Monday, September 03, 2007

Glory, Glory To Old Appy

While driving home from Auburn in the wee hours of Sunday morning, I was tuned in to ESPN Radio's overnight talk show. One of the participants proceeded to rail on Appalacian State radio announcers David Jackson and Steve Brown for their reactions to the Mountaineers' monumental upset of Michigan on Saturday. In case you're one of the three people who haven't heard Jackson and Brown's call of the final blocked kick, just click below:



That is what college football is all about.

That is a moment of unrivaled glory and heart-bursting elation the likes of which few of us will ever experience. To go into that place and do what tough little Appy did is not just unprecedented and cause for headlines; it's an affirmation of why we all follow this crazy game in the first place.

If you can listen to that call and not be absolutely transported by the uninhibited, once-in-a-lifetime joy of those thirty seconds, you are either an exceptionally bitter Michigan fan or a damn fool. It is the sound of college football at its very finest. It is the sound of the human spirit living in a rare and wonderful moment, and it is a sound not one of us will ever forget.

To you, the unidentified ESPN Radio snob, I can only say: get a life. Or better yet, a soul.

2 comments:

Jim said...

Kind of reminds me of the radio call of another blocked kick. One of two that occurred back in... oh, about 1972.

Linus said...

Hey, I had that same reaction to that idiot. "Well, I'd like to think they'd behave with a little more decorum..." Hey, Mr. Stiff, do you have any concept of what just happened? They are in the midst of one of the most THRILLING moments of one of the most stunning games EVER and I guess you think they should have called it: "Well, my goodness. It appears that the Mountaineers have blocked a kick. How very droll..."

Idiot.