The Victors

There was no internet like today. We had to wait to receive bar passage letters to find out if you passed the bar. Letters from Denver mailed Friday arrived in regular mail on Saturday and my Saturday mail lady kept a tight schedule. I was watching the game on TV in southwest Boulder. Game was at Missouri.

I’m watching the game and the mailbox at the end of the driveway like a lizard whose eyes can look in different directions at the same time. So I’m “somewhat” distracted but I have sensation that CU just spiked the ball on 4th down, but my lizard eye flicks to the down marker and they’re now switching it to 4th down after the spike, and nobody is raising hell in real time as it was still mucho tense. I see the mail jeep pull up and a single letter is delivered.

CU still has one play and could easily lose. I watch the 5th down scored and thought not about 5 downs but it looked sketchy that the CU backup QB had actually crossed the goal. I thought that would be the lingering beef. The fifth down business was not really a thing in real time.

Later CU made a very compelling argument that in the fog of the moment they thought they had a third down because they looked at the down marker and called a spike. Obviously even Chris Webber would not spike ball if he “knew” it was 4th down. Hard to Dunn CU after the fact for what clearly was the down and distance crew botch job. Even if you thought maybe it’s 4th down and not 3rd you’re gonna see that down marker and in the moment assume you just had it wrong and act accordingly.

Here there was no but Michigan “should have known” but took advantage as some were arguing against CU days / weeks later.