By Paul Goldfinger, Sports Editor at Blogfinger.net. (Re-post and update from Dec. 2, 2019)
Scene: Produce department at Wegmans on a December 2 morning. A man about my age is shopping. He is wearing an orange sweatshirt that says CLEMSON. I’m not much of a sports fan, but I do get interested when the hoopla starts surrounding college championships. I enjoy the spectacle.
I know that Clemson is undefeated in football, so that stat got my attention. I also know that Clemson is in South Carolina.
This past weekend I watched half of the Ohio State-Michigan extravaganza with over 100,00 people in the stands. Usually I can last for one quarter at most. Did all those students come back early from Thanksgiving break to see THE GAME? Well, most who were there weren’t students, but the uproar was more interesting to me than the game. I would have liked more of the band and more of the cheerleaders.
It was obvious early in the event that Ohio State is a monster football team, and the sportscasters agreed. OSU won by a wide margin.
And the announcers did mention undefeated Clemson in passing because undefeated OSU might meet them in the championship game. And then, in the era of slanted news reporting, I learned that Clemson might not be so hot—their schedule is weak. They are overrated.
Anyhow, I decided to strike up a sports conversation with the Wegmans Clemson guy.
Me: Did you see the Ohio State game?
He: You mean against Michigan?
Me: Yes. Ohio State looked great. Do you thing Clemson could beat them?
He: Yes. They have a strong defense and a great quarterback.
Me (Having said all I am capable of saying on this subject), “Well—good luck.”
He: Thanks, so long.
So I will watch Ohio State in the championship game. If Clemson is there, it will probably be a blowout, and I will turn it off after the half time show. Maybe some frat boys with no shirts will kidnap the announcers so I can watch the half time band display.
Editor’s note 12/29/19. The Clemson Tigers did play Ohio State, but it was in a semi-final contest on 12/28/19 to determine who will go on to the championship game against LSU on January 13 in New Orleans.
Clemson came from behind and beat the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes 29-23. But there is poetic justice here because who wants to root for a team that is named for a tree?
However, Charles Krauthammer said*, “In sports, the pleasure of winning is less than the pain of losing.” So, in that spirit, let’s feel bad for the Buckeyes and then go back to whatever we were doing.
But, actually, sports fans, I wish I had seen the Asbury Park vs Neptune game which was a barn burner on Thanksgiving Day, with the Scarlet Fliers pulling out a 21-20 nail biter. over the Parkers. Missed the game? APP has posted video highlights. Barn burner? What does that mean?
And, below is a video bonus: the Ohio State Band performs their pre-game shtick…..what a thrill! Watch a tuba player dot the i at the end. And then listen to the tuba soloist during the singing. MARVELOUS!
*Charles Krauthammer in his book The Point of It All. The chapter is called “Why Do they Even Play the Game?”
I have some football experience having played freshman football for Rutherford High School, but I was a 3rd stringer, sitting on the bench hoping that the coach would leave me there.
During one game the crowd was chanting, “We want Goldfinger, we want Goldfinger, we want Goldfinger…”.
The coach called out to me, “Goldfinger…..get in there and find out what they want..”
He put me in for a kickoff. (from them to us) and I made a fabulous block right in front of our bench. I actually blocked one of the other team, although I would have preferred a cheerleader to roll around with.
And I was the sports editor of the R-Hi school newspaper writing “Pee Gee’s Corner.” They put my columns in the corner of the page.
Even then I caused trouble complaining that we never won any varsity games because we were in the wrong league, actually playing schools whose players shaved.
Eventually I played soccer, one time banging heads with an opposing player, and we both wound up lying on the ground semi-conscious, although some of my teachers thought I looked like that all the time.
There is a photo of me in the yearbook playing on a muddy field and looking like I just returned from the Battle of Waterloo. We lost all our games. And Napoleon was defeated, and I stupidly took French instead of Spanish.