FEB 29

GREAT MOMENTS IN SPORTS

 While watching late-night TV recently—victim of a little geriatric insomnia—I caught the last period of the U.S. Hockey Team’s “miracle on ice” win over the USSR. I well remember watching the game live from Lake Placid in 1980. There is no moment that I ever felt prouder to be an American, and this is still true today. The replay started me to think about other great moments in sports that I had witnessed in person, on television, or radio. The 1980 Olympic win is still my number one, but each week I’ll be sharing the rest of my top ten.

No. 9  “The Immaculate Reception,” Dec 23, 1972

The AFC playoff game between the Oakland Raiders and the Pittsburg Steelers was two days before Christmas. In my youth, I enjoyed betting on sporting events, and I had the Steelers even. After a scoreless first half, the Steelers kicked a field goal in the third quarter, to lead 3–0. They added another field goal, making it 6–0.

The 6–0 score stood, until Oakland quarterback, Kenny Stabler was chased out of the pocket, scoring on a thirty yard scramble, with 1:17 left. Oakland 7 and Pittsburg 3. On the final possession of the game, Steeler quarterback, Terry Bradshaw had to unload a “Hail Mary” pass that Raider safety, Jack Tatum deflected into the hands of Steeler fullback, Franco Harris. As time ran out, Harris took it in for a touchdown. Pittsburg 13-Oakland 7. I won the final game of a three team parlay, which paid 6–1.

A friend sent me a little squib describing a funeral procession she witnessed recently. She was amazed to see the entire funeral motorcade made up of heavy truck tractors. The Kenworth’s, Mack’s, Peterbilts and Freightliners followed the hearse in a regal procession, reminding her of a Viking chief’s send off. This trucker was laid to rest by his tribe, with a great display of respect. I hope none of the driver’s picked up a back haul.

On the political front, the Presidential race seems to be shaking out. Hilary waxed Bernie in South Carolina by regaining the black vote she lost to Obama eight years ago. Unless Bernie can pull off a massive upset on Super Tuesday, Hilary is going to be hard to stop. On the Republican side, The Donald continues to dominate the scene, and none of the other candidates can gain any traction. A general election pitting Trump against Hilary should produce a massive voter turnout, and the late night show hosts will have more material than they can ever hope to use.

Clista and I eat dinner at home most nights. She likes to cook, and I enjoy cleaning up the kitchen. But at least once on the weekend, we enjoy a meal out. Just over the last year, we’ve noticed a marked increase in the mob scene at many of our favorite eateries. Like most people our age, we tend to eat early, and until just recently, you had any place pretty much to yourself, if you showed up before 5:30. Not so this past Saturday night.

Rather than cook a steak on my grill at home, we decided go to our favorite steak spot, Long Horn Steak House. We pulled into the parking lot, and found it packed at 5:10. When we finally found a parking place, I went in to discover the waiting area full, with a standing room only crowd. The wait for a table was estimated to be 45 minutes to an hour. No way could we wait that long to be seated. We’d miss Grantchester on PBS.

There’s a Logan’s Roadhouse across the mall parking lot, and even though we can’t abide the loud country music, we decided to check it out. Again, no parking places, and an hour’s wait. We moved on to our last hope, Outback, where there were people crowding the front porch, and even spilling out into the parking lot. It became evident that I’d miss my steak, so we settled for a pizza from Johnny Bruscos, making it home in time for Masterpiece Mystery.

The pizza image is licensed under CC By 4.0 — linked to en.wikipedia.org