In a nod to the recently deceased hip-hop artist, Coolio (whose biggest hit was Gangsta’s Paradise) this past Saturday, in retrospect, seems to have been a sports fan’s paradise – at least this sports fan’s.
We entered the day knowing about the much-ballyhooed University of Tennessee at University of Georgia matchup in Athens. A meeting between a pair of Top 5 teams (heck, UT was No. 1 in the first playoff rankings and UGa was No. 1 in last week’s Associated Press rankings!), but it’s what else unfolded during the day that made it a rather remarkable day to be a sports fan.
What follows is how this sports fan experienced the day’s events. (It should be noted that my wife was out of town enjoying a girls weekend.)
Just as most Saturdays do in our household, this one began similarly: Laundry (Bonus: It was also bedding week!) and housecleaning took center stage in Chateau de Hill. Similarly, for background noise – and the occasional distraction – ESPN’s College GameDay airs on the family room television. This week the crew was in Athens for the lead up to the biggest regular-season game of the season.
As GameDay is want to do, this edition included a touching feature about a player/coach/fan. This week it was about University of Minnesota’s sixth-year senior quarterback Tanner Morgan. These pieces are always so well done, I’m often left searching for a tissue once they’re complete. The Morgan piece was no exception.
If I’m around and available, I do love checking out the picks near the end of each GameDay, especially Lee Corso donning the headgear. Corso was still recovering from some medical issues this week, so I was comfortable flipping over to check out some English Premier League soccer, er, futbol action on USA Network as the morning wore on.
The featured match in the mid-morning window was Fulham at Manchester City. By the time I tuned in, the match was already in the 80th minute, deadlocked at a goal apiece. Close to the end of regular time, City’s all-everything forward, Erling Haaland, appeared to score on a header to break the tie. The Video Assistant Refereee (VAR), however, wiped it away noting Haaland was offside by a fraction.
Though only engaged with the match for a few moments, I was now an eager viewer to see if Fulham could get out of Manchester with a draw and the single point that comes with it. Adding to the intrigue, City was playing a man down the majority of the match following a red card in the game’s opening half.
Then, in the fifth minute of injury time, I noticed a player flailing on the pitch. It was City’s Kevin De Bruyne who was fouled in the penalty box (though there wasn’t much of a foul near as I could see).
The result was a penalty shot in the game’s waning moments. Unsurprisingly, Haaland took it and made it. City wins, 2-1, and for Haaland it was his 18th goal in 12 matches this season. He’s scored more goals than Nottingham Forest’s (currently in last place) entire time.
Once City’s victory was in the books, I flipped back over to GameDay in time to see country music superstar (and Georgia native), Luke Bryan, kissing the Bulldogs’ mascot, UGA.
While I managed to keep the laundry cycling through, the housework was a slog this week. Way too much good stuff on the television. What’s this? Army vs. Air Force in the Commander’s Classic. What!?! It started at 10:30 a.m. local time in Arlington, TX. That’s preposterous! Sometime this year I’ll share how I feel about pre-noon and post-8 p.m. local time starts for college athletics (Hint: Not positively.)
As my son was due home anytime and we were going on a gastronomical expedition to someplace neither of us had tried, the Balkan House (full report coming Thursday here), I flipped on the Ohio State at Northwestern game and buckled down to get my work done.
Upon returning home, I flipped on the UT-UGa game and was unsurprised to see Georgia was in control early. How often do the game’s of the year fall flat? Regardless, I kept it on for background noise as I mopped and remade the bed.
Feeling the Vols were not going to rally, I went searching for an alternative. The Breeders’ Cup!?! How did I forget about this? With the hour nearing half-past 5, the horses were making their way to the post. The brunt of the horse racing season for the casual fan seems so long ago, I’d forgotten about Rich Strike‘s improbable win this year or the crazy story Hot Rod Charlie‘s runner-up finish a year ago.
Both were entered into the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but it was a horse named Flightline that was the overwhelming favorite. He did not disappoint! Winning in a literal runaway and retire to stud the following day. Six entries during his career, six victories.
No sooner had the horse begun a cool down, I found my way to the MLS Cup where the score was tied at 2-2 closing in on 110 minutes into the match. Full disclosure, I’d not watched a moment of MLS action this season prior to turning on the Philadelphia Union-Los Angeles FC title tilt.
Yet there I was, watching as a Union player got behind the LAFC defenders and beat the keeper to the ball for a sure goal had it not been for the keeper’s sliding tackle/penalty that apparently caused such a grusome injury to the keeper FOX did not share the replay. A red card ensued, the backup keeper entered (a Philadelphia native and former Union player), and LAFC played with only 10 players for the duration.
Union scored to take a 3-2 lead during stoppage time of the extratime period and, surely it was enough to seal the deal. Except a header by a LAFC player re-tied it before time officially expired.
LAFC wound up winning on penalty kicks, 3-0. The backup keeper, John McCarthy, wound up winning the MVP despite playing fewer than 15 minutes of actual game action.
A quick flip back to CBS found Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett being interviewed following the Bulldogs’ 27-13 victory. The Breeders’ Cup Classic/MLS Cup Combo was infinitely more exciting than whatever occurred the latter part of the UT-UGa game, I’d wager.
Phew, good thing I was still full from lunch. Now came the real work, juggling five events at once with one TV and one remote.
I had varying levels of interest in viewing each of the following: Alabama at LSU, Clemson at Notre Dame, Michigan at Rutgers, Miami and Florida State, and World Series Game 6. All began within an hour of each other.
The early start was the SEC game in Baton Rouge so that’s where I began. It was entertaining from the outset and, unlike the main event from earlier, it seemed destined to be competitive throughout.
Shortly after the other games started, I began cycling through the channels and, if a commercial aired, just kept cycling (I got no tie for commercials on this night!). If there was action, I’d linger and see what was transpiring. Before long, my son returned home with a buddy and I’m not sure either of them favored the way I was trying to keep abreast of the action but … my house … my TV … my remote … my rules.
The surprises of the night, at least early on, were the fact that Rutgers was hanging with Michigan and that Notre Dame had jumped out on Clemson (a blocked punt for a touchdown certainly helped).
Admittedly, I didn’t linger for too long at the FSU game. I was mainly looking for player Keyshawn Helton whose mother I chatted up at a Waffle House in Lousville, KY, a month ago (read about that, here).
I just missed seeing Kyle Schwarber give the Phillies a 1-0 lead over the Astros, but caught the replay.
Cycling back through the channels after that half of the inning, I saw that Rutgers saw its reflection in the mirror at halftime and realized it was Rutgers and Michigan turned the 17-14 halftime deficit into a 35-17 lead inside of 10 minutes of third quarter game action.
Back to the World Series where I saw Jose Altuve go from first to third on Alex Bregman‘s single and a pitching change, which meant commercial, which meant it was time to check in on ‘Bama-LSU. Back to the Series and it’s now 3-1? Say what!?! Yep, Yordan Alvarez greeted the relief pitcher with a B-O-M-B and the replays continued for quite a while.
Notre Dame continued to hold Clemson at bay so it was now down to ‘Bama-LSU.
I adjourned to the other TV and settled in for the overtime session, leaving my son and his friends to their own devices.
I’ve stated in this space before how I often find myself rooting against rather than for. I’m not particularly a fan of either Nick Saban or Brian Kelly, but new blood is always preferred to me so I was pleased to see Kelly decide to go for the 2-point conversion when given the opportunity following the first overtime session.
As though that wasn’t enough, I drifted off to sleep listening to the UCLA at Arizona State game from Tempe, thankful for the fact clocks fell back one hour before it was time to start my Sunday.