Watching Jeff DaVanon

I have a fond memory of standing in the football stadium of Northwestern University on a cold, rainy and slushy fall day, and watching the Wildcats loose to Ohio State by a final score that does not reveal how close the game felt . It wasn't close. I think we lost by like 20 points or something. But until late in the game, it felt close, it felt like we were moments away from turning the momentum and beating Ohio State. A team who we needed to beat if we were ever going to be respected as a legitimate football contender. We had won the Big 10, but we had done it without playing Ohio State, and that tainted the win and our legacy. It was a miserable day, but it remains a fond memory because if we lost, it was expected, but if we won, it would be a miracle. And the miracle seemed possible. Usually miracles feel possible only for fleeting seconds, their life-span akin to that of a soap bubble. But on that day the hope for the miracle would not die, it lived on for hours, it grew into old age and still it hung on.

The next time that the coach came in to eat at the restaurant where I worked, I thanked him for the great game. "No one even cared that we lost. We were all so into it, we had such a good time." And Gary replied "God Maya, I really thought we were going to win that one. I really thought it was going to happen." But I enjoyed that game more than most of the ones we won.

Still, I'm glad we finally beat them. I am going to enjoy screwing with their ranking.