You Pay Your Money, You Make Your Choice?

by UK American Sports Fans

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If you’ve paid your money for the hard piece of plastic that you sit on, in the huge stadium of your chosen team, then surely you have the right to support your team how you choose (without breaking the law obviously)?

At what point then is it too early to rise up off that plastic and leave the game you’re attending?

A lot was said after the NBA Finals Game 6, when the Miami Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs in a thrilling comeback. With the Spurs on the brink of the win and wrapping up the title, many fans started to leave the arena, only to find out that Dwyane Wade had sent the game to overtime with a clutch 3-pointer at the death. Those fans suddenly spun on their heels and tried to regain entry only to be denied.

Then after wrapping up the championship a couple of days later, the organised parade through the streets of Miami was a somewhat subdued affair. Strange given that this was a back-to-back title win.

Remember back to February and the thousands upon thousands of fans that lined the streets to welcome home the Baltimore Ravens after they won the Super Bowl? Well the Ravens certainly remember that day and had a little dig on their official Twitter account.

There is of course a difference between knowing you are going to win or lose, and believing you may win or lose.

When though do you give up on your team? Should any loyal fan even contemplate leaving a game early?

Yes, you’re down by two touchdowns with less than a minute to play and the opposition are kneeling out the clock, that’s a given, yes? Well maybe, but surely if you’ve handed over the hard earned cash then you have just got to stay to the bitter end.

Perhaps the finest example of not giving up and staying to the end was the November 17th, 1968 ‘Heidi Game’, so called because even the television company gave up on it.

The New York Jets were up by three points with under a minute left against the favoured Oakland Raiders. A combination of a high scoring game and several injuries meant that NBC had to make the tough call of cutting away from the game to show, as scheduled, the 7pm film ’Heidi’. Those inside the Oakland Coliseum didn’t miss the Raiders score twice in 9 seconds to win the game, sadly the rest of the nation did miss it.

From a personal standpoint I always stay to the end of whatever event I’m attending. You just dont know what you might miss, even if your favourite team is getting beat up. That’s exactly what was happening in 1993 when the Buffalo Bills found themselves down by 32 points shortly after halftime to the Houston Oilers in a first round playoff game.

Television companies had long learnt their lesson by now though, and it’s a good job they did as the Bills mounted a ferocious comeback that eventually sent the game into overtime, which they went on to win to seal the biggest comeback in NFL history. I firmly believe that no one left at the half, despite Oilers’ QB Warren Moon throwing for four touchdowns, shredding the Bills defense. Instead they stayed and became part of football history.

“It’s time to go, we have to beat the traffic” is commonly heard, or “There’s no coming back from this, let’s go”. Disenchanted disbelievers? Or justified after paying their money to be let down again. Next time you feel the urge to get up and go, just think of what could happen, instead of what has happened.

You too might be part of history.

Read more from Gary over on his Dallas Cowboys blog The House That Jerry Built.