Thursday, February 6, 2014

WHAT IT WAS WAS FOOTBALL


Here we are a week into February and once again that doggoned Groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil has brought bad news! In fact his prediction was this: "A Super Bowl winner I will not predict, But my weather forecast, you cannot contradict, That's not a football lying beside me It's my shadow you see So, six more weeks of winter it shall be!" For Broncos fans it was a double whammy. First the bad news about winter's non-demise, then their team avoids being skunked by one play. It was a sad day for some, I guess. Nearly a repeat of the "Heidi" fiascco of 1968. I wonder how many of you remember the Heidi Bowl? The Heidi Game or Heidi Bowl was an American football game played on November 17, 1968. The home team, the Oakland Raiders, defeated the New York Jets, 43–32. The game is remembered for its exciting finish, as Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to overcome a 32–29 New York lead. It came to be known as the Heidi Game because the NBC Television Network controversially broke away from the game, the Jets still winning, to air the 1968 television film Heidi at 7 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone Mac and I had been married for four weeks. The ship had left for Reftay training in Norfolk on 4th of Novembder and so some of the other wives and I had gotten together to take a trip from Charleston to Norfolk in time for the Super Bowl. It was Sue O'Shilelds, Doc's wife Patty and I. I drove our Mustang and off we went. We were driving up 52 North and had just entered Coward, SC when I passed the Greyhound bus. I suppose that should have been my first clue that I was traveling too fast. We girls were all chatting happily and listening to good old country tunes on the radio when I saw it. "It" was a blue and red revolving bubble gum light atop a police car. I glanced down at the speedometer and it read 75 mph. I knew in that moment that the revolving lights were for me. I pulled over to the side of the road and got my drivers license and registration out to hand to the Officer when he approached the drivers side window. I watched him adjust his hat, pat the holster where his gun rested and look in through the back window (to count the occupants I now know). I put the window down and he leaned in and said " flying a bit low tonight aren't we? May I see your pilots license?" Now we all love a smart *ss cop, right? But as Patty later told the tale when we arrived in Norfolk, at least he had a sense of humor. I regaled him with the tale of a wedding just 3 weeks prior, and ship pulling out to sea a week later and a trip of Navy Wives meeting up with husbands to watch the Super Bowl. He shook his head and said "and don't you think your husbands might like you to get there in one piece? Keep the speed somewhere around the legal limit and don't let me catch you flying through here next week." We arrived in Norfolk "in one piece" and called the ship to pick our guys up. We were going to be going back to Charleston on Monday. But that Sunday was the Super Bowl. We all gathered on the Base at one of the clubs to watch it. I seem to remember the Jets were ahead and then the unthinkable happened. NBC broke away from the game to show a new version of the old movie Heidi. The groans were ear shattering. The names the poor NBC folk and Heidi were called can not be published in a family paper...needless to say, the fans were a mite upset. Whenever Super Bowl Sunday comes around, I always remember that one and have never watched a complete game since. I flip back and forth to check the scores and leave it at that. It ruined the game for Mac, and since I learned the rules of the game from Andy Griffin (What it was was Football) I wasn't missing all that much anyway. Frankly I'd rather be reading.

12 comments:

Justabeachkat said...

I've never heard of the Heidi Bowl. Too funny! I don't like football, never have, never will. I like to go to games...sometimes. But I just people watch and eat junk food :-)

I don't watch the Super Bowls either. I flip back and forth sometimes to try to catch the commercials though.

Hugs,
Kat

Vee said...

NBC has done a bunch of baloney like that, but I never heard of this one. Too funny now...I know it was not one bit funny then!

Carver said...

What a great story. I was 11 and remember watching Heidi on TV some time around then so I was probably the Heidi audience. I wasn't aware of the super bowl until I was much old since my parents weren't football fans. My brother played football in high school and I'm sure watched it but by then I was in college.

Sally said...

I have never and still don't, understand football! Basketball? Love to watch it especially Kentucky.

You always have the cutest stories to tell, and I'm happy to see when you've posted.
xoxo

Shadow said...

'low flying'? 'pilots licence'? it is kinda funny though... and i think i'll join you with the reading.

Lee said...

Well I'm glad you arrived safely and hope he only gave you a warning. When I was working for the Navy I often thought about the pilots I trained on the simulators taking their first solo flight and felt that there should have been a bible placed on the pilot seat of each aircraft for that one flight and that the tower should have played a certain song over the radio..."I remember, we were flying low, we hit something in the air".

Football isn't all that exciting to me either. Much prefer basketball, ice skating, and gynmastics. Guess I'm pretty much an olympics girl.

Hugs!
Lee

Anonymous said...

why is I come to visit your blog and the next thing I know two hours have vanished. Always enjoy your ramblings and stories so much Sandi! My most memorable Super Bowl was shortly after we had moved to the this house and the country. We had just settled in for a long cozy winter evening to watch the game....not five minutes after the game started, the electricity went out from the ice. ugh~ stayed out for two days and I learned the joys of living off a woodstove and water from the lake to flush the toilet. :) Happy belated New Year

Brian Miller said...

ah you probably would have been better off not to watch this super bowl...it was not much of a game...smiles...maybe heidi would have been better...the cop that ticketed me on my 17th birthday wished me a happy birthday...i did not appreciate it at the time...lol.

Love Bears All Things said...

Blessings,
Mama Bear

Jules~ said...

Hi Sandi. I am not a football fan either. Can't seem to wrap my brain around it. What I do love is going to a hockey game. Don't ever watch it on tv but when I get tickets to the local game I am one excited girl. I don't understand it all when am there though. It must be funny to watch me googling answers to my questions on my smart phone while the game is going on.

Thanks for your visit and hugs about my mom. Yes she still has her previous 3 stents. The dr just didn't do anything with this most recent blockage.

God bless you my sweet friend!

SandyCarlson said...

Football boggles my mind, but I love your story. The cop....I wish the ones around here had a sense of humor, even if they didn't listen. None of our cops will come across well in the stories years down the road...

Stay warm, my friend, and thanks for making me smile.

Judy said...

I love your story...your memories of Heidi Bowl Sunday! I must share this one with my daughter...who happens to be called Heidi. I am reminded of a Winter Olympics 2010 party we attended in February four years ago. The plan was that we would socialize around the big screen...where the opening ceremonies in Vancouver were playing out for our enjoyment. The entire event had been pre-recorded several hours earlier. Somehow the recording stopped just short of the finale...the torch lighting ceremony. All 40 of us left wondering how the 'final chapter' had played out!