The greatest 4th quarter comeback ever

In honor of Florida-Florida State week, I give you this fantastic video telling the story of the "Choke at Doak."



I was there.

I was a sophomore, and was a Resident Assistant in a dorm at FSU. I'd been in charge of getting tickets for all the residents to attend the game, and had to mobilize an army to camp out at the ticket window for an entire weekend to ensure we had a spot in line for tickets. We had great seats (for the student section) and a huge crowd from the dorm came to the game with us. But as the Gators ran up the score, people kept leaving in drips and drops. By the start of the fourth quarter, there were only 4 or 5 of us left in our group that had previously contained 40 or 50 students. Oh how those non-believers would regret leaving that day.

Sitting directly behind us were three Gator fans who had clearly bought student tickets from someone. All throughout the game, one woman in particularly had loudly bitched about how boring the game was. "At least the Auburn game (which Florida had lost earlier in the year) was interesting," she whined. I kind of wanted to kill her.

And then something amazing happened. Our hapless offense, stymied for three quarters, suddenly started scoring. At first we didn't even think a comeback was possible, but the team did. They played with every ounce of energy and hope they had, and Danny Kannell put together the greatest quarter of football that any college quarterback will ever have. We couldn't believe it. We were on the cusp of making history!

At the precise moment we scored the tying touchdown, I turned around to the Gator woman behind me and screamed "you wanted an exciting game--you got one!" She then bitched at the back of my head for the rest of the game, and I like to think she had to be forcibly restrained by the guys she was with.

By the end, even with a tie, we knew we had just made history. My voice was weak from screaming, I was exhausted, and I was as proud of my team as I have ever been. It was one of the greatest sporting events I have ever personally witnessed, right up there with seeing the Red Sox World Champions banner raised at Fenway for the first time in 86 years.

No matter how badly my team is getting beat now, and they get beat plenty, I always remember that day that they showed they would never give up. And I always know that victory is still possible.

GO NOLES!