Aiyuk/Deebo offense. These were just amazing matchups and nirvana for a fan still getting over the scars of Brady making a win/win Super Bowl seem like an unattainable goal. It also helps that both fo these two games were both wonderful in their own right - special contests won by the Chiefs because Mahomes decided to play flawlessly in each 2nd half (an OT). Wonderful times that I do worry I'll never get back.
5.) 2015 World Series - Royals over Mets
It is still funny to me that the Mets went to the World Series 10 years ago. It was more funny that when by 2019 or so the Mets went back to being a disaster, it was literally foru years earlier, but that Mets team with their young, dominant pitching staff (DeGrom, Syndergaard, Harvey, Matz) was so damn cool, especially them undressing the Cubs in the NLCS. I've never been against the Mets and seeing them in teh World Series was fun. Seeing the Royals was even better. It is still ahrd to believe teh Royals went to the World Series two straight years. It was a mistake, I'm sure, but they were also so damn likable a team that had a flamethrowing bullpen, played great defense, and never struck out. I can still remember those guys, still remember the inside the park home run on the first pitch when they were batting, the late comebacks, Hosmer's audacious gamble to run home on that groundout. This was a magical series.
4.) 2015 Stanley Cup Final - Blackhawks over Lightning
Years ago, I called the Blackhawks the dynasty that was the easiest to root for. Now, none of us at the time new about all the Kyle Beach stuff, but I am writing this about how i felt at the time, and seeing them back in the Final, after a thrilling 7-game series against teh Ducks, against an even more likeable Lightning team coming off their own thrilling 7-game series against the Rangers, and this was a special matchup. It was the dynasty of the moment vs. the dynasty to come. The Stanley Cup vets against the triplets line (Johnson-Kucherov-Palat). It was those striking blue uniforms against the best uniform in the sport. It was all so good, and resulted in some really great hockey. It was the last ride for that Chicago dynasty, adn the start of an amazing nine years for the Lightning (three more Cup Final trips, two Cups, two other ECF losses).
3.) 2022 Stanley Cup Final - Avalanche over Lightning
You can probably copy paste nearly everything from the one prior and apply it here. The dynasty of the moment v the dynasty to come (the "to come" part hasn't rung true yet, but the 2026 Avs certianly look awesome). Add to it a team going for a threepeat, a team that turned on the resiliency in 2022 - the Game 7 win in Toronto, sweeping the Panthers, beating the Rangers twice in MSG, against a dominant Avs team (12-2 in teh playoffs entering the final) and the storylines wrote themselves and nearly all proved true. The Avs dominated Game 1, but you could make a credible argument the Lightning were the better team in Games 2-6, but who cares, we got hockey Nirvana - two loaded teams, healthy, dominant fighting against each other. Hockey was so damn good.
2.) Super Bowl LIV - Chiefs over 49ers (the first one)
The 2019 season was one of my favorite personal seasons as a fan, and it ended with two damn likable taems - a dominant offense against a dominant defense, two great coaches, and more than anythign two new teams. The Patriots had made the four of the last five Super Bowls (we had no way of knowing the Chiefs were about to do the same thing...). The 49ers came out of five years in the wilderness with a crazy fun, old-school (traditional 4 man font) defense. It was such a great matchup, tunred into a super well played game. Looking back, we didn't know how good we had it - darkly even more true when you realize the world was about to shut down five weeks later. This was the gourmet dinner right before the Titanic hit the Iceberg, and damn that dinner was great.
1.) 2014 World Series - Giants over Royals
It will be hard to top this. The Giants were such a fun team, despite this being potentially a third ring in five years. Why? Because no one really considered them a dynasty - they were far from the best team any of those years (that said, I do think people understate how good the 2010 and 2012 teams were). They were fresh off boucning the Cardinals in five in the most awesome way ("Travis Ishakawa.... Hits one to RIGHT!"). They had MadBum and Hunter and Fat Panda and so many more just dudes. ANd then you had the Royals, even more fun the team I extolled earlier when they would play the Mets the next year. They were so beautiful a breath of fresh air, something everyone kept doubting through to their incredible comeback in the Wild Card game and then 7=0 run through the AL Playoffs. The real reason this is #1 - it was a win/win down to the very last half inning - when we were either going to get MadBum having the greatest save in MLB history, or the Royals winning. Hell, it was a win-win when Alex Gordom hit that triple that maybe could've been a game-tying inside the park home run. It was drama, it was brilliant, adn it was eminenty enjoyable as a neutral from inning one to inning nine in Game 7.
