I was yelling GO! GO! GO! at the top of my lungs, and he WENT WENT WENT! One of the craziest game endings I’ve ever seen.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I loved the Westbrook-three that gave the Thunder the win at the buzzer the other night. But, I’m a college football fan – first and foremost. (Used to be Major League Baseball until the player strikes killed my enthusiasm.)

For the first time in over five months (since the Rose District construction project began), it was so busy in the bookshop that I could not ease back into the office and watch some Saturday afternoon TV sports action.

I’m SO happy for that. A combination of beautiful weather and who knows what else brought sidewalks full of shoppers to the Rose District. Finally got to slip into the office just as the replay folks were trying to decide whether to give Alabama a final chance to win the game against Auburn in regulation. Of course there was a time out to ice the kicker.

So I jumped back out on the sales floor to wrap up some details, the closing-time checklist. Decided I wanted to see the field goal attempt and hustled back to the office, just as the whistle blew to start the play.

The kick looked wide to me, but it wound up as short. I immediately realized the returner had a lane to run through, then decided it wouldn’t make any difference since they would reset the game in the overtime that would follow the tackle.

Except there would not be any overtime. There wasn’t a tackle. One-hundred-nine yards later – Auburn is the winner of the Iron Bowl, knocking off number-one ranked Alabama.

Don’t get me wrong, you Tide fans. I’m pulling for your quarterback to win the Heisman, but in America, we have a habit of cheering for the underdog. When I’m not invested in a game, I pull for the upset. Maybe O-State or the Sooners can benefit and move up in the standings. Roll Tide. Except, not today.

Personally, I don’t think Alabama will drop much more than a notch based on the way the game was lost. Auburn played to another level and simply caught a break. And it was a BIG break.

I love watching college football – big programs, little schools, and even games with nothing at stake except a W in the win-loss column. When the local teams are on the field, it is too nerve-wracking for me to watch the kind of ending that got played over and over just now, the camera following a run from endzone to endzone.

Auburn has to have completed one of the greatest turnarounds in sports, from a 3-9 season record (and not a single conference win) to knocking off the top-ranked team in the nation and a shot at the SEC conference title.

Whew!

If it had been the Sooners or the Cowboys or Tulsa on that particular field, I would not have had the nerve to watch. I’d have flipped over to the Food Network or Pawn Stars long before that last field goal attempt. As it was, I was privy to one of the most memorable moments in recent NCAA memory.

Ain’t life grand?

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!