Corsicana — We all have those sports moments where we can remember exactly where we were when...

It happened.

Two of them remarkably have been in the last month, and lifetime memories for most of us in Corsicana. The Navarro Bulldogs winning the JUCO World Series. The Mavericks winning the NBA Championship.

Two more come to mind because of what has transpired in the last 24 hours — the tragic death Monday of North Carolina State hero Lorenzo Charles, whose dunk heard round the world beat Phi Slama Jamma in 1983, and two players vital to the Dallas Stars winning their first and only Stanley Cup in 1999, Joe Nieuwendyk and Eddie Belfour, being elected Tuesday to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

A decade or two or three from now, you’ll have vivid memories of where you were and who you were with when J.T. Files’ home run cleared the fence, or when the final seconds ticked off the clock in Miami.

Just like I know exactly where I was when Brett Hull won the Cup for the Stars, and when Charles set off that mad celebration in The Pit in Albuquerque that had his coach, Jim Valvano, running all over the court looking for someone to hug after the Wolfpack’s massive upset of Houston.

Sports memories.

Mine are easy. I was in the press box all alone in Grand Junction while Navarro’s jubilant players and coaches celebrated at home plate as Files rounded the bases — my broadcast partner Randy Dill had left me in the ninth inning to be with his family, and rightfully so (if the game had gone 18 innings I’d be singing a different tune right now).

I was inside American Airlines Center with Raymond Linex II and his sons Taylor and Collin and our good friend and former Daily Sun sports writer Rick “Dirty Bird” Kretzschmar when Shawn Marion dribbled out the clock for the Mavericks’ first NBA title.

The highlight of the night wasn’t the raucous atmosphere in the AAC, but Collin, a sophomore-to-be in high school who is as quiet as a paper weight, giving me a big sports hug on the concourse after the game.

Sports memories.

I was at home in Dallas with my family and a few friends when Charles grabbed a 30-foot shot heaved up by teammate Dereck Whittenburg and slammed it home at the buzzer to give the Wolfpack a 54-52 win over a U of H team led by NBA greats Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. One of the all-time incredible sports moments.

Then there’s the Stars’ Stanley Cup run, still my personal favorite sports memory for a variety of reasons. I’m a native Texan whose father brainwashed me at a young age to be a huge hockey fan, which makes zero sense seeing that he’s a surfer boy from Los Angeles. (Me riding the waves? Yeah, right).

But the ‘99 Stars’ team was my team. My parents had season tickets right on the glass so I went to a ton of games. As you might have learned from listening to the Navarro home run call, I’m a rather intense fan. So it won’t surprise you that I almost got tossed out of a game at Reunion Arena that season for throwing three programs on the ice after Derian Hatcher got called for a hideous five-minute major for elbowing, something he never would have done.

Thankfully my Dad knew the usher.

I went to seven playoff games that year. I paid the most I’ve ever spent on a ticket for Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Colorado Avalanche. A 3-0 Stars win.

And yes I know exactly where I was when Hull scored — at the biggest dive bar in North Texas called the Sip N Nip (don’t ask) — and who leapt into my arms.

Nieuwendyk was my favorite player — I wore his jersey for every game. And Eddie the Eagle is the single reason why the Stars became champions. Their Hall of Fame inductions are well deserved.

There are other sports memories. The Cowboys beating the 49ers in the 1992 NFC Championship Game (Aikman-to-Harper). I was in Austin for Dallas 30, San Francisco 20.

The Rangers beating the Yankees to go to their first World Series. I was in the Tiger Stadium press box with Rusty Hitt. We watched the replay at Rusty’s after the Corsicana game.

Vince Young’s mad dash for the end zone to give Texas an upset over No. 1 Southern Cal on Jan. 4, 2006 for the national championship. At a friend’s house pacing for four hours.

And Ben Crenshaw, my all-time sports hero, winning the 1984 Masters. I was at the wheel of a driving range tractor in Austin for that one. I wept.

Sports memories. What are your’s, and where were you?

 As we found out with the Mavs, the investment you make in the 16 wins it takes to win the NBA Finals, or with the Stars to win the Stanley Cup, is almost more than the heart can take.

Same with the 6-game run with Navarro. We’ll commemorate that in the Daily Sun on Thursday with an unforgettable magazine.

These sports moments build up like a locomotive, go on for what seems like forever, and then when it’s over, you’re drained physically and emotionally.

But one thing’s for sure — you have enough mental capacity to know exactly where you were when it all happened. And that’s what makes sports so great.