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PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - Printable Version

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PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - 81alum - 08-25-2012

I actually learned some things by rewatching the game that terminated with a k.al player touching his knee to the ground before lateraling to teammates that then played forward laterals into the end zone. 

You know, John Elway's last college game.

I did remember what a great and exciting game it was even before that ridiculous and unjust finish captured all the headlines.  It was really something to see Elway complete that 4th and 17 pass.  Sadly, everyone in the country has seen the travesty at the end a bazillion times but very few have seen the outstanding game that led up to it.

I had not remembered how much k.al blitzed in that game.  It seemed that they realized that they could not defend Elway without bringing the kitchen sink on almost every play, and it worked relatively well at times. 

It was nice to hear some names called again that I had not heard in 30 years.  Mike Dotterer, Chris Dressel, Mark Harmon, Garin Veris and Vincent White were all featured prominently.

I had never thought about how we blew the game by calling our final time out before the go-ahead field goal with 8 seconds left instead of letting the clock run down further.  And I had forgotten that we were given a 15 yard penalty before our final kick off for excessive celebration.

I enjoyed rewatching the game.  I simply should have turned it off right after we won, instead of watching to the end. 

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - Hank 91 - 08-26-2012

Remember when you were a kid and your next door neighbor went to Hawaii for vacation and insisted on telling you about how cool it was, over and over for the rest of the summer? This is exactly how I feel listening to all these reports about the Pac-12 Network. Thank you, DirecTV.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - Spiny_Norman - 08-26-2012

Thank you so much for bringing up such a painful subject. While you're at it, why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it?

I was initially invited to be interviewed for this feature on the P12 Network, but they cancelled the day prior to the interview.  Apparently, they had enough people already. 

If I had gone in front of the camera, I would have talked about David Lewis's TD catch for Cal which seemed at first to have been out of bounds, but which replay showed to have been a great effort to get a foot inbounds.  I would have talked about Mariet Ford not catching the TD pass that he was credited with.  Happened right in front of the Stanford student section.  We spent the rest of the game signalling "Touchdown!" whenever Cal ran a play.  I would have talked about how upset I was when Elway did not wait a few more seconds before calling time out.  Stanford had not been able to hold late leads vs. Arizona and UCLA in the two games before Big Game.  I still had the scars after close, brutal losses in Big Games 1979 and 1980.  Why give Cal a chance?

And I also would have shown them the unretouched photo that was published in the Stanford Daily that showed Kevin Moen approaching the Band with an official upfield in the background with his arms extended.  What was he doing?  Waving the play dead?  Pretending he was an airplane?  As far as I know, that official has never been interviewed about the end of that game.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - 81alum - 08-26-2012

Ah, well, I think the rivalry with Cal might have become emotionally lopsided over the years (I've even seen some younger folks on this board call it a "friendly rivalry" !) if it were not for that game, which will keep our hatred burning brightly for another century or so.

You raise some good points.  The officiating of the game was horrible long before the infamy at the end.  We were given credit for a pass that was obviously caught two feet out of bounds, and then a while later we were not given credit for a pass that was clearly in bounds.  Rewatching the game convinces me that the officials were simply guessing on many plays--as they obviously were at the end.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - oman - 08-26-2012

All I know is that each time I tell the story of being there in the end zone, I keep getting closer to the field.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - yvonne - 08-26-2012

Maybe GaryT will trade places with you.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - GoodGrief - 08-26-2012

(08-26-2012, 01:27 PM)oman link Wrote:All I know is that each time I tell the story of being there in the end zone, I keep getting closer to the field.

Along those lines, every time I talk about the blue marlin that we caught on my one and only time deep-sea fishing, that fish gets huger and huger. At this point, it was about 30-feet long with a little wooden boy and an old man on a raft floating inside its mouth.

Also, the part about me vomiting over the side of the boat gets left out...

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - Robbie - 08-26-2012

That game was the first time I had ever seen The Wave. The whole stadium thought it was very entertaining, and we played around with it in lots of ways (multiple waves running different directions, defensive wave actions, ...)

And it was 59:56 of a hell of a football game.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - 71Bear - 08-26-2012

The greatest finish in college football history....

However, I have said many times, it only ranks as the second best BG that I have ever seen.  The best one was in 1974........

Since most of the terrific finishes in the last 50 years have occurred at Memorial, maybe we will see another one in October.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - 81alum - 08-26-2012

(08-26-2012, 09:14 PM)71Bear link Wrote:However, I have said many times, it only ranks as the second best BG that I have ever seen.  The best one was in 1974........
My favorite finish was 1990, although 1974 was certainly close  ;)  True, the FG was 11 yards longer in 1974, but in 1990 we got a break due to k.al's "excessive celebration" before the onside kick that seemed deliciously reminiscent of an earlier game.


Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - 71Bear - 08-26-2012

90 was decided by a poor call by the officials (sounds familiar, eh  ;))  For that reason, i have never considered it among the best...

My most memorable...  1963 (an unforgettable experience), 1972 (a muddy, crazy afternoon), 1974 (my favorite), 1982 (for obvious reasons) and 2002 (the end of a long, national nightmare and the beginning of a glorious string).  As you can see, winning is not necessary to rank among the Top 5....

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - Hank 91 - 08-26-2012

For me, the 1990 game will always be the greatest Big Game -- greatest contest of any kind, actually -- for two reasons. First of all, it was just a great game even if you had no rooting interest. One team scores to trail by one, goes for two and fails, recovers an onside kick, and makes a field goal as time expires. Great stuff, right?

But within the context of the rivalry*, it was so, so, so much better. I remember walking up to the stadium and a group of C.al tailgaters was playing a recording of The Travesty** on repeat. Then, of course, there were the usual shenanigans from the C.al students. I don't know how long this tradition had been going on, and it's been too long since I've attended a Big Game in person to know if it's hung on, but the geniuses in the student section loved to hurl oranges at the Stanford band. Getting hit on the head by an orange that's been thrown from a hundred feet away and a hundred feet up could probably give you a concussion, so the band members wore hard hats. A few even had juicers attached to their helmets and were running around the field collecting the debris and making orange juice.

With all that as prologue, the final minute was absolute poetry. It isn't necessary to recount the football details; you know them all. But there are three things I'll never forget:

1. The complete emptiness as we watched thousands of C.al fans swarming the field in celebration of their apparent victory when the two-point conversion failed.
2. "Please clear the field. The game is not over."
3. The sheer joy (which is the exact opposite of complete emptiness) as I joined the rest of the Stanford students swarming the field in celebration of our ACTUAL victory after John Hopkins's kick sailed through the uprights.

* As much as I enjoyed this game, I realize I couldn't have enjoyed it as much as those of you who were already Stanford students or alums in 1982.

** In some circles, this play is referred to by another name, but The Travesty seems more appropriate.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - yvonne - 08-26-2012

I remember going to the rally before the 1990 game and hearing Hal Mikkelson talk about 1974 when Stanford won on a field goal on the road as an underdog. I kept saying "72," "72" over in my head because I had heard about it. I couldn't have imagined that I would witness an even better game.

I was in the same end zone as the winning kick.

BTW, the late hit the 71Bear is whining about was on nose guard John Belli. I'm not sure whether he's related to Melvin Belli, but even he would have a hard time defending him on that hit. The announcers who were calling the game live said the hit was not particularly vicious but was very late.

Everyone remembers "Please clear the field. The game is not over," but I remember that the referee announced that he could do as much as award Stanford a touchdown if the players, coaches and band did not clear the field.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - yvonne - 08-27-2012

Here's the replay

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - FarmBoy - 08-27-2012

Did Hopkins have the leg and accuracy to make a 54 yard field goal? C.al fans complain about how the penalty gave the win the Stanford, but what are the chances Stanford would have won without it? Wasn't Hopkins a pretty good kicker? Anyone know what his career long was?

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - Hank 91 - 08-27-2012

Looking at the opposite side of the coin, does anyone remember the 1993 Big Game? It's the worst I've experienced, by far. I was a freshman when we won the Axe back in 1987, so this was the first time I'd witnessed a C.al victory, and it was a doozie -- 46-17. Since it was decided long before the final gun, there was plenty of time for C.al students to get organized. They rushed the field and pulled down the goal post in the north end zone. I think I remember that the broken posts were actually carried out of the stadium, but I could be making that part up. Meanwhile, a group of Stanford students had descended onto the field to protect the other goal post in the south end zone, so when the C.al students turned their attention that direction, there was a Sharks vs. Jets standoff. Watching from the stands, I was worried something bad might happen, but then it was like everyone realized at the same time that it was all kind of ridiculous, so the C.al fans turned and went home.

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - terry - 08-27-2012

Hopkins already was within his field goal range before the penalty. He made a 54 yard FG against San Jose State the previous year. Hopkins was in a groove that day -- the winning kick was his 5th field goal of the game. That's still the school record for most FGs in one game (later tied by Nate Whitaker).

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - 81alum - 08-27-2012

(08-27-2012, 10:45 AM)Yvonne link Wrote:Here's the replay
Oh, my, thank you Yvonee.  You have made my day.  That was such a delight to see again!

Re: PAC-12 Network replayed the most unjustly decided game ever - CowboyIndian - 08-27-2012

I was there...and in the last minute or so I remember looking skyward and telling the gods they owed us one.

Anybody notice Brian Billick at the 11:19 mark?

That was FUN - Redrum - 08-28-2012

Thanks, Yvonne.

I was at that game.  I remember Russell White going wild, but it was scary to see it replayed.  White and Milburn on the same field.  Dawkins and Easy Ed McCaffrey.  Wow.  And I remember the call was for Belli making the hit.