Gavin Floyd a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox came within 2 outs of pitching a no-hitter last night. For the hometown fans it must have been quite a thrill to almost witness such an event. Last Labor Day my wife, her parents and I went to Boston and of course we went to Fenway to catch a game. The Red Sox lost but almost rallied from a large deficit to win the game against Baltimore. The very next night rookie pitcher Clay Buchholz pitched a no-hitter. I got calls from friends and family who thought I was at the game, I wish I had been but I was only able to catch the last couple of innings on TV. If I had been at the game it would have ranked as the best game I have seen in person. It also got me thinking what was the best game I saw in person?
I was originally going to say the first game I saw at Nebraska, they played Arizona St and were up 63-14 at halftime and ended up winning 77-28. Yes it was fun to watch Nebraska score like they were playing XBox but the game was never in question. I tried to think of a game that when people talked about it I could say, “I was at that game.” Then I remembered a Titans game I went to with my wife and a couple of friends. It was 2006 and the Titans were playing the Indianapolis Colts. It was a chance to see Peyton Manning and Titans rookie Vince Young play. Manning was good but Young made some incredible plays and like his Rose Bowl performance he refused to let his team lose and got the Titans in position to win the game. Rob Bironas came out to kick a 60 yard field goal that would win it for the Titans. The longest field goal in NFL history is 63 yards and there had only been 5 field goals of 60 yards or more in the history of the NFL. Once the ball was kicked it was on line but was it long enough? As the ball got closer the noise started to build and once it made it over the cross bar LP Field exploded.
It was a remarkable game to be at and when that game is talked about I get to say, “I was at that game.”
Do you have a favorite game you saw in person?
not the greatest game Duke ever played but it was Duke VS. Notre Dame at Duke,: Notre Dame had just ended UCLA’s consecutive win steak, and came into Durham with smerks on their faces…Melicionni, Hodges, maybe Armstrong, but it was Meicionni, who sent them out with a “L”..Digger was the coact of the team, a young Kelly Tripuka, (I think), two NBAers but I can’t recall their names as I write..Had tickets then, being a grad student, and Ginger and I went to all the home football games and basketball games….with no money, it was a cheap date we could afford, and a pretty good initiation into ACC b-ball if you were a Yankeey (Last of the Mohicans style)
I know Mom’s would be the “Amen” game against Maryland. It is always enjoyable when Digger gets beat, he was never as great as he thought he was.
Well done, very well written. I would agree the Titans game was fantastic and I was lucky enough to have been at the game, and Dawson was there with me. However, I had the great fortune of being at the Super Bowl when the Titans played the Rams in I believe 2000. I am not as good at remembering dates as you. WOW!!! what a game that was. I will never forget the 4th quarter of that game and me and my brother were sitting in the end zone where Kevin Dyson was a yard short of potentially tying the game. What an experience. The Titans played a great game and they were almost world champs. And “I was at that Game….”
My is without a doubt, Braves vs Astros in Houston 1995. Greg Maddux has a no-hitter going into the seventh or eighth inning. Jeff Bagwell hit a bomb. As soon as the ball hit the bat, you can hear Maddux SCREAM F*#@. And I was sitting in the outfield. He knew it was gone. I was also in Atlanta in 1993 when the Braves won their division.
I’ll get on the cake for Brian..should I make if look like the technarti screen?