Bonehead Plays: The Greatest Game of all Time and Why I Missed It

Let me preface this tale of woe with the following statement: I love football. But I REALLY love Pro-football. College pigskin can be exciting and exhilarating, but for me, the NFL is where it's at. (Incidentally, what is IT and why are we always looking for IT's location?)

Yesterday there was a football game. Truthfully there were a lot of football games, but two in particular were of interest to me, and the public at large. The first pitted two almost national championship teams against each other. The University of Southern California who after putting together one of the greatest multiple season runs in history stumbled towards the end of this season, was pitted against The University of Michigan, who many people felt deserved another shot at the #1 ranked team, Ohio State University. That was a good game, defensive in the first half with USC eventually pulling away for a big win.

The other game of interest featured The University of Oklahoma, a perennial powerhouse and challenger for the national championship, taking on an upstart that no one thought belonged there. The unwelcome team was Boise State University. The boys from the blue turf of Idaho had run roughshod over their (admittedly weak) Western Athletic Conference foes, as well as beating all their non-conference opponents. They were the only Division I team (other than the #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes) that remained undefeated. They were given absolutely no chance. The national media thought it was cute that such a small conference was represented in the BCS. I thought it was going to be a slaughter.

Oh, I was wrong. If not for a few lucky breaks falling Oklahoma's way, Boise might have slaughtered the Sooners. As it happened, Boise lead early, they lead late and they led large. Oklahoma fought their way back and it seemed that Cinderella's story had drawn to a close. But the slipper was still on her foot, and there weren't any pumpkins in sight. A total of 22 points were scored in the final minute and a half of regulation. Let's put that into context: Penn State and Tennessee played a Bowl game yesterday. They combined for 30 points in the ENTIRE game. Auburn and Nebraska only added up to 31, so did Arkansas and Wisconsin. Boise outscored all of those teams in the FIRST half.

Some rapid fire scoring to end the game does not (by itself) make a CLASSIC game. A thrilling end to overtime does though. Boise used about 100 different trick plays to pull off an amazing overtime touchdown drive and then made the guts and glory call to go for a two point conversion to win the game. What play did they use to score the two point conversion? A trick play called the "Statue of Liberty."

***QUICK SUMMATION FOR THOSE NOT EVEN MILDLY INTERESTED IN SPORTS*** The game was one of the most exciting and surprising sporting events in my (admittedly short) lifetime.

And I wasn't watching.

What was so important that I couldn't spare a few moments to watch sports history? Was a family member injured? Was I on a mission from God? (Nice Blues Brother reference, isn't it?) Was "Heroes" on NBC? NO! I was watching a movie, "World Trade Center" to be specific. It's a fine film, no doubts about it. I can easily and happily recommend it to others, but as a substitute for a spectacular sports moment, it fails miserably.

So, if somebody taped the damn thing send me a message. Because one way or another, I'm watching this game. Thank God for ESPN Classic.