Wizards of Oz

"Life is fraughtless ... when you're thoughtless."

19.11.07

"The Play" + 25

One of the greatest comebacks in the history of college football took place 25 years ago, on November 20th 1982, at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. While Trinity's recent 15-lateral, 62-second play in the final seconds to defeat Millsaps was impressive, as was Boise State's improbable comeback against powerhouse Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, neither can compare with the magnitude of The Play.

Rivalries like the one between the Golden Bears of the University of California and the "cardinal" (like the, uh, color) of leland stanfurd junior university are rare. Add in the irony of a future NFL Hall of Famer (John Elway) being denied his last shot at a college bowl game (and perhaps the Heisman Trophy), the always-entertaining antics of the stanfurd band, and the drama of stanfurd's "devastated program", and you have a recipe for a legend.

For an in-depth review of The Play -- as well as John Elway's impressive drive in the final minute to temporarily take the lead, and Joe Starkey's emotional play-calling from KGO 810AM's live broadcast, check out this seven-minute clip at YouTube:





Labels: , , , ,

2 Comments:

At 20/11/07 15:17 , Blogger Jay@Soob said...

Damn but that John Elway had a GUN, didn't he?

This is still (and likely will forever be) my favorite sports highlight with the Music City Miracle following a close second.

 
At 21/11/07 08:09 , Blogger deichmans said...

Soob,

As a resident of Tennessee, I certainly agree with your "close second"! And what a way to set the Titans on a path to the franchise's first AFC Championship!

Bills fans can whine about "No Forward Laterals" all they want, the play stood the "instant replay" test.

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home