- Streak extender
- 200 via 8 sets of 25 reps
- Streak extender + 10
- Streak extender
- 222 via 5 sets of 30 reps followed by 7 sets of 10 reps during p90x3 dvd...and then 2 more
Cumulative total: 71,771
I honestly believed that my Atlanta Falcons could never hurt me like my Auburn Tigers often do. I was prepared to enjoy the Super Bowl last night, I really wanted them to win, but I did not think for a second that I could possibly be devastated by them losing. When I was a kid that was always possible, but once I latched on fully to the Auburn Tigers I had a solid 35 year run where they were the only football team that could gut me so completely that I'd wonder why I let myself get so crushed.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Feelings of anger, disbelief and embarrassment have been on rotation since the colossal collapse started mid-way through the 3rd quarter. The choking was as thorough as any has ever been. It was as if we tried to save ourselves from choking by swallowing wet couch cushions, then chasing them with balloons, new tennis balls directly out of the can and sandy soil.
The Houston Oilers' epic playoff collapse to the Buffalo Bills in '93 is one of my defining memories as a kid growing up in Houston. Houston led 35-3 in the third quarter and lost the game in overtime.
ReplyDeleteThe Oilers never recovered. As I remember—that's code for me not finding a source to cite—ticket sales plummeted in the following years, and the Oilers moved to Nashville in 1997.
Another defining memory is from a couple years earlier, shortly after the Gulf War. My sister confidently announced at the dinner table one evening that, given President Bush's immense approval rating by the public—about 90% at the time—no Democratic would even want to run against him for the presidency in 1992.
Here's some trivia that ties together sports with the 1992 presidential election. The 1992 Republican Convention was held at the Astrodome, then home to my then beloved Houston Astros. The scheduling mess that resulted from hosting a political convention during baseball season forced the Astros onto a 26-game road trip. Amazingly, that's not even close to the longest road trip in baseball history. See source below.
Delete[1] http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2012/7/25/3177586/astros-history-the-wild-wild-road-trip-of-1992
Yes, I recall that game too CMB, though I was a neutral viewer I certainly knew it was historic in a most devastating way. I was telling someone this morning (and I've found I can only really discuss it live with other life long Falcons fans) that it wouldn't have mattered if we were up 2 additional touchdowns, we would have lost. The instant we thought we surely had it we began relentless choking and we would've just started all that sooner if necessary.
DeleteIf it makes you feel any better, I will always consider The Oilers to be Houston's NFL team.
Great political race reference, easily forgotten, though perhaps not as easily for some, Texans making up a noticeable percentage of those.
GREAT STUFF, I seriously enjoyed reading that -- I remember it, but again, it didn't affect me...actually probably did in a minor way since my Braves lost games to the Astros-brothers-and-barnum-and-bailey-circus (pre-1994 Strike I cared about the Braves a lot more than I have since -- the timing for the strike was bad for my continued fandom as I would soon thereafter graduate from college and have differing interests, time, focus etc., all while still being upset about the strike).
DeleteSpeaking of home games, it will be very interesting to see how the Falcons fans in Atlanta will treat the team next year. They will be playing in the newest NFL stadium on earth, which cost $1.4 billion, coming off that loss. It is always a big thing to go to the newest stadium (I call it the Camden Yards effect, though could be talked into amending that to "The Jerry's World effect"), but I can see the embarrassment factor having a lingering affect too. As far as wins and losses plus potential to get over the loss as a franchise and win a future Super Bowl, I have zero believe we will get past it. Ever. Franchises don't recover from losses like that, especially not ones as fragile as The Falcons have always been.
I didn't know that Atlanta is building a new football stadium. Ouch!
DeleteBased on Wikipedia's projected cost of $1.6 billion [1] and a metropolitan area population of 5.7 million people, the stadium will cost about $280 per person. But at least the beers and nachos will be free, right?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_Stadium
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_metropolitan_area
Falcons games have been well attended since Michael Vick captivated the fan base. That stated, the GA Dome only held 70,000 people, so it's hard to know how many people there are who would actually be OK willingly handing over $280 for a new stadium. Those 70k seem unconcerned by the $50 parking though, so who knows.
Delete