Sports Drama
There really isn’t anything better than drama in sports. It’s reality television with new episodes every week and never a repeat episode. There are so many examples that I can choose from historically. For instance, The Patriots comeback over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI. A game in which Atlanta led 28-3 before blowing it and losing in overtime, 34-28. There was the famous Bills comeback over the Oilers in the 1992-1993 playoffs where the Bills trailed 35-3 before coming back to win the game in overtime 41-38.
This past weekend saw some remarkable comebacks or last minute/second drama as well. South Carolina led Texas A&M 30-3 at halftime before the number 3 team in the nation mounted an unbelievable comeback. Texas A&M ended up winning the game 31-30. A side story to that game was the Texas State Trooper that thought it was a cool thing or good idea to purposely bump into the South Carolina players near the tunnel after a touchdown. It goes without saying he should be at the very least suspended, if not fired. But I digress.
Hungary were hosting Ireland in their final World Cup Qualifier in Budapest on Sunday. Hungary just needed a draw at minimum to advance to the World Cup Qualifying playoffs. Ireland needed to win the match to advance to the World Cup Qualifying playoffs. Hungary led 2-1 at halftime. Troy Parrott, who scored a brace to beat Portugal last week, tied the game in the 80th minute with a nice chip over the Hungarian goalkeeper. But the drama didn’t there. Liam Scales lobbed the ball in the penalty area and the Hungarian defense failed to deal with. Parrott got his big to to the ball just before the Hungarian keeper was able to get to it, and the ball rolled into the back of the net in the 90+6’ minute to send the Irish fans and team into hysterics. An amazing ending to an amazing match.
So, that was just about all the drama from the sports weekend……actually, that’s not true. Oswego hosted Plattsburgh in the latest edition of the “White Out” game at the Deb in Oswego. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend in person, but I did watch the last minute or so on WTOP’s YouTube channel. (Man, they do an excellent job!). It was a game for the ages and a game that lived up to the billing. It’s arguably the biggest college hockey rivalry in the country. Plattsburgh took the lead early in the game and kept their 1-0 lead until the third period. Oswego two minutes into the third period and then a minute later took the lead 2-1. Plattsburgh leveled the scoring with about 7 minutes left to play. The game looked certain to go to overtime. And then there was magic. Oswego recovered the puck in their own zone with 12 seconds left after a save was made by Gavin McCarthy. Matt McQuaid throws the puck on goal with the rebound came off of Travis Baker and he was able to touch it past the Plattsburgh goalie Dominik Bovan with 1 second left! Multiple replays showed the the referee was pointing to the net as a good goal with 1 second left. The Deb went absolutely crazy and it’s probably one of the greatest moments in the building’s 21 year history! It’s a game that if you weren’t there or didn’t watch on the tele, you wished you had. The celebrations were halted for a couple minutes as the referees convened to confirm the goal, which they did. Writing about it doesn’t really do it justice. Check out the replay on WTOP’s YouTube feed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEYMmElHBR8).
Sports drama gives us an escape, even if just for a few minutes or hours. Sports in general gives us something to look forward to, something to talk to your friends about, something to have something in common with a complete stranger. It’s the gift that keeps on giving and it’s why sports is the greatest thing ever.