This is the life we have chosen...

I once heard a sports talk show where the announcer was discussing a boring game the night before.

"Look," he said, "this is the life we have chosen. As sports fans, we have to be prepared to sit through the boring games 99 times because we know that one out of 100 games, you are going to experience that moment that makes it all worthwhile. You are going to see that game that stands out as 'one for the ages' and reminds you why you are a sports fan."

Last night was one of those nights.

Around 9.30pm, I had flipped on the Monday Night Football and saw that the Arizona Cardinals were up 17-0 over the Chicago Bears.

I turned it off and Tamar and I did pilates and watched two episodes of ER.

It was 11.30 and I should have been in bed, but my instinct said..."hmmm, let me see what happened in the game."

There were 5 minutes left in the game, right about the time where Tony Kornheiser and Joe Theismann said something along the lines of "if Arizona blows this lead, they may as well close up shop and give up on football here."

That comment said the thing that was on the mind of all long-time football fans there. We all just had a feeling that Chicago could make it happen. There were too many subplots...

1. the historical ineptitude of the Cardinals franchise
2. the fact that the Bears were undefeated
3. it was a Monday night game (and probably the first Mondday night game in Arizona since the paleolithic era--or at least since the movie Jerry Maguire)
4. the Heisman trophy winner, Matt Leinart's, Monday night debut
5. Chicago's 6 turnovers (no one wins with 6 turnovers!)

And, as if it was scripted in the heavens above, the game began to unravel for the fair Cardinals. No one watching knew exactly how it would happen, but we just kind of knew it would happen. And it did...and it was DRAMATIC, up until the last seconds with the missed field goal.

I felt bad for the Cardinals fans who have suffered for all of these years.

I felt bad for Matt Leinart...this is now 2 games that I stayed up way late for in the past year (the other being the NCAA championship game vs. Texas) where a ridiculously dramatic comeback has cost his team the game.

I was so excited by having been a witness to the game that I said to Tamar afterwards (she had commented on my anticipated lack of sleep due to a Tuesday morning early rise) that, "if I'm sick for a week after this, it'll still be worth it."

I tried to explain to her why it was such a fantastic game and though she was a good sport, she didn't fully appreciate it. I called a few Bears fans and got their voice mails.

This morning, I called Chuck to share the emotion with him...which worked...since his wife (an amazing woman) also didn't fully appreciate how momentous the game was :-)

Just felt good to be a sports fan (and to be alive!) for having seen this human drama unfold in a way that no one-no writers, no directors, and no producers-could have foreseen.

And yes, I'm a bit tired today....