Barfly

I don't know whether I'm proud or embarrassed to admit that I just spent 12 hours at a sports bar. Not only did I spend 12 hours at a sports bar to watch 3 specific games, I spent 12 hours watching all 3 of the teams I was rooting for lose. Aside from the losses, it was actually a pretty fun 12 hours, however it's hard to overlook 0-for-3.

My friend and I decided to do the Moondoggies Marathon while watching the Orange Bowl there on Tuesday. She is a Maryland grad and the MD folks had convinced the Moondoggies staff to open their favorite bar early so they could watch today's game vs North Carolina at 9 am. Then we figured we wanted to watch the Chargers-Jets game there later, and with the Seahawks-Rams game in between, it just made sense to secure a good table and stay in it for the long haul. We figured a Maryland win vs #4 UNC was a long shot, but we thought we'd at least split the NFL playoff games (I'm a Seahawks fan since I'm from Seattle, and we're both Chargers fans because we live in San Diego).

Part 1 of our tripleheader was ugly. Maryland started well in the first 15 minutes, playing good defense and taking a 5 pt lead. It was all downhill from there. They stopped putting much pressure on NC, and the Tar Heels started hitting shots and before we knew it they were up by 20 points. They ended up losing by 34 points. Ugh. 0-for-1 with two games to go.

The ending for Part 2 was inevitable. The Rams beat the Seahawks twice in the regular season, the Seahawk defense has been hit hard by injuries, and Seattle hasn't won a playoff game in 20 years. So when the Rams scored a touchdown to take the lead late in the 4th quarter, my heart sank but I wasn't surprised. Seattle did make a go of it, driving down the field trying to tie it up and send the game to overtime, but on 4th and 4 at the Rams' 5 with 27 seconds to go, an incomplete pass sealed their fate and added to the streak of playoff losses. Double Ugh. 0-for-2 with one game to go.

The bar was packed in time for kickoff of Part 3 and we were glad we had put in the time to get a good table as it was standing room only. This game was the most exciting of the three. It was back and forth, there were some spectacular catches, and wouldn't you know it...the Chargers needed a drive similar to the Seahawks, trying to score a TD in the final two minutes of regulation to send it to overtime. Like the Seahawks, the Chargers faced 4th and Goal from the Jets' 1 with just seconds left in the game. Drew Brees was sacked and it looked like that was it, but never fear, a flag for roughing the passer is here, and with it, 4 more downs. The Chargers got the TD to send the game to OT, where they won the toss and got the first shot at winning the game. They drove down to the 20 yard line and sent in the kicker. I should mention the kicker is a rookie and the Jets' used a timeout to "ice" him...which worked. He just pushed it to the right, so the Jets' took over, driving down the field and winning the game with a FG. I should mention that the Jets' kicker had missed a FG in the first quarter and later had one hit the the goal post and just barely make it through. I feel so bad for the Chargers' kicker, poor kid, that was the biggest kick of his life and it ended their season. I hope he recovers. A bummer ending to an otherwise great game, and a great turnaround season for San Diego.

Triple Ugh. 0-for-3. Stick a fork in me, I'm done. At least Wazzu beat USC in hoops today.