RALEIGH, N.C. -- After the Champagne had all been finished in Paris, and the cleats had all been hung up in Korea, and the bats had all been racked in Boston, and the ponies had all returned to their stables in New York, and all the money had changed hands in Memphis, they played on in Raleigh.

The perfect day in sports had the perfect ending: a nerve-tingling triple-overtime game between the perfect underdog and the perfect favorite.

Here was Carolina, formerly the woeful Hartford Whalers, drawing on the endless energy of towel-waving college basketball and NASCAR fans to bully its way into its ninth overtime game in one playoffs. Here was Detroit, a team bursting with Hall-of-Fame talent yet somehow egoless as a unit. And here was a venerable Motown team built on history and coaching, trying desperately to fend off a Tobacco Road bunch of what's-his-names with cartons of speed and heart. Back and forth they went, clutching and grabbing and above all skating until well after fans had screamed themselves hoarse.

Venus did not make it to three sets. Italy did not make it to 90 minutes. War Emblem did not make it to a mile-and-a-half. Iron Mike did not make it to the 10th round. But 37-year-old Detroit captain Steve Yzerman and 39-year-old Carolina captain Ron Francis made it into the wee hours. And then their teams delivered the day's truest heavyweight bout: the third-longest game in Stanley Cup finals history. And at 114:47, your final, Red Wings 3, Carolina 2.

No offense to the delightful Williamses, or the upstart Croats, or the unapproachable Barry Bonds, or the undaunted Lennox Lewis, or the 70-1 Sarava. They all delivered, too. But Hockey Night in Raleigh gave us the most excitement. Nowhere in the world was there a louder home crowd than that found in the Entertainment and Sports Arena (a.k.a. the Wind Tunnel). Nowhere was there a better individual performance than that of 'Canes goalie Arturs Irbe -- 117 total shots faced! Nowhere were there as many close calls -- five hit posts for one team!

Of course a day of global sports excellence culminates with an historic game featuring Swedes, Americans, Czechs, Russians, Canadians and a Latvian goalie -- all in the hills of North Carolina. Of course the day's last salvo came from 41-year-old Igor Larionov, who was playing when Affirmed won the Triple Crown and was living when the Giants last visited Yankee Stadium. And of course the game had to end before 1:30 a.m. Eastern time -- just minutes before footy started again in the Far East.

"I was actually enjoying myself," said 'Canes defenseman Glen Wesley. "I wanted it to go to another overtime."

Didn't we all?

Eric Adelson is a staff writer for ESPN Magazine. E-mail him at eric.adelson@espn.com.