It was 1985 and I was playing in the Mahopac Sports Association. We had advanced to the championship game of Babe Ruth baseball and we were due to play our archrivals.
For some reason they scheduled the game for a Sunday afternoon in early summer.
Then it rained.
Then the phone rang.
The game was canceled. Not postponed. Canceled.
The two teams were named co-champions. I got a trophy. Whoopity doo.
Thirty-five years later, I still feel the bitter taste of that in my gut. Keep in mind it was a town league. While it meant a lot to me (along with the outright titles we won in 1984 and 1986), it was still pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of the sports pantheon.
Earlier today, I called the championship in girls soccer between Mahopac and Somers. Upon arriving at Somers High School, athletic director Roman Catalino told me -- as if foreshadowing -- the rules of overtime, if needed.
- Two 10-minute regular sessions.
- Two 5-minute sudden death sessions.
- If still tied, then the teams would be declared co-champions.
You can see where this is heading, right?
Oh, co-champs. I just don't get it.
Budding broadcasting superstar Brian Lanzaetta (boys soccer coach at Somers) joined me for a marvelous game. Both teams put everything out there. Mahopac played down a few players, including Mia Klammer, whose mom has connected with me on Twitter.
That allowed me to give her a shout out during the broadcast. Like everyone else this year, Mia deserves better, and she desperately wanted to be with her teammates.
The game featured multiple shots off crossbars and posts. It was physical. It got chippy. Fans (parents) said dumb things in the stands (there weren't that many and socially distancing was observed). Officials made good calls and a few not-so-good ones either.
There was confusion, such as when the officials refuted what we said in the booth: that the two five-minute overtimes were sudden death, also known as "golden goal."
They actually had to confer before informing us yes, indeed, we're right. Golden goal it is!
There was a twitter rumor that maybe the game would have to go to penalty kicks at the end to decide a champion. That, indeed, was a rumor. NYSPHSAA rules clearly state that there are not penalty kicks to determine a champion in this circumstance.
It had a lot.
What it didn't have -- after 110 minutes -- with a champion. No goals. Two scoreless halves. Two scoreless 10-minute overtimes. Two scoreless five-minute overtimes.
Final score? Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Zero-zero. 0-0.
Wave to the other team. Shake hands with your own. Here's your plaque. Congratulations. You all win. Or you all lose.
Everybody gets a trophy!
I've been down this road, of course. Famously, I was under the headset for the controversial 2015 girls state hockey championship game that wound up with co-champions. There was the speculation that the game was called due to a boys game that was scheduled to follow, though all of that was proven to be unfounded.
In the end, all parties ensured that wouldn't happen again.
In this case, they could have kept playing, but there are those that feel such a thing can't happen. If they're public health officials, I'm willing to bet most of us in the athletic community could stand to not hear so much from them. We could probably use a break.
And, no, penalty kicks aren't the most desirable way to end a championship, but it seems to work in the World Cup, doesn't it? Did I not once watch Brandi Chastain electrify the Rose Bowl with a PK in 1999?
So, why not? Who's being harmed if Mahopac and Somers lined up for a shootout? Why not get a winner?
Why not let two fabulous goalkeepers face their opponents?
Really, what's the logic?
Why not let these athletes have a conclusion fitting of this great match? They deserve it. They didn't show up to be tied.
People were into it. Twitter was on fire. Cell phones were smoking with text messages. The Local Live audience was great.
Mia Klammer wasn't sitting at home, watching on TV and listening to Brian and me, to see her friends be co-champs. She certainly didn't want to be a co-champion.
Is anyone satisfied?
Someone will offer me some rhetoric why this is the preferred outcome. Don't tell me. Tell it to Somers. Tell it to Mahopac.
Tell it to the girls in that hockey game from 2015.
It was the worst-case scenario. One that will gnaw at them forever.
Just like a meaningfully meaningless non-baseball game 35 years ago.
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