January 6th 2006
football ruminations
So, the Rose Bowl.
Imagine, if you will, a crowd of 94,000, half in orange and white, half in red and yellow. Two bands, horns and drums shining; two teams, dressed out and keyed up. Competing fight songs mix in your ear, underlaid by the rumble of those 94,000 people.
And then, imagine the game is everything you hoped it would be. The teams are well-matched, the play is fast and sophisticated, and, despite some bad officiating and some sloppiness on the part of the players, it’s the best football you’ve seen in a while.
The environment on the orange side was subdued by the middle of the fourth quarter, though. Things had gone back and forth, the score varying by only one touchdown or field goal at any given time, until, suddenly, the score wasn’t so bright. But more than 6 minutes were left. The cheerleaders started up a rousing chant, the players raised and lowered their arms, telling the crowd, “Make some noise!” And I felt a whisper of hope.
From that point on, play after play went . . . right. First a field goal, and then, amazingly, a touchdown. The crowd exploded and we were completely enveloped by a bubble of euphoria. People leapt up–not from their seats, because no one had been sitting, not for the entire length of the game–and pumped their fists in the air, screaming and crying, laughing. My whole body shook. And for the next 19 seconds, I bounced, compulsively. If I’d been at home, watching on TV, I’d have been pacing.
When the clock ran down on that final, unsuccessful play by the other team, the stands erupted. I didn’t think the noise and jubilation could get bigger, but it did. Confetti burst out, players and coaches swarmed onto the field, and the other side of the stadium began to empty. I was still shaking. I shook for the next several minutes, laughing. People hugged and danced and screamed and I heard more than one person exclaim that they couldn’t believe it, and had it actually happened? Did we actually win?
I’ve been to a lot of football games in my time, many of them big games with big teams and big crowds, But nothing, NOTHING, will ever equal Wednesday night. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced.
