Moving the Chains: ‘Til the Fat Lady Sings

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Almost 50 years ago, a sportswriter coined the phrase ‘the opera ain’t over till the fat lady sings.’  

It is the sporting world’s version of ‘don’t count your chickens before they hatch.’ 

In other words, a sports fan should not depend on a specific outcome until they know for certain. 

And the only way to be certain of an outcome is to stay until the very end.

Think back to November of 1984.  Miami pulled ahead in their game against Boston College, 45 – 41, after scoring a touchdown with 28 seconds left in the game.  With just six seconds left in the game, BC quarterback Doug Flutie threw (officially) a 48-yard Hail Mary (although the ball traveled 64 yards in the air) that was caught in the end zone for a game winning touchdown with no time left on the clock. 

Whether you were a Miami fan and thought the game was won or a BC fan who knew the game was lost, if you left before the outcome was decided you missed out on seeing one of the most indelible moments in the history of college football.

Having been a Florida Gator since the fall of 1973, it’s fair to say I’ve seen quite a few of their football games.  To date, in the past 53 seasons the Gators have played 649 games.  

I’ve probably seen all but 3 or 4 of them, and those were the games against negligible opponents before ESPN started covering anything involving five or more people and a ball.  The 69 – 0 blowout of Montana State in 1988, for example.  I missed that one.  

Of all of the games played since 1973, the Gators have won two-thirds of them (436 wins and 6 ties).  I’ve been in the stands for my fair share of wins.  I’ve been in the stands for my fair share of losses as well – at least more than I’d like to admit.   

But let me set the record straight right here and now: not once did I leave the stadium before the last Florida player on the field headed for the locker room.  Neither did my wife, who has been a Florida Gator as long as me. 

That’s why it saddens us both when fans decked out in orange and blue leave the stadium before the game is over.  Whether the Gators are way out in front or have absolutely no chance of winning, a true fan stays to the very end.  Win, lose, or *draw.  

*In 1979, Charlie Pell’s first year as Florida’s head coach, the Gators and Georgia Tech 

battled to a 7 – 7 draw in Atlanta.  I was in the stands that day, and I remembered 

sitting through a lengthy delay because of a thunderstorm.  The next day there was

 a photograph of me sitting in the stands during the rain delay.  

I don’t remember the caption, but if it was accurate it would have been

 ‘Disgruntled Florida fan suffers through lengthy delay 

for a game that neither team won.’ 

 (Note: overtime wasn’t introduced in college football until 1996.)

However, it never bothers me when fans of the opposition leave early.  Usually it’s because the outlook for victory looks dim, if not impossible.  Don’t they realize that when the players see their fans heading for the exits, it takes some of whatever wind is left in their sails?  

As for me, I personally love it when that happens, particularly if the ones abandoning ship are Tennessee or LSU fans.  And there’s nothing – absolutely nothing – I like seeing more in college football than Georgia Bulldog fans waving the white flag.

I can hear the rumbling now from everyone who wears the red and black.  ‘That never happens.  Rain or shine, we always stick around until the final gun.  Always!  Woof woof woof!’

Uhhh … no.  That’s not always true.  Certainly Georgia fans remember the 2007 win over Florida.  That was the game the Bulldogs scored the first touchdown and the entire team stormed the end zone.

However, Georgia fans may have forgotten – or would like to forget, anyway – the Florida-Georgia game the following year.  Let me refresh your memories: Florida – 49, Georgia – 10.  

Cindy and I were at that 2008 game, sitting on the Florida side of the stands with a clear view of the Georgia fans on the other side of the stadium.  Bulldog fans starting heading for the exits with 8 minutes left in the 3^rd quarter when Florida was ahead 21 – 3.  Three minutes later, the Gators were up 28 – 3, and the other side of the stadium looked like a red and black anthill had been kicked.  Two minutes later Florida scored again to extend the lead to 35 – 3.  

By this time the only Georgia fans left – 100 would be a stretch – were huddled in one place; the section of seats reserved for the players’ family and friends. 

I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to the Florida-Oklahoma National Championship game in January 2009, which ended with a 24 – 14 Gator win.  I held my three hosts hostage in the stands until the post-game awards were handed out, all the Gator had left the field, and the last piece of orange and blue confetti fell to the ground.  Suffice it to say, we were the last four people to exit the stadium that night.

That made it easy to find our car, because when we got to the parking lot it was the only car left. 

 Another perk for staying to the very end.