The Underside of the Game
Posted: Tuesday, August 11, 2009
by Marijo Phelps
A pass had just been intercepted. Nelson was charging down our end of the field with the ball. The crowd was going wild! As I bounced up with the rest of the crowd to see what was going on, my key case bounced down. It made a rapid descent of about twenty feet to the hazy darkness below.
It was at that point in the game that I began a somewhat less rapid descent. At the bottom, I looked back to where I accomplished my slow, downhill stumble. I couldn't decide what was worse, the trek downward through the never ending mass of excited, shouting people or my present position within the framework of wood and steel.
The cold criss-crosses of steel which supported the yards of slivery wood made an excellent barrier. I was trying to spot the forty yard line so I would have some idea where to begin hunting for my keys.
Finally, I saw the forty yard line. After several minutes of searching I decided there must be two forty yard lines. There were. As I started back to the right side of the field the crowd burst forth with a wounded scream. I squatted down as far as I could but only managed to get a spectacular view of players feet.
Momentarily, forgetting my keys, I listened to the loud clack of helmet on helmet and the thud of body upon body.
The crowds cries died. I was about to resume my search when I felt something cold dribbling down my neck. I was the unsuspecting target of a bumped Coke. With a somewhat sticky sensation on the back of my neck, I returned to my search.
The snow of popcorn and confetti made a good camouflage for anything that had been dropped, my key case being no exception.
I found the forty yard line and tried to look up to find Rita, the gal I was sitting next to. I was greeted by the view of dangling feet, falling popcorn and one face which was peering down at me. I raised one eyebrow at the face about twenty feet up realizing it was Rita. I couldn't hear her over the noise of the crowd. She pointed in the general direction of what looked like a mass of confetti, torn programs, empty cups and grass. It was just that, but underneath were my keys!
I missed most of that quarter but it was a rather novel way of watching the underside of a football game.
(C) Marijo Phelps all rights reserved. Use with with proper credits.
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