From the cheap seats

Now, I’m not one to beat a dead horse…but I promise that the front page article and the first part of this editorial is the last you’ll read about the low attendance at Georgia College & State University.

GC&SU is a ‘suitcase college.’ I don’t like the idea, but I don’t hate it either.

I don’t hate it because one of the reasons I came to GC&SU was that I felt I could make a better and bigger impact at a smaller school, rather than a larger university. I liked the idea of knowing your teachers and not just being a faceless student.

I don’t like the fact that so many people leave during the weekend. The need for family is understandable and sometimes I can agree that getting out of Milledgeville is a very good option. Unfortunately, the athletics here suffer when such a majority of the students leave or worse, just don’t come.

I guess my final word on the situation is that tomorrow is homecoming and I think that we should show our support. After the festivities and Mr. and Ms. GC&SU are announced, everyone should stay for the rest of the game and show some support for our team.

Now, let’s move on to something a little more controversial and fun. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you my sports’ conspiracy theories.

Many of you have seen the 1997 movie “Conspiracy Theory” with Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts. Basically, I’m like Gibson’s character in my striking good looks. Seriously, I look at several sporting events through a third eye.

Many theories you may have heard before include the moon landing that was possibly staged or that Lee Harvey Oswald was set up by our own government to kill John F. Kennedy. These theories of course cannot be proven true or false.

My most common and most recent theory is Super Bowl XXXVI and the New England Patriot’s ‘miracle’ season. I believe that maybe the season might not have been a set-up, but the playoffs definitely were.

The Patriots were 1-3 going into October of 2001. We all know what happened that September. The nation mourned, but was rejuvenated by this new American spirit.

I still have my suspicions that the rest of the season, where the Patriots only lost two more games, was fixed. But this is a trend becoming more and more common in football, for a team to turn a season around after a slow beginning.

Look at the Atlanta Falcons this last season (Note: Michael Vick is not a conspiracy theory). But even the Falcons didn’t win their next 10 out of 12 games.

Even more unbelievable than their regular season was the Patriots playoff and Super Bowl wins. Their first playoff win has gone down in history as one of the greatest games ever.

They won in the snow with a miracle field goal in blizzard-like conditions. I’m not saying that the kick wasn’t amazing, but the now fabled botched call on the fumble from Tom Brady was ruled an incomplete pass.

The game was set-up from the first whistle. I think that the refs were to make any close judgment call in favor of the Pats.

The Pats then cruised to an unexpected win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then somehow they managed to win the close game on a last second field goal.

Do you know how often a last second field goal wins the Super Bowl? It happens plenty of times in little boys’ dreams and Hollywood movies.

The Patriots’ season represented the undying will of America. Think about it, look at their name the ‘Patriots.’

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 21 2003. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry