I am writing this blog at 4:00PM eastern time. I think that is enough time. All day I have heard about what Randy Moss said about Jerry Rice. About how the head coach of a 1-15 team in Miami was fired. Does Eli have what it takes to lead the Giants to a playoff win. That Marvin Harrison practiced today with the Colts. And that 25 years ago today Tony Dorsett set an NFL record with a 99 yard TD run against the Vikings. A game that Dallas lost by the way. Nowhere, but nowhere, have I heard about what happened 15 years ago today. At this very moment too. I had just gotten done watching one of the greatest NFL playoff games I had ever seen. 15 years ago today. At right about this time too. I had just finished watching the Greatest Comeback in Pro Football history. My beloved Buffalo Bills had just come back from being down by 32 points to beat the Houston Oilers 41 to 38.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, has been said on Fox Sports, ESPN, ESPN Classic, NFL.com, and The NFL Network. I have been listening to sports radio all day. Nothing has been said about it. Not even on local radio. All they can talk about is Marv Levy resigning as GM. Same thing with the local papers. Even on the Bills website. This is unless you click on the history link. Then you get two lines, maybe. Hey folks, unless you forgot Marv was the coach of the team 15 years ago.
What makes me laugh about this whole thing is that 15 years ago today that game was blacked out here in Upstate New York. The game did not sellout in time. Still, when you talk to people everyone was there! The Bills Stadium at that time held 80,000 fans, but you would think 500,000 people were there. Also, everyone you talk to knew that the Bills were going to comeback. They never gave up on the team. They never left. For a game that so many brag about being at it just surprises me how quickly they forget about it 15 years later.
So let me set the record straight. That game didn’t sell out all those years ago because it was played during a holiday week. (Between Christmas and New Years.) So a lot of people were gone. The weather here sucked leading up to that game. So unless you lived in the area you didn’t want to take a chance driving to the game in the snow and icy roads. Also, many fans gave up on the Bills even before the game kicked off. The Bills had lost to the Oilers, these same Houston Oilers, the Sunday before. In the last game of the regular season. This meant that they had to go the wildcard route to the SuperBowl. Also the Bills had tons of injuries going into that game. Including starting quarterback Jim Kelly. So many backups had to step up and play, and step up and play they did!
I was not at that game 15 years ago, but was one of the lucky ones to see it on TV. That week I was someplace where the game was not blacked out. I can admit that I was worried going into that game. At half-time trailing by 25 points I was more worried, but I still thought that they had a shot to comeback. Many people didn’t because the stands were pretty empty. After Frank Reich threw an interception, which was returned for a touchdown, to start the second half I did give up. So did many other because I saw more of them leaving.
The only ones who didn’t give up was the Buffalo Bills players. After the following kickoff they drove downfield for a TD. “Okay“, I said to myself, “at least they will make it respectable.” Then the Bills recovered an onside kick. They quickly scored to make it 38-17. Before the third quarter was over the Bills scored two more touchdowns and were down by four. One of these touchdowns came on a fourth and five play. At this time many fans who left the game came back into the stadium. Which included having to jump the chain link fences outside.
Going into the fourth quarter the Bills went ahead by three with about three minutes to play. To the Oilers credit they did tie the game with 12 seconds left. In overtime, Houston won the coin toss. Buffalo intercepted the ball on the third play from scrimmage. After a couple of handoffs the Bills kicked the winning field goal.
The Bills comeback was the most exciting football game I had every seen. I get chills just thinking about it. I got chills just typing the last few paragraph. More importantly the 1992-1993 Buffalo Bills taught us all something. To never give up. To never quit. No matter how bad things look. (And if you read my last blog you will see why this is so important to me.) That is why I am so disappointed so many have forgotten about what took place 15 years ago today. The men who played that day deserve better.
You would think that The NFL Network could replay that game today. Instead of one of the meaningless games that took place this past weekend. Including that great New England at New York Giants game. Hey, we all saw it. It was on three networks. Also, one of the 28 and a half ESPN channels could carry the NFL Films version of the game. Nothing was said on SportsCenter, ESPN news, or ESPN radio. With wildcard weekend coming it would have made a great promotion.
Fox Sports did a great segment on their baseball pre-games show last Saturday. It was a Father’s Day feature with three of their announcers and their announcer Dads. Of course one of the Father/Son combinations featured was Joe Buck and his legendary Father the late, great, Jack Buck. It was wonderful to see and hear Jack Buck again, even if it was on videotape. Jack Buck is my favorite baseball announcer and every time I get a chance to hear a tape of one of his famous calls it makes me smile. Especially, his famous “I can’t believe what I just say” call from Kirt Gibson homerun in in the 1988 World Series. That’s because I was one of the lucky ones who heard him do it live.
I had to work that Saturday night of game one of the World Series. When I got done I got in my car to make my 45-minute commute home. I turned on the radio thinking that I could at least get the score. Maybe even some highlights in the post game show. To my suprise the game was just going into the bottom of the ninth inning, and we all know what ended up happening.
What I will always remember was Jack Buck’s perfect call of that event. Not just the homerun either, but everything leading up to it; Gibson in the dugout, dragging himself up to the plate, facing Eckersley, and limping around the base. (Some of that audio is heard in that commercal with an Average Joe batting in a softball game. Sorry, but I don’t remember the product advertised.) What made that call so special for me was that Jack Buck described everything perfectly. Right down to the littlest detail. The picture I drew in my mind was exacty like the one I saw replayed on television. As a matter of fact seeing it on TV kind of spoiled it for me.
The next morning over breakfast I talked to my Father about it. He grew up listening to lots more sports on the radio then I ever will. My Dad told me about listening to Jack Buck do play-by-play for not only baseball, but also basketball. Before becoming the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals he called their Triple AAA farm team The Rochester Red Wings. “He also called the NBA’s Rochester Royals,” my Dad said, “and that was in the days when they had to recreate the road games.” My Father then went on to explain how he could understand making baseball sound so real because of all the time in between pitches. Basketball was a different story with much more action. “Somehow he pulled it off,” my Father remembered, “Jack Buck made it sound just like he was courtside with the Royals.” (For the record the Rochester Royals are now the Sacramento Kings.)
That night when I sat down to watch game two of the World Series with my Father I asked him if he would mind if I turned the volume down on the TV and turn the radio on instead. My Father smiled and said,” That would be great.” My Dad and I watched, and listened, to every game of that World Series that way. Every run, every hit, every error, and every inning. It was a fun! The way baseball should be. It was great too, and Jack Buck was the reason why.
I Love Sports, all Sports! I also love Words. My dream is to become a writer, but I lack confidence in my writing. So I'm hoping that blogging will help me out, and maybe even get me noticed. My teams are the Bills, Sabres, Lakers, and all NL Baseball teams. I don't hate the DH rule, but I don't love it either. I live in Upstate NY with my wife, 2 dogs, and cats. I am very lucky because besides major league pro-sports I am surrounded by lots of minor league sports. Everything from hockey, soccer, indoor and outdoor lacrosse, arena football, and baseball. (Single A ball to triple AAA) Plus tons of great high school and college sports. Most nights you can find me at either a stadium or an arena. I love the passion and sportmanship I witness, and hope to share those stories with you. Enjoy!
