[stupac2]

While the Calfan obsession with The Play is bordering on (has exceeded?) pathetic, the truth is, it's not going away. In college football highlight shows, it's one, if not the, most recognizable shot. With 1/2 a second footage, 50% of fans know what it is. The rest have a vague familiarity of what it is even if they can't name who was playing. Five years from now, few people will recognize Saturday's play in a college football montage--visually it was as impressive as any 100 yard punt return with a straight shot down the sideline. But They Play will always be recognizable due to the chaos on the field. How many college plays include a trombonist getting crushed on the TD? It's as iconic as Laettner's shot against Kentucky (which wasn't even in the Final Four.)

Saturday's game brought me joy because it's always nice to see Goliath lose a game, though it would have been nice if it had been against a lower ranked, non-SEC team (or an SEC team that had lost to a Pac12 bottom feeder like WSU...) But it did nothing to lessen the pain of 1982, mainly because I feel no pain from that game. It was 30+ years ago for godssakes. I wasn't a fan of Stanford, I was barely paying attention to college sports. It's just another game from an age gone by. I feel just as much pain from The Play as most Calfans probably feel for Wrong Way Reiggels play.

Another reason the play isn't going away: on that Top 10 list I mentioned, the ESPN talking head knew the announcer's lines by heart. It's just too iconic at this point to ever die.

[stupac2]

While the Calfan obsession with The Play is bordering on (has exceeded?) pathetic, the truth is, it's not going away. In college football highlight shows, it's one, if not the, most recognizable shot. With 1/2 a second footage, 50% of fans know what it is. The rest have a vague familiarity of what it is even if they can't name who was playing. Five years from now, few people will recognize Saturday's play in a college football montage--visually it was as impressive as any 100 yard punt return with a straight shot down the sideline. But They Play will always be recognizable due to the chaos on the field. How many college plays include a trombonist getting crushed on the TD? It's as iconic as Laettner's shot against Kentucky (which wasn't even in the Final Four.)

Saturday's game brought me joy because it's always nice to see Goliath lose a game, though it would have been nice if it had been against a lower ranked, non-SEC team (or an SEC team that had lost to a Pac12 bottom feeder like WSU...) But it did nothing to lessen the pain of 1982, mainly because I feel no pain from that game. It was 30+ years ago for godssakes. I wasn't a fan of Stanford, I was barely paying attention to college sports. It's just another game from an age gone by. I feel just as much pain from The Play as most Calfans probably feel for Wrong Way Reiggels play.

Another reason the play isn't going away: on that Top 10 list I mentioned, the ESPN talking head knew the announcer's lines by heart. It's just too iconic at this point to ever die.