And the moral of the story is...

Gee, besides Lamonica, I never really made the full Raider-Italian-DiGi connection! Shame on me! And here I always thought Mark loved the Raiders because of their logo. Interestingly, I went to school with cousins of Lamonica, including one Debbie Lamonica, and the Rocchi (Rocky) family...

And no, I never realized about McMakin clipping Villapiano until I just read about it in one of the stories Dan sent over. Another reason to dislike McMakin...before it was only about him being named the tight end over Riley Odoms on the All-Rookie team in 1972. Sure, he caught more passes than Odoms that year, but no excuse for writers like Bob Oates and others ever ranking McMakin as a better player at the time, and trying to explain why in one of his curious stories (Oates was a talented writer but wasted far too much of his space on inane and imbecilic commentary, such as McMakin being superior to Odoms). I think Odoms proved who was better starting the next season.

There's a great book, written by Mike Celizic, called "The Biggest Game of Them All: Notre Dame, Michigan State, and the Fall of 1966." I have shared this book with Dan and it is a must-read for college football enthusiastics.

Anyway, the concluding point of Celizic's book, after all of the exhaustive recreation of the 1965 and '66 seasons, was that because Notre Dame-Michigan State ended tied, with no resolution, it would continue to be played for eternity in the minds of college football fans...and, essentially, would never end.

And this is what I have always believed is the real allure of sport. It's not all about watching the games, it's about the fascinating discussions and analysis involved with like-minded people. I wish I had recorded all of the sports discusions I've had with Mark, Paul, and Dan throughout the years, as well as dozens of other family and friends (and the occasional enemy). Those are some of the favorite moments of my life, really. And Celizic has a great point, because indeed, Notre Dame-Michigan State will continue to be battled for eternity on the gridiron inside of football fan's minds, because there was never a resolution.

The same is true of Tatum and Fuqua and that part Immaculate Reception. Because there was nothing conclusive about THAT portion of the play, it will continue to be debated forever. Which, I believe, is the real romance of sport--those endless, stimualting discussions, many of which we are exploring on our blog! But Franco did make a heckuva play...

By the way, how did Joe DiGuiseppe ever become a Cowboys fan in Philadelphia?...