8. 2001 South Carolina Gamecocks

When it comes to college football there are very few teams that have an intro as intense as the fighting Gamecocks. Clemson, eat your heart out. While running down a hill is cool and all, it just isn’t on the same caliber as your instate rivals.

7. The 1996 Chicago Bulls

This team was a dynasty during the game as well as before. The intro for the 1996 Chicago Bulls (or any of their 90s team for that matter) is something that will never be forgotten.

6. Let’s Get Ready to Ruuuumbleeeeeeeeee

Probably the most iconic phrase in all of boxing . . . it even has its own video game on the Dreamcast.

5. Alaska Nanook’s 2010 Intro

Alaska is a weird place in itself. With the wilderness, darkness, and disconnection from the lower 48 states, there’s not a lot to get excited about in Alaska. However, the Nanook’s 2010 intro has taken hockey to a whole new level.

4. Boston Celtic’s Intro

The Boston Celtic’s intro is to the 2000’s as the Bulls was to the 90’s. Classy, ahead of its time, as well as memorable, it’s something that we will be talking about into the next decade.

3. The 2008 Bejing Opening Ceremonies

Since this is technically a sports intro, it had to be included. Some of the shit the Chinese pulled off in the 2008 Bejing opening ceremonies was absolutely, utterly, and insanely ridiculous.

2. Stone Cold Steve Austin Intro

If there were ever a master to any intro, it would be Stone Cold Steve Austin. If you’re a man and have never wanted to enter a room like a WWE professional wrestler, then you’re lying to yourself.

1. 2009 Alaska Nanooks Intro

No comment needed. The 2010 video couldn’t even compare to this one.

I point these facts out because today Tiger Woods personally sent a 32 page brochure to the International Olympics Committee in an effort to include golf in the 2016 summer games. Golf has only been held at the Olympics on 2 occasions, in 1900 and 1904 when it was dominated by the United States and a single Brits-man. The game has grown exponentially since the early 20th century, with an estimated 61.1 million players worldwide in 2003 . . . with over 50 million of them coming from the United States and Asia alone. Seven million are based in Europe, and the rest are in countries that can afford the development and upkeep of a golf course. In terms of viewership, CBS averages 12 million viewers that tune in to watch the final round of the Masters . . . which could possibly edge out a rain delayed Daytona 500 (16 million viewers) in several years. 

If it’s about fandom, I don’t know a group of supporters who believes their sport deserves a shot at the Olympics more than golf. If it’s about helping support the Olympic creed then you could possibly fit the sport into its contexts:

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

The “to take part in” part is sort of a stretch considering the financial restraints involved in the sport . . . 3 countries dominate 90% of its players . . . and its shining event is stomped by a rain soaked race in American ratings . . . but to golfer’s everywhere, there’s still hope! That is until they realize that baseball and softball was rejected from the 2016 games for carrying too much of an “American” influence . . . despite arguably being more economically feasible for every person regardless of race, wealth, or orientation, the sports are too dominated by the Eastern world to be considered for the games.

Tiger might be an important sports icon, but if the IOC accepts golf’s bid as an Olympic sport while accepting their ruling to dismantle baseball and softball, Jenny Finch herself should start cracking some skulls.