the catch heard round the world

the pass heard round the world


well, its offical. the 2005 Capital One bowl game had the greatest bowl game finish of all time-and i was there to witness it. After Iowa dominated the Tigers for 3 full quarters, the Tigers pulled off a very stunning and courageous comeback in the 4th to actually pull ahead by 1 with about a minute left. After a few passes for modest gain, the Hawks got a false start call against them when Drew Tate attempted to spike the ball the stop the clock. However, because of the false start, the spike was negated and the clock kept running. with about 6 seconds left it was obvious that Tate was foolishly not going to take a timeout. Everyone started cussing out Tate, and we had all but given up when he stepped up to the line of scrimmage and hiked the ball with four seconds left. What happened after that is almost indescribable. Tate dropped back in the pocket and heaved the ball to the right center of the field towards what appeared to be an open hollaway. I thought that he was just throwing a last second desperation pass until I realized that Hollaway was actually open. Then suddenly the ball that looked like it was overthrown landed softly into hollaways hands and he strolled in to the endzone for a 56 yard touchdown reception and the win. Mayham ensued. The crowd went nuts, beer was flying everywhere, my friends and I have bruises on the back of our legs from falling and being pushed into the bleachers, grown men around me were visably crying, it was absolutely amazing. I forgot to breathe for almost a minute and had to sit down to catch my breath and try to let it all sink in. It just didnt seem real. still doesnt. after the catch the LSU fans on the other end of the field stood their stunned for what seemed to be an eternity. I almost felt sorry for them because they had played such a good game, but i didnt let that cloud my excitement over the win. After the game, while we were walking back to the buses, the usual anger or joy that resides on fans faces was replaced by sheer disbelief. fans from both teams walked like zombies with either a frown or a smile on their faces back to the buses and tailgates. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. People will talk about this game for many many years to come.
other than that it was a pretty normal trip down to florida from iowa. A few observations I did make while on the trip:

1. if you are over 6 foot tall and are planning long trips, dont ever buy or rent a GMC Envoy. It has the worst leg room of all time.

2. If you are ever going to Orlando and plan on cabbing it downtown or anywhere else, dont stay in Winter Park because cabs will not venture out there....ever.

other than that, a great trip.

Funny Story--we were traveling through Macon, Georgia when we stopped at a gas station. As we were paying at the counter the sherriff pulled up right outside the shop. One of the gas station attendants asked the other attendant "hey, is that Billy or Bob?", to which the other attendant answered "No, thats Billy Bob." ---Now that is comedy, talk about stereotypes.