THE AGS 2005 CHALLENGE #3.....

[buckp]

Welcome to the AGS 2005 Challenge #3. This is the last of the contests to win a free copy of the I-AA.org 2005 Fall Preview Magazine and I hope we have some good entries. Any AGS registered poster can enter simply by telling a short story about their proudest moment that they have experienced for their team. The rules are….

1) The contest will be opened Wednesday, June 1, 2005 (today) from 6:00 AM CST to 11:59 PM CST. No entry will be considered after 11:59 PM Wednesday night.

2) To enter, a contestant will submit on this thread a short story describing their (personal) proudest moment that they have experienced about their I-AA football team. Story should be limited to about 1 to 3 paragraphs.

3) Contestants are allowed to have viewed this moment either in person or via television, but must have been witnessed live by the contestant.

4) Contestants will be judged on how well story is written and how well they express their feelings about this special moment.

5) Pictures (small) are allowed, but will not be considered in judging.

6) Judging will be June 2nd and I will announce the winner as soon as I hear from all the judges - no later than Friday morning, June 3rd. All decisions by the judges are final.

7) The winner will receive free of any charges – a copy of the I-AA.org 2005 Fall Preview Magazine delivered to his doorstep via FedEx P-1*. This will be shipped as soon as the distribution center (Retro-Sports) receives their shipment (July?). However, the winning contestant must supply me with a physical address so that I can FedEx their Fall Preview to them - a “P.O. Box” will not be allowed! Any failure to provide a suitable address will void the winner of his prize and another winner will be selected.

Note: The key to this competition is following the rules and being able to express your emotions on your entry. I know ALL of you are very proud of your team and have great memories of certain games and/or events that made you express your pride in some form or another. Now, I’m simply asking you to share that special moment with the rest of the I-AA world ….. :nod:



* Any winner from the Lake Charles or surrounding area will have their magazine mailed to them via US Postal Service or they can pick it up at Retro-Sports in L.C (at no charge).

[buckp]

This entry was sent to me via PM by 'dungeonjoe'......

"My proudest moment as a Wofford fan came in 2003;it was not because of the I-AA playoff run or Wofford's first Southern Conference championship. Those things are important, but my source of pride came as a result of time spent on Saturdays with my sons watching and listening to Wofford football games. In the summer of 2003, our family moved across the state to a new town leaving behind familiar schools, places, and friends. My boys had some difficulty making the move. We moved much closer to Spartanburg, and since one of my sons played 4th grade football, I thought it would be good for the boys and me to go to the Wofford football games (when I was not performing weddings and funerals) and spend some good quality time together.

My pride in that Wofford football season is that I was able to teach my boys about the success of basic assignment football up close (not from a nosebleed section at a Carolina or Clemson ballgame). I was glad to be in Wofford's stadium; when my 6 year old son got bored, he would slide down the grassy hill at Gibbes stadium on a pizza box within my sight even as the game progressed. My oldest son would often bring a book and read, sitting next to me, watching dad get excited over a first down or some other event. Even though he didn't follow the games closely, he was happy to be there with me and his brothers. My middle son, the 4th grader, followed the game closely asking questions when he saw the coaches brief the players on the sidelines; he enjoyed every aspect of the game. Each week, my sons asked if we were going to a Wofford game that weekend. We had plenty to talk about during the week and plenty of memories to share.

I can't point to a particular play or victory of that year, I just know that I was proud to be a Wofford Terrier fan because those games helped my boys and me adjust to a new town. They helped us learn about football and teamwork. They taught us that the bond between fathers and sons is made stronger by time together sharing laughs and memories even when our favorite team loses. That wonderful season taught us what many, many fathers and sons have grown to know. That football is more than a game on 120 yard of grass, it is an opportunity to connect to things deeper than winning records and conference championships."

[colgate13]

To understand the pride that a Colgate football fan experienced during the 2003 playoff run, one must realize that for a time there in the mid 1990s,Colgate football barely had a pulse. After 5 straight seasons of losing 7 or more games, the (at the time Red) Raiders were the doormat of the Patriot League. With the hiring of Dick Biddle in 1996, the fortunes of those on the gridiron immediately began to change. First was the 1996 season, when that Colgate squad went from 0-11 to 6-5, becoming the second team in NCAA history to go from a winless season to a winning season the next year. The following year brought a Patriot League championship and a playoff birth and from there, the solidifcation of a new Colgate era of excellence.

The culmination of this effort was, in this fan's opinion, against Western Illinois University in the NCAA playoffs on December 6, 2003. There were those that called the previous week's win against the University of Massachusetts a fluke due to the weather. Colgate came out to prove differently in another battle on the tundra. It was a classic back and forth battle between two heavyweights.

This game stands out over the rest because of the sheer will not to quit that Colgate showed. After a back and forth contest all afternoon, Western llinois took a 6 point lead with 7:04 remaining in the game and then proceeded to stop the Colgate offense on its next possession. I confess that at that point the future looked bleak from those cold, snowy stands of Andy Kerr stadium; but it is now apparent that the men in maroon never thought so. The defense squad proceeded to stuff Western Illinios and force a punt with 3:09 remaining. Like a bolt of lightning to warm up the frozen and fading crowd, senior J.B. Gerald returns a punt 28 yards to the Leathernecks 25 yard line. At that point, this fan knew that there would be joy in Mudville that day, because the Mighty Colgate was not going to strike out. All of Andy Kerr Stadium rose to their frozen feet and witnessed the first play of the drive to be a 24 yard classic Chris Brown to Luke Graham pass completion to the one yard line. Three tries later, eventual Walter Payton winner Jamaal Branch punches through for a touchdown to give Colgate and the Patriot League its first ever entrance into the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs. The Colgate defense preserves the victory and my teary eyes watch a normally sedated student body rip down the goalposts and parade them down the main street of Hamilton. There has never been a sporting event like this one in Hamilton and for those that were there, it will be a memory that is forever imprinted on the mind of a time when Colgate truely reached greatness.

[putter]

My proudest moment came in the 1995 NC game against Marshall at Marshall. 32000 people screaming for the heavily favored Thundering Herd to beat these no-names from out West. It was the 4th quarter, Marshall led 20-19 and it was 4th down and 3 yards on the 45 yard line. Marshall had been blitzing all day on 3rd and 4th downs. Everyone I was watching the game with could not sit down, even the people in the bathroom were not sitting! Dickinson takes the snap from the shotgun, the blitz was picked up and Dickinson hits Mike Earhardt on a 10 yard slant pattern. He catches the pass and then holds on to the ball like it was his prize I-AA fall preview magazine and is tackled at the 22. Andy Larson comes into the game for the go-ahead FG. Again, no one can sit down and I can't even drink my beverage I am so nervous but Larson sneaks the kick behind the left upright!!! A thundering yell goes out and my hand still hurts from hi-fiving everyone. They missed a 60 yard desperation FG as time expired and we did the impossible! Something I will never forget!!

[colgate13]

He catches the pass and then holds on to the ball like it was his prize I-AA fall preview magazine

That line is a classic. :nod:

[buckp]

Thanks guys.....I love reading this stuff!!!! :bow:

It's like a window looking into the past at a perfect moment.

I cannot get enough..... :rotateh:

(Shut up and finish McNeese's....)

[Ivytalk]

As someone who's probably older than every Challenge 3 contestant so far, I want to hark back to the Harvard-Yale game of 1975 in New Haven. It was a grand time to be in college, during the Gerald Ford "interregnum" but before disco and Jimmy Carter's "peanut brigade." Wellesley women still cared about how they looked. Harvard had beaten Yale 21-16 in Cambridge the year before, when quarterback Milt "the Hawaiian Pineapple" Holt plunged over the goal line with about 15 seconds left, resulting in a tie with Yale for the Ivy title. I was almost brained by a falling goalpost. In '75, The Game was "winner take all" for the league title, and the Bulldogs were thirsting for revenge.

Truth be told, the '75 game was a defensive contest that lacked the razzle-dazzle action plays of '74, but the result was even more satisfying for the Cantabs. About 66,000 fans filled the Bowl on that bitterly cold November afternoon. Yale went ahead 7-0 in the first half, when Eli QB and future newscaster Stone Phillips bootlegged in from a few yards out. In the second half, Harvard RB Tom Winn tied it at 7 on a short run. Late in the fourth quarter, Harvard started its game-winning drive, highlighted by a clutch fourth-down reception by the late TE Bob McDermott, who died tragically in a fire a few years later. The winning margin was provided by Mike Lynch's "knuckleball" 25-yard FG, which had just enough "oomph" to clear the crossbar. A full-throated roar (at least I think it was...it was muffled by thousands of scarves and ski masks) emerged from the Harvard side, and Harvard emerged with its first solo Ivy title in the modern era. My lasting impression is the sight of Crimson lineman and future Chicago Bear Danny Jiggetts dancing along the sidelines as time expired.

[LBPop]

There's no feeling like that of a parent when their child reaches a milestone. When our son began playing kids' football, he couldn't buy his way onto the field. When he started high school, we all wondered whether he would make the freshman team. With that as a backdrop, you can only imagine how we felt when I-AA coaches (grown men!) from some of the nation's top Universities began coming by our home to encourage our teenage son to consider attending their school. While we look forward to some wonderful moments as we watch him develop on and off the field, our proudest I-AA moment came as my wife and I stood looking over our son's shoulder and watched him sign his letter of intent to attend Georgetown University. The photograph of that moment and the letter he signed are matted and framed together--they hang proudly in his room at home. When he moves out (much too soon for me) he will have a tough time talking us into letting him take it with him. Actually, I'll be a pushover--his Mom will be the tough one.

Note: I know that this is not what was contemplated as the type of story for this contest, but I thought the members of this board might enjoy the perspective of a proud Dad. I'll bet many of you who post here gave your parents the same kind of moments. If they weren't able to express how wonderful the feeling was, perhaps this will help you understand.

[Ivytalk]

Aw, shucks, Ralph! :confused: I can come up with something about the '97 H-Y game, but it wouldn't be my all-time best memory, so it would be dishonest to do that. I'll live with whatever the judges decide about my pre-I-AA entry, obviously.

[buckp]

I just realized that you put the challenge on this board also, Ralph. I hope the judges will read both threads. Here's my entry again - just for fun.....:p

December 7, 2002….

I can’t believe this! We have come this far and now we can’t even put a point on the board? After suffering through a scoreless first half, aren’t you suppose to make adjustments in the locker room? And now in the third quarter, the Griz have scored again - 17 points for them, 0 for us? As the stands starts to empty, I wonder to myself how could this happen? Weren’t we supposed to be number one? We have some of the best talent in the nation and yet, WE can’t even put ‘a’ point on the board? I feel depressed and angry, yet I don’t know who to direct it towards. I stand up to let the couple exit that were sitting next to me, then quickly sit back down like a child that has been told to be quiet. Is this the end of our season?

Time has a funny way of slowing down when you are sulking and it wasn’t till late in the third quarter that my attitude started to change. A pass from QB Corcoran hit B.J. Sams for a thirty-five yard gain and a McNeese touchdown. Soon after that at the start of the fourth quarter, Luke Lawton on Montana’s nineteen runs in for the next score. Then, Montana comes back with only a field goal thanks to the Cowboys defense, led by John Paul Jones. Score now 20-14 with the Griz holding the lead; but things slow down again for the Pokes with an interception thrown by Corcoran and the defenses start battling again. Come on guys! Where are the Cardiac Cowboys that can overcome any deficit?

With less than seven minutes left in the game, B.J. Sams breaks one again to the outside for a 17-yard touchdown reception putting McNeese into the lead for the first time tonight! YEEE-HAWWWWWW! The crowd goes wide! I have never in my life as a Cowboy fan heard McNeese fans stand up and yell in unison as they did for that touchdown. The yell actually started to resonate in the stands to a feverous pitch! My God, it was beautiful as tears were everywhere!

Montana goes on twice to try and score and is turned back while McNeese is able to kick a field goal thus winning the game 24 to 20. I will never forget that moment, the energy, and the high that McNeese fans felt that day. We were one and we had beaten the almighty Griz.

[Tribe4SF]

Even though I couldn't be there, I truly believed I knew what the outcome would be. He represented all that the William and Mary family had stood for in over 100 years of football history. Character, intelligence and an unceasing committment to make the most of what God had given him. And since God had given him so much, I was sure he would win.

I didn't need to hear his speech. I knew what he would say. He would convey a sense of gratitude and humility that, as always, would be so genuine that all who heard his words would know what "the family" knew....that he is for real.

Of all the young men who had come to William and Mary to work and grow as a student and football player, God had chosen him to be the one to be recognized. All the eloquent leadership of hundreds who preceded him had been constantly evident in how he played, and how he lived. Visual and auditory evidence that true student-athletes are a reality at William and Mary.

My pride in Lang Campbell is immense, but my greater pride is in the fact that we have created an opportunity for such a marvelous person to grow and thrive. Thank you to Lang, and so many others, for accepting our invitation and confirming that what we do, and how we do it, are truly worthwhile.

[buckp]

Thanks everyone for telling your story. The challenge is now closed and the judges will decide today who will be the winner. They will PM me their decision sometime today and I will make an announcement as soon as I hear from all of them. Thanks again everyone.....:bow: