 MY SUPERBOWL ODYESSY, BY KAILUARAM (Feb 4) |
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1. PROLOGUE. 20 years ago,
just after the rams lost to steelers, i vowed that i wouldn't miss the experience of
watching the rams participating in another super bowl. i had a chance to go to that game,
but didn't. until now, it's been one of the biggest regrets of my life. the end of that magical season of 79 seemed to portend good things to come for the rams. i was sure they'd be back to the big game at least a couple of times during that decade. it didn't happen. the end of the 80's again seemed to portend good things to come for my team. the effort against the eventual superbowl champs in the '89 nfc title game wasn't indicative to me of a team that would surely find itself in the same title game a few more times before the end of the century. it didn't happen. before the start of this season. i had a good feeling. this team could make the playoffs. they would compete with every team on their schedule, i thought. the addition of faulk, green and mike martz would give this team a chance to score points, a failing that prevented the rams from being competetive the last so-many seasons. 8-8 was realistic. 9-7 probable. 10-6 w/ a few breaks. these were my thoughts heading into september. yes, even with green out for the season i felt we had a good shot at 8-8. this, because i had a real good feeling about coach martz and his scheme. remember. im one of the guys who said at the begining of the season that mike martz would be a head coach in this league in 2 years. well, i was off by a year -:). i thought the rams were going to score more points....guaranteed. boy, they sure did. what transpired from the beginning of september to the end of january not many would have believed possible in august. the rams leading the league in offense? locking up the nfc west title and homefield with a quarter of their games remaining on the schedule? kurt warner breaking nfl records and becoming mvp of the league? magical? how about miraculous. miraculous, if you can recall what many ram faithful were talking about a year ago at this time. will dv be fired? how long will we stick with tony banks? will ricky williams be the answer for this team? and, do we trade up to get him? when will that damn frontiere sell !@@%$#^%$## team! what difference a year makes. the possibility of the rams playing in the super bowl didn't occur to me till after the titan game in october. i thought that game was *the* defining game of the season. over coming what turned out to be the worst played quarter of the season to eventually have a chance to win the game proved to me this team could do it. 'do it', as in winning the super bowl. it was becoming quite clear nearly half way through the season that, with the remaining schedule as weak as it was, homefield was more than a distinct reality. the viking playoff game. i don't think ive ever felt so nervous before a game in all my life. it was a combination of things. could the rams prove that winning a football game was more to do with x's and o's than lack of playoff experience and a weak schedule? we knew ram fans were right when they argued that the vikes were going to have a hard time guarding a 5 wr set and that jeff george hadn't faced a defensive team that could get after him like the rams could. however, it still needed to be proven on the field. almost every ram fan figured out by the 7th game of the season, no team was going to beat the rams when they played *their* game. with the win over the vikes, the rams and their fans were vindicated. had the vikes won that game the morons and pundits who doubted the rams would have had their vindication. the first nation wide broadcast of the game proved that x's and o's trumped any disadvantage to a lack of playoff experience and a weak regular season schedule. it also proved what ram fans had said for a few months: the rams win win they play their game. that week (before the tampa game) i booked my flight. i figured that it would be a mighty big upset if the rams didn't get to their 2nd super bowl in 20 years. yes, i was confident. i had always wanted to visit an uncle i had down in atlanta. no matter what, id enjoy a week in a part of the world i had never been to. it wasn't till late in the 3rd quarter of the tampa game that i realized how depressed i would be if the rams didn't win. all of a sudden i didn't want to be in atlanta walking around site- seeing next to tampa fans. walking into a bar at night with rowdy tampa fans toasting their team. i didn't want that, damn it! then the catch. ricky prohel's over the shoulder catch was the biggest play in ram history (at least till mike jones' tackle....:) ). after shawn king's pass sailed out of the endzone on 4th down i broke down. i started to sob like a baby. i was going to my first super bowl to root for my team. how sweet is that! 2. GETTING TICKETS. i knew going...but it would be an adventure getting tickets. sure, tickets were available, but not at prices a normal guy like myself could easily afford. the search for tickets really started the week of the tampa game. my dad contacted a couple of friends who knew friends who knew......well, you get the gist. none of these connections came through that week. even a call to bobby beathard (an old friend of my dad's) didn't pan out. it turns out 'old man' spanos gave the front office only 12 tix and they were all spoken for. i checked e-bay. $1850 was the cheapest ticket. i really didn't want to pay more than $500. an old college buddy of my father's who's a big booster muckity muck at usc got a line on 2 tix but the guy selling them wanted a grand each. just too expensive. my game plan if none of the leads panned out was to stand outside the dome on game day with a sign. "traveled all the way from hawaii.....need two tix". i figured the hawaii thing would be enough to sway someone with a couple of extras. hell, i even considered putting up my pro bowl tickets and a place to stay.....that's of course if worst came to worst. it wasn't till thursday evening that we got a call to my uncle's message center from my dad's buddy here in hawaii (a news anchor for the local fox station) who talked to a friend who put him in touch with a guy who's affiliated with dan marino's agent. i remember vividly (and will remember this till my death) listening to the message machine. this guy would sell us 2 tix for $600 a peice. yes, it was a 100 more than i wanted to spend, but so what. WE GOT OUR TIX! we met the gentleman at a fancy hotel just outside of atlanta. and what a piece of work this guy was. he could have been a character on "the sapranos." we sat down in the lounge and transacted our business. he told my father and i a funny story in his great new york/new jersey accent. "...you shoulda seen it. i was at da nfl experience wit jake plummer and dis lady who i promised tickets to came running up to me with a wad of friggin dough. i tolds her, 'hey, whaddya think this is a friggin drug buy? c'man!' jake's looking at me like, 'are you friggin nuts?'" too funny. they were in our grubby little hands. 2 super bowl tickets. wow. what a rush! in actuallity we did pretty good. the face value was 375 a piece. we payed less than twice the amount. i felt good about that. nothing special about the look of the ticket. the theme had to do with the history of the nfl or something. not all the tickets were the same from what i understood. our tickets depict the glory days of the 60's with montage of pictures and memorabilia from that era. i saw another ticket that had the same kinda thing but of the 80's. now, only the game left to be played and a weight lifted off my back. i would really be at this game. it was guaranteed! wow, did i have a continual case of goose bumps. 3. GAME DAY. i got enough sleep the night before. i didn't expect to, but i did. i sat on the edge of bed after i awoke pondering what was to take place that day. the MARTA station was filled with people. the ride downtown was terrific, so much energy. my dad and i sat behind 2 families from st. louis. this super bowl was a new experience for them as well. we laughed and scratched about the season and how magical it was. the coolest thing about the train ride (a great memory i'll never forget) was, at each stop (9 stops before downtown) as more and more people got on the train, more ram fans and more titan fans, each time a fan of a particular team got on there was a huge roar from the fans already on the train and a chorus of boos from the opponents team's fans. it was really hilarious. especially near the last couple of stops. poor unsuspecting fans getting on the train were taken by suprise. some reacted to it with pumped fists and roars while others acknowledged with only an embarassed smile. a terrific memory. downtown was packed. we cruised the atlanta 'underground' just soaking in the atmosphere. i was suprised at how many people needed tickets. it seemed like 2 out of every 20 people either had a sign, holding up 1 or 2 fingers or yelling out, "need tickets!" i over heard one guy tell a lady he had tix for a grand a piece. later, nearer to the stadium i asked one of the sign holders what he was willing to pay. he said $500. boy, was i glad we got our tickets days before. whew! it was 3pm when we walked up to peach tree street to get a bite to eat. there were vendor tents all over the place and entrepreneurs hawking their wares (hats, shirts etc). i bought 4 generic super bowl hats from a guy for 20 bucks. nice hats, too. thinking back im not entirely sure his goods hadn't fallen off the back of a truck, if you know what i mean. i saw the same hats the next day at an official vendor tent for 15 bucks a piece. hey, who am i to ask questions. :) we ate at the planet hollywood. it was choked with rowdy fans who'd break out into cheer every once in a while. gotta say, though, the titan fans were much louder (probably much drunker). we sat next to a couple from new jersey. the guy was wearing a jim everet uniform. of course, we bonded right away. afterall, i had on my standard 75th anniversary (patch) jerome bettis 36 on. we acknowledged each other as fan's from 'the old school' (a term i used a lot when bumping into fans with LA attire on). he was 'older' school than me . he went back to roman gabriel. he lamented about not having tickets and i told him to keep the faith. we hoisted a few beers, ate a nice lunch and got out of there by 4pm. we joined the massive crowd on its way to the dome. man, was it cold! with all the people (wow, what a mass of humanity!) it took nearly 45 minutes to get into the stadium. once in the stadium it was actually quite warm. i unlayered leaving only an undershirt and my jersey on. the seats were good, (behind the ram endzone...upper level and a terrific stadium, btw. ...very impressed), but far away. actually it was a great perspective. it's kinda like watching a game from a 'game film' perspective. you know....the wide angle film jaws uses on monday night match-up. especially with our wrs...it was a real treat watching plays unfold. we sat down and i immediately started taking pictures (at some point i'll have to scan'em and get them to someone to post at the 'zine or ramsworld). i had a member of a nice family of titan fans take a couple or pictures of me and my old man. each seat had a souvenir seat cousion with a pouch that included a bunch of promotional stuff (a joe montana commemorative cd. a tina turner cd. both mini cd's. a ticket holder to wear around your neck. and a button that read 'thank you' from the nfl.) perpetual goose bumps. again, i got that feeling i had so many times before *im here!im here!this is really happening!*.i looked through my bino's and watched as my favorite team warmed up. wow, what a feeling! i focused mostly on warner. he was 'spot on' with his throws. almost every one of his tosses were perfect. i remembered what dv or martz or maybe even old hacker had said about warner. you could get a good indication of the type of game he was going to have by how well he threw the ball in warm up. i also watched dv intently as well. he hugged each and every member of the team including coaches, trainers and what appeared to be even ball boys. LOL! good ole dick should never be accused of insincerity. the only player not too responsive to the show of affection was bruce. he barely raised a hand in response to dv's embrace. it made me a tad uncomfortable. i took a quick walk around the stadium just before the player introductions sipping my beer and again soaking in the atmosphere. a lot of high-fives were exchanged during my walk. of course i acknowledged every eye contact with fellow ram fans by a thumbs up, a high five or an audible, "go rams!" but, it was the LA people who i really bonded with. one older gentleman wearing an old LA ram hat actually gave me a hug! a great moment...alcohol induced or not. i screamed my head off the whole game. it began with the player introductions. boy, was it loud! the lower part of the upper section were i sat had more titan fans. a particularly loud older women sat right behind me.....ow! what a voice. the last 10 rows were exclusively ram fans. i got the whole section to stand up before the game for a group picture (i haven't had my film developed yet. been too busy). i was so impressed with warner. his passes were so crisp and accurate it was a thing to behold. from my perspective holt and bruce pretty much had their way with their defenders. it was sure disapointing not to see more points on the board at halftime though. i flashed back to the tampa game. during the time outs on the jumbotron they diagramed famous plays from nfl history ('the catch'. 'the immaculate reception' etc.). the smothers brothers were the hosts (i guess) of the game. they appeared on the jumbotron doing their 'schtick'. my thought on that was....the smothers brothers? geeeze couldn't the nfl do a bit better than that?lol. halftime was an unbelievable thing. i only saw a portion of it as i waited in line to use the phone to call some buddies i promised to call back in hawaii. alot of pirotechnics and weird creatures and the like. im usually not to nuts about halftime stuff, but im alittle dissapointed i didn't see more of it. one half to go. i felt confident at halftime. the defense was outstanding in the first half. i figured we get into the endzone eventually and a quick score could put the game out of reach. though a 16-0 lead was quite comforting it didn't last long as the subsequent long drive and score by the titans started a period of uneasiness that lasted for most of the half. the titan fans around us were also getting more riled up and loud. the momentum had completely turned. it didn't dawn on me till after the fg by del greco which tied up the game, that i really, really didn't want to lose. it was much the same feeling i had during the last part of the tampa game. i couldn't stomach walking out of that stadium with a loss. it was no longer a 'just great to be here' type of feeling. the titan fans were going to be insufferable. the naysayers would say the rams were 'choke artists'. man, i didn't want that and it only hit me with 2 minutes or so to go in the game! oh please! oh please! oh please! i don't want to lose! bruce's td. i can still see it. warner was hit right when he threw the ball, but for some reason i knew bruce would catch it. i stood up before everyone else and raised my hands. i knew it! i jumped and i screamed and i screamed some more. i high fived a gentleman from mexico sitting next to me. he and his friends seemed to love my enthusiasm and i gave all of them a couple of high fives as well. no, it aint over yet. my mind took me back to the detroit game. oh please! please! please don't screw up any coverages and whatever you do contain mcnair! mcnair was unreal. i told a titan fan sitting below me....if this kid ever learns how to throw an accurate/consistent ball look out. he scrambled for 25 or so. then threw a pass that got them down in scoring position. i was becoming phsyically ill. my hands were clutched. "no, please....not again." the play before 'the tackle'. in what was one of the most incredible plays ive ever seen, mcnair looked to be sacked by carter. in that moment all the ram fans cheered (including me)...he was sacked!!!! it was loud!!! mcnair broke away and all the titan fans roared!!!! folks, it was amazing.....ive never heard a crowd react like that....i can't give that event the justice it deserves. one play. the stadium was going ballistic (as loud as ive ever heard a crowd). wow. one play will decide this thing or send it into overtime. i can't really tell you what i was thinking at the time. i was too frazzled. mcnair had his wr. he made a great catch and appeared all but assured of a td. but, what will go down in the books as 'the tackle', mike jones read the play and made the stop. it took me about 10 seconds to realize he didn't get in the endzone. maybe i was the last person in the stadium to realize dyson's arm extention was an attemp at futility. after hugging my father and the mexican guy next to me (LOL!) i broke down. im sure some of you did as well. it took me a couple of minutes to regain my composure, but i did. rams world champs? it's still a bit hard to believe, really. we sat there and watched the trophy presentation. what a scene. they had huge confetti cannons on the field shooting what had to be hundreds of pounds of glitter and paper nearly to the rafters. the dome looked like one of those paper weights you shake up to create a blizzard. it was like a dream squence from a corny 'b' movie as i peered through my binos at the players on the podium. but, it was so fitting. so appropriate. i'll never forget that scene. |
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