Sunday doubleheader

Tomorrow we have the Bengals game in the afternoon and the Reds playoff game at night. Will this be the greatest live sports day for me ever? I don't know, but it got me thinking about other playoff games I've been to.

The most famous game I ever attended in person was a 1977 playoff game between the Bert Jones led Baltimore Colts and Kenny Stabler's Oakland Raiders. The game ended in the second overtime on a touchdown pass from Stabler to Dave Casper. Casper had already caught a long pass leading to a game-tying field goal in regulation. I have seen the recap of the game on "NFL's Greatest Games" on numerous occasions. Until the first grade, I lived less than a mile from the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. But when we moved to Michigan, I bought a Raiders sweatshirt at Sears and was a Raiders fan for most of my childhood. (Yet another reason to hate the Steelers.) I think I was the only fan in the stands cheering at the end.

Probably the second most famous game I saw in person was a 1984 NFL playoff game at RFK stadium where the Bears upset the Redskins. It was truly the coming out party for the 1985 team that was a Monday night loss to the Dolphins away from perfection. (Unless, like me, you count the Super Bowl Shuffle as a far cry from perfection.)

I've seen a couple of NFL playoff games in Indianapolis (I honestly think it's two, but it might be three) but they all ended the same way: in the first quarter with the Colts destroying the Broncos.

I've only been to one baseball playoff game, game 3 of the 1985 NLCS between the Cardinals and the Dodgers. Unfortunately, that was not the "go crazy folks" game, but the Cards did win.

I guess the ultimate live sports event for me was the 1982 Illinois High School football state semi-final playoff game which I attended as a player. But we lost.