What's the most exciting, craziest, wierdest, etc. football game you've ever seen in person? It can be pro or college, as far as I'm concerned, but since mine is college, I'll go with that...

Mine would be the Egg Bowl (Mississippi State v. Ole Miss) in Starkville way back in probably the early 80s. I was but a wee lad, there with my mom, dad and grandparents. I don't remember all the details (being but a wee lad at the time), but I know it was a really close game, closing seconds, Mississippi State had staged a long drive and was within easy, can't miss field goal range with just seconds left. I could have kicked this field goal. The kick is up, it's goo...NO, it's not. I swear, the ball went straight up, towards the goalpost, right on target, can't miss...then, as I recall, it just fell. Just sort of dropped, out of nowhere, short of the goalpost. Kick's no good, Ole Miss wins. It was pretty amazing. After that I always heard that this game is proof that God is an Ole Miss fan.

1989 WVU/Pitt game--the Backyard Brawl!

the final score was 9-3 with Pitt winning. It is the best game that I've ever seen. I've never seen a harder fought game in my life and have yet to see anything that compares to it.

It's a shame that anyone had to lose.

Texas/OU 1989

OU had won four years in a row. Texas led most of the game, but Oklahoma came back late in the fourth quarter to take the lead with a couple of minutes to go. Peter Gardere then engineered a now historic drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Johnnie Walker practically in my lap as I sat on the first row of the endzone! Still gives me chills.

West Virginia/Syracuse 1987 at the Carrier Dome - Syracuse was undefeated. My Mountaineers, with freshman QB Major Harris, were 6-4 heading into the final game of the year. WVU scored with a minute left to take a 31-24. SU drove down the field, scored a TD, then made the 2-point conversion on the last play of the game to win 32-31. My seats were in the corner of the end zone and sadly, the final SU TD and conversion played out right in front of me. I still get sick when I think about it. 'Eers got their revenge the next season, beating SU 31-9 to complete an undefeated season.

The most exciting game I saw in person was Maryland's 37-10 victory over Clemson in 2001, which clinched a share of the ACC crown and gave the program a chance at a rare 10-win season. It was the last home game of the regular season.

After the game, we rushed the field, ran around, tore the goalposts down. What fun.

I remember seeing people complain that people would regret doing that later in life. I thought "I'd regret NOT doing this."

The easy response would be the 1997 Sugar Bowl, in which my beloved GAYtors thrashed f$u, 52-20 for the National Championship. I mean, yeah, yeahh, yeah, they may have more than 1, but they've never gone past US to get it!

There's also last year, when nobody gave us a chance to beat (To Hell, To Hell, With) Georgia, but there we were, preventing their perfect season. I guess the fact that they always choke when they play us helped.

But the VERYVERYVERY BESTEST was 1997, when the Semi's swaggered into The Swamp ranked #1, but we ate their lunch, coming from behind in a thriller to hand them their scalp, 32-29. I watched the game with the San Francisco Gator Club at a rugby bar out by Golden Gate Park, but I swear, it was as good as being at The Swamp.

Can't wait till Aug. 30! Only one more football-free calendar month!

Putting the GAY in GATORJamie

The most exciting game I attended was the 1998 Texas - Texas A&M game in Austin. Ricky Williams broke the NCAA rushing record, and cemented his eventual winning of the Heisman Trophy. It was special not only seeing this piece of history, but being there with 84,000 other crazy, loud, excited Longhorn fans to share the moment. You just can't replicate the energy in Royal Memorial Stadium on a Saturday.

And then the Aggies started to come back, and we had to really push to win that game. The breaking of the record distracted from the focus of the team, I think, and it led to the Aggies threatening at the end. The momentum shifts back and forth and the cheering for our team and all the energy expounded to rally the Horns to victory, only to be totally spent and rewarded at the end. Totally orgasmic! Fortunately, we held them back and won that game. Ya, standing on the necks of the defeated...that never feels old.

Only 68 more days until the season opener... Texas - New Mexico State (which was oddly changed to Sunday night...tv scheduling I guess).

--HOOK EM--

[ June 23, 2003, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: Palladio ]