I've watched a lot of football in my time.
Okay. Let me rephrase that.
Our Dads watched a lot of football when we were kids.
So, that meant that we watched a lot of football.
I say "we" 'cause I'm including Huzbend.
I either watched football at my house or at his house (starting in the teenage years).
Once we got out of college, got married and found that there were other things to do on Sundays besides sit in front of the television, our football watching became bare minimum.
Bare minimum meaning maybe a playoff game or two and the Super Bowl.
Kinda like C&E Catholics. You can look that one up.....
Anyways, my point is that out of all the football games that I have ever watched, the ONLY ones that I remember are ones that I watched with fans at a party.
And there are only three.
Super Bowl XXV - Giants vs. Bills - 1991
We watched this one in our friend Dave's basement.
We were in high school. Our friend Brian was a die-hard Giants fan.
I'm not quite sure how many of us were packed into that basement rec room. Maybe 7 or 8 of us.
We had pizza and chips (Doritos) and soda (Pepsi and Mtn. Dew) (Oh, we call it soda back east).
The game came down to the last seconds. The Giants were up 20-19.
Jim Kelly marched the Bills down the field and within range of a field goal.
The kick went up and the words, "WIDE RIGHT!" went into the history books.
They missed. Giants won.
Fantastic.
Super Bowl XXXVI - Pats vs. Rams - 2002
We watched this one at a friends house.
We were living in New Hampshire at the time and Patriots fever was on fire.
The house was packed. 30 + (mostly drunk) people crammed around an old-school rear-projected tv in an oddly sized tv room. They were sitting on the sofa, on the back of the sofa, on the end tables, on the coffee table, all over the floor....packed.
I'd say out of those 30 some-odd people, 28 of them were life-long Pats fans.
I have never experienced people screaming so loudly or so passionately at a game.
There was 1 minute and 30 seconds left.
Without any timeouts, Tom Brady threw the ball down the field completing 5 passes to reach the Rams' 30 and spiked the ball, stopping the clock, with seconds remaining.
It was a 48-yard field goal attempt.
Adam Vinatieri made it.
Patriots won.
I think I became partially deaf that day.
Crazy.
Although it was nice to watch the Seahawks trounce the Bronco's last year, it wasn't really memorable.
There were some moments of joyful celebration at the beginning of the game by the resident fans, but that quickly became a pity-party for the Broncos who got totally and completely steam-rolled.
I guess I remember it because, well, it was only last year and because the ubiquitous 12th Man won't let me forget. Super Bowl XLVIII Champs stuff is everywhere. Has been since last February.
But, one more game has officially made my list.
That was yesterdays Seahawks vs. Green Bay play-off game.
If I wasn't deaf before, I think I am now.
And it wasn't just adults screaming, it was the kids too. You know how high pitched they get......
The fourth quarter was coming to a close. It was 19-7, Packers leading. There was yet another Seahawks turn-over and then there were only 5 minutes left to play. Just about everyone in the room looked at each other and claimed, "Game Over".
One life-long fan was not willing to give up and suggested that we leave the room for an attitude adjustment. Seriously. She did offer a weak smile after she said it.
And then came a Seahawks touchdown, an on-side kick that actually WORKED, another Hawk touchdown and a 2 point conversion. WHAT?!?!?!
Packers tied it up with a field goal sending it into overtime.
All in FIVE MINUTES!!!!
Seahawks WON the coin toss for overtime and scored on the first drive, winning the game.
28-22.
UNBELIEVABLE!
Completely and utterly unbelievable.
What a great game.
Okay. Well, the last 5 minutes were great.
Before that, it was kinda depressing.
There was a lot of nervous eating.
And, now, I get to look forward to a Clash of the Coasts.
Our new home, the PNW, vs. our old home, the Northeast.
Will this one be added to my list? We'll have to wait two weeks......
