Sunday
Both the Vikings and the Bears open with convincing offensive drives. The Vikings’ Herschel Walker converts a critical third down on the drive by slowly picking his way through a hole like a man stumbling to the bathroom in the dark. After that, however, the Vikings are in the dark about how to use him, and he doesn’t have another good run until the game is out of hand. In the meantime, the Bears get a jump start from the zebras: the best play in the Bears’ playbook is the yellow flag. They drive for the tying touchdown with the help of a pass-interference call on third and long.
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The Bears then display some grit after Anthony Morgan is smacked out of bounds by the Vikes’ Joey Browner, long after a long pass intended for Morgan had fallen incomplete. Not only does the ensuing unnecessary-roughness penalty give the Bears a first down, but Morgan catches a touchdown pass to finish the drive and put the Bears up 14-7. With the help of a Harbaugh interception, the Vikes drive for a field goal, but they thoughtlessly leave enough time on the clock for the Bears to put something together, and–with the help of a silent replay official when Tom Waddle makes a catch out of bounds–the Bears answer with a field goal before the half, 17-10.
After the slow and scattershot pace of the first half, the Bulls open the second half with full-court pressure and get immediate results. They pull down 14 of the first 17 errant shots after intermission, and they run the Pistons off the court. The key segment comes when the ball gets loose in the lane on a Detroit possession. Horace Grant emerges from a rugbylike scrum, scoops the ball up, and dishes it out to Scottie Pippen. Pippen comes down on the fast break with Grant on the wing, gives him the ball, and Grant skirts a set Bill Laimbeer to complete the break with a lay-up. Laimbeer falls down anyway, trying to draw the offensive foul, but is called for blocking instead and is so incensed that, in rolling over, he raises his legs and trips up Grant. Grant comes up with his fists tight, but Michael Jordan grabs him. Thomas comes running down screaming at the ref and trying to widen the skirmish. The officials mete out technical fouls to Grant, Laimbeer, and Thomas, but the Grant and Laimbeer fouls evidently cancel out, so that Jordan shoots the Thomas technical, Grant finishes his three-point play, and that is it. Except, of course, that the Bulls press off the free throw, and Thomas–attempting to dribble free–leads himself too much and pushes the ball straight to Jordan, who drives for the easy basket, giving the Bulls a 57-43 lead. It is the Pistons who are frazzled by the rough play, and the Bulls continue on, after a Detroit time-out, to open a 70-48 lead. They hold the 22-point advantage through three quarters and coast home, 110-93. The Bulls push past the Pistons into first place–pure bliss.
Friday
Miami was 7-0 against number-one teams in the 80s; they’re acquainted with the pressure and they come out ready, scoring on the first possession with the help of some shaky Florida State penalties. After that, however, the Seminoles dominate, although they can never quite put the Hurricanes away. They kick a field goal, then drive for a touchdown to take a 10-7 halftime lead. They add two more field goals in the second half to lead 16-7, but there is that feeling–unique to college football–of their having a tenuous grip on the momentum of the game. The Hurricanes get a break with an interception, and they drive for a field goal to get within six. Then they put together a run-oriented drive and go all the way for the touchdown and go-ahead extra point. State drives back but misses a mid-range field goal in the closing seconds. Good game.
This is the sports scene that replenishes us, that teaches us the lessons of competition, that reminds us what it’s like to be human.
