Syracuse, N.Y. --Game 7.

Ok, quick. What does your stomach feel like after reading those words?

Most everyone reading this has had a front-row seat on the harrowing roller coaster ride a Game 7 can take you on.

Roller coaster rides are voluntary. The decision to climb on that towering, twisting contraption for a two-minute thrill ride is 100 percent your choice.

When your favorite team is playing in a Game 7, it's the equivalent of getting dragged on one.

Once that safety bar goes down and locks you in, there is no turning back.

Game 7's have delivered some of the most thrilling moments in sports history.

LeBron James brought us "The Block."

Aaron Boone extended "The Curse of the Bambino" for one more year.

Don't get cocky there, Yankees fans. Do the names Luis Gonzalez and Bill Mazeroski ring a bell? Both Game 7 moments.

Say "Game 7" to a New York Rangers fan and be prepared for a chant of "Matteau Matteau Matteau!" in return.

That's what makes Wednesday night's North Division Final series between the Syracuse Crunch and Toronto Marlies so intriguing.

While every sports fan has a Game 7 moment, they are exceedingly rare to experience in Syracuse, N.Y.

The Syracuse Chiefs Triple-A baseball team played in a seven-game series in 1935, 1947, 1948, 1954, 1964, 1974, and 1979 and won't play in any more since the International League switched to a five-game series for both rounds of the Governor's Cup playoffs.

Wednesday's game with the Marlies will be just the fifth Game 7 in the 23-year history of the Crunch.

"I think it's great. It's great for the fans," Crunch head coach Benoit Groulx said Tuesday. "It's great for the organization. As a player, when you go into game seven, it's big in your tool box, for your career. It's a lot of experience."

"It's just something special where you grow up and you watch playoffs and you watch guys fighting for the Stanley Cup," Crunch captain Erik Condra said. "There's nothing better than a Game 7 in playoffs. All the marbles are on the line. Both teams are backs against the wall. Any little mistake can cost you. But you don't want to think about that kind of stuff."

The Crunch are 1-3 all-time in Game 7's.

Two of those three losses came at the Onondaga County War Memorial.

The first came on May 7, 2002 when Crunch goalie legend J.F. Labbe had a rare off night and Syracuse lost to Chicago.

The second came on May 1, 2004 when Kent McDonnell missed a wide-open net and the Rochester Americans cashed in victory a short time later to win 4-3 in overtime.

Crunch assistant coach Trent Cull played for Syracuse that day and remembers it as if McDonnell skated by him yesterday.

"Me and Derek Walser were getting ready to head out on the ice, we were the defensive partners," Cull said Tuesday on ESPN Radio Syracuse. "McDonnell took a pass from (Brad) Moran and misses that shot. One of the D's change. Wally (Walser) was going to go out first and he is the one stuck on the 2-on-1 going the other way. I was the one stuck with one leg stuck on the boards waiting and waiting ...and it goes down and goes in the net. It was a heart sinking feeling at that point."

That was the excruciating side of Cull's Game 7 resume. He also experienced the euphoria they can deliver.

While playing with the Houston Aeros of the IHL in 1999, Cull won the Turner Cup with every series clinched in the final game.

The best Game 7 moment in Syracuse history? That's an easy choice and it will never be topped.

April 10, 1955. George King sinks a free throw to give the Syracuse Nationals a 92-91 lead in the final seconds of Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

NBA President Maurice Podoloff (left) presents the NBA championship trophy to the Syracuse Nationals at the Onondaga County War Memorial on April 10, 1955.

King then stole the inbounds pass to clinch the NBA Championship for the Nationals at the War Memorial.

In that same building Wednesday night, the Crunch will try to write a little Game 7 history of their own and claim just the third Calder Cup final four appearance in franchise history.

"Your season's on the line," Crunch Adam Erne said Tuesday. "We haven't really been a part of a game yet, as a team, that our season's been on the line. I guess we'll find out what we're made of tomorrow."

The home team has won every game of this series, a trend Syracuse hopes to continue one more time.

"We worked all year for that home ice advantage,'' Grolux said. "Let's make it worth something.''

Puck drops at 7:00 p.m. tonight at the old barn.

Please keep your hands, arms, feet and legs in the vehicle at all times and try to enjoy the ride.

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