Doug Collins

As I'm watching :03 From Gold for the 196th time, I wonder what I've always wondered - how are Doug Collin's 2 free throws never mentioned as the biggest shots in the world? Yeah, I know we "lost," but still. Finally the other day The Sports Guy put it in the top spot on his short list of the most pressure-filled free throws ever made.

1. 1972 Olympics, gold-medal game. Poor Doug Collins gets absolutely murdered on a fast-break layup -- seriously, it's like a flagrant 9 -- needs two minutes to untangle his body, then unfathomably drains the (apparent) game-tying and game-winning free throws with two seconds remaining against the Russians during the height of the Cold War. Only one way to top that one: a must-win Finals game in which a star drains the winning free throws with a broken leg or a broken arm or something. That's it.

And Simmons doesn't even mention that Collins had the pressure of the USA's unbeaten streak on the line. And oh yeah...a few days later a bunch of Israelis had been slaughtered in the Olympic Village. And a huge air horn went off as he was shooting his second. And the USA/USSR angle cannot be overplayed. And he fucking nailed both of them.

As I said, I've watched the doc about a million times and, just like no matter how many times I look at diagram's of a girl's pee-pee parts, I still have no idea what the fuck was going on there. Unreal.