I'm amazed that my first ever time attending a football game (not counting high school when I was in the marching band and had to be there) was one that is still causing buzz online and on TV. I had expected to be totally befuddled and confused by the game itself, since I thought I knew nothing about it. But I had picked up enough terminology to know that touchdown=good, tackle=bad, throwing long distances=good, completed passes=good, interceptions=bad (reverse that if its the other team). What I didn't realize was that I could enjoy the running and the passing, even the blocking as athletic ballet. This game included exquisite running and footwork by Michael Vick, who put on a stellar performance. I don't know anything about stats so I can only comment on the beauty of what I saw.
The first time the Eagles touched the ball Michael Vick threw a long 88 yard pass that the receiver ran in for a touchdown. With each play of the first quarter Michael Vick stepped back, assessed the field with precision, threw bullet like passes, or dodged the Redskins defense to run the ball down the field. I wasn't sure whether to cheer or to gasp. The Redskins hardly touched the ball for the first 15 minutes.
The score after the first quarter-28-0. Barbara, scowling with her arms crossed, moans "We are leaving if they get 50 points". What? 50 points, that's absurd. That's not a football score.
The Redskins woke up in the second quarter, scoring some points, but the game continued to be a Michael Vick and company blowout.
And then to the heavens opened up, the rains came, and the second quarter was coming to an end. The score was 38-21, and we were out of there. Little did we know that the Eagles were going to score another 21 points to win it 59-21.
Here is a favorite sentence from a sports blog: And from there it was more of the same: Michael Vick looking like one of the all-time greats at quarterback, driving his team down the field for a touchdown -- a touchdown, it should be noted, on a play during which he had nearly EIGHT full seconds to choose his receiver.
