I've decided to try my hand at seeing how best you know me. I'll tell two separate stories. You determine which is real...
It was a cold day in February. Black ice dotted the streets in and around Hartford. But that wasn't going to keep me away from my first UCONN Huskies game. I walked towards the Hartford Civic Center with a few of my friends. The UCONN Huskies had sparked an interest just five years earlier when Scott Burrell made a picture-perfect toss to Tate George, who then made 'The Shot' and put UCONN into the Elite Eight for the first time. I anticipated the moment when I'd see Ray Allen and Donyell Marshall on the court. Watching them beat the Seton Hall Pirates to a pulp. At some point during our walk towards the Civic Center, I turned to talk to a friend. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground bleeding. You'd think it was the ice. But no. Well, not exclusively. I walked square into one of those very sharp metal signs catching the left side of my head close to my temple. The impact caused me to lose my footing on an icy patch; I just barely got my hand down to buffer the fall. Sprained my wrist too, of course. After my friends had a good chuckle, they got me up and back to the car. Well, just one of them. He brought me to the hospital to ensure I was okay. The others attended the game. Nice. And I've still not attended a UCONN Huskies game...
I attended my first NFL game in 2001. And it wasn't even a Giants game. Having lived in Boston at the time, it made more sense for me to attend a game in Foxborough. Not the new field, mind you, but the old one. The one with the aluminum benches. And the windchill during the autumn that rivals any windstorm that might pass through Seattle during the dead of winter. It was a night game. We were wrapped in blankets, though that didn't matter much. Hot chocolate became cold in short order. The game had an odd feel. My first time to a field since before 9/11. Flags waving. Reds, whites, and blues triumphantly flying in the frigid breeze. Made me feel both oddly patriotic and uneasy simultaneously. Tom Brady. Teddy Bruschi. Adam Vinatieri. It was an interesting game. A bit back and forth. Not to mention it's the last time the Pats lost that year. And it was against the St. Louis Rams. By the way, I've still never seen a Giants game in Giants Stadium. Just sayin...
1 comment:
It was the second story that was the true story, you went to that game with your dad... and you went to a pre-season game the year after the Giants won SBXXV, Giants vs. Patriots in August 1991. You bought a Cleveland Browns hat. The Patriots fans were VERY rude to the Giants fans. You and your brother were young, and your brother couldn't understand why they were so mean. Too many losing years I told him :)
Post a Comment