Music City Madness
Dateline: 1/09/00Picture this! It's the first round of the NFL playoffs. There you are, a dejected Tennessee Titan fan, sitting back in your favorite easy chair, completely spent from three hours of sitting on the edge of your chair trying to give your team every ounce of energy you can will to them. You are sitting there in disbelief as your team has just fallen behind and virtually all hope is gone as there is only time for the ensuing kickoff. Right now you feel closer to crying than you did at Aunt Mildred's funeral last summer.
Slowly the commercials go by as you begin calculating the weeks until the first preseason. Then as the announcers welcome you back from the break you get a sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach. The kind you get when you know your football team's season is coming to a close.
So you sit there with your head resting in your hand and you seem to want to almost block your vision with your hand as you see the ball explode off the kickers foot. It is kind of a short kickoff that is taken by Lorenzo Neal who quickly turns and hands it off to tight end Frank Wycheck. You look up at the television screen with raised eyebrows. Wycheck runs a few steps toward the near sideline, then suddenly stops and looks in the other direction. You suddenly sit up straight in your easy chair in anticipation of what is coming next.
Wycheck then strides toward the opposite sideline and fires a strike toward Kevin Dyson. You lean forward in your chair and clench your fists as you realize your team has pulled out the old bag of tricks. When Dyson catches the ball and heads up field you can clearly see the blockers he has out in front of him. In an almost innate reaction, you are suddenly on your feet pumping one arm in the air screaming, "go, GO, GOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!".
Dyson Breaks in the clear and is now streaking toward the end zone. You are now jumping up and down screaming at the top of your voice, "He's Gone, He's Gone, He's Gone, TOUCHDOWN". Then as he crosses the goal line you drop to your knees with your fists in the air and let loose a high pitched, screeching howl that scares the dog and makes the kids cry. Now your wife is mad, your kid's are scared and the dog doesn't know what the heck is going on. But you don't care. Your team is still alive in the playoffs and you will still get your football fix next week.
But then it comes. The announcement from the official that the play is being reviewed. Things get serious as you once again sit back down on the edge of your seat, leaning toward the television, fearful that the officials are going to take this great moment away from you and your team. You watch replay after replay. You make comments to the dog, who has returned by now, about how obvious it was that that was not a forward pass.
Then the referee pulls his head out of the replay viewer and slowly makes his way back to the field. You agonize over every step he takes as you hope for the best but expect the worst. Then you hear the beautiful words flow out of the referee's mouth, "After further review the play stands as called on the field". These words touch off a celebration deja vu. The wife, kids, and dog escape to the kitchen as you do your victory dance around the rest of the house. A victory dance unlike any other, because your team has just pulled off one of the most amazing finishes in NFL playoff history and you have one more week of football to keep you going.
Picture this! It's the first round of the NFL playoffs. There you are, a dejected Buffalo Bills fan, sitting back in your favorite easy chair, completely spent from three hours of sitting on the edge of your chair trying to give your team every ounce of energy you can will to them. You are sitting there in disbelief as your team has just been beaten by the Tennessee Titans.
