The greatest moments in sports often come in the waning moments.
Hayden sent her U8 Firecrackers team to the Cabarrus County Invitational final with a penalty kick back in the day. This, while coaches questioned out loud why in the world I’d put a girl on the spot with the game on the line.
Camdyn twice sent her team to overtime in playoff games with incredible shots. The first came to tie the game with less than a minute to play in a first-round match. She ripped a free kick from just inside the midway line right through the keeper’s hands.
Two seasons later, she did it again.
I call it the Angriest Shot on Earth. Perturbed at rough play and upset over a missed penalty kick, Camdyn ripped a shot from midfield, during play. It tied the championship match and sent us to overtime, and eventually penalty kicks.
We lost, both times.
Just proves the most painful moments in sports often come in the waning moments, too.
1. Is it even possible to score two touchdowns in 2 minutes?
Two minutes? That’s an eternity in football.
The Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings took it a step (or three) further in 2013. Baltimore won 29-26 in a game that featured five go-ahead touchdowns – in the final 2 minutes, 5 seconds. “I’ve never played a game like that,” Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith told ESPN.
“I’ve never played in a video game like that.”
Here’s how it went:
2:05 remaining: Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco finds Dennis Pitta for a 1-yard touchdown pass, on fourth-and-goal, for 15-12 lead.
1:27 remaining: Toby Gearhart’s 41-yard run put Minnesota ahead 19-15.
1:15 remaining: Jacoby Jones returns the kickoff 77 yards. Baltimore leads again 22-19.
:45 remaining: Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel connects with Cordarrelle Patterson for a 79-yard touchdown. Minnesota up, 26-22.
:04 remaining: Marlon Brown catches a 9-yard pass from Flacco. Baltimore wins, 29-26.
Whew.
2. Can I wear this, or is it too Charlotte United-y?
Even the kids honor the sponsors.
Charlotte United, my former club team, wore Puma officially, then switched to Under Armor. Their colors are green and gold.
I have a sweet Charlotte United hoodie I can’t really wear in public anymore, now that I coach and you play with Lake Norman Soccer Club. They’re a Nike outfit. Our colors are sky blue and black.
The jacket in question isn’t too Charlotte United-y, Camdyn. I just wouldn’t wear it to training. They’ll wonder if you’re taking your clutch goals across town.
3. What’s the difference between ‘on’ and ‘start’?
On and start are just two positions on the ignition switch. Here’s what they all mean:
LOCK | It’s where you can remove your key. It turns off non-essential electrical currents and locks the steering column.
OFF | Not all cars have this, but you can unlock the steering column on a turned-off car here.
ACC | It’s for accessories – it gives power to your radio, fans and sometimes windows and sunroof. This is handy while you wait in pickup line and still want to jam out to Boz Skaggs.*
ON | Now we’re talking. Your dashboard will light up, and you’ll get those dings that translate to “time to put on your seatbelt, chump.”
START | This activates the starter motor solenoid and cranks your engine.
*-leave your car in ACC for a prolonged period (I wouldn’t mess with anything longer than Don McClain’s American Pie) and someone will have to jumpstart your ass.
4. Why is Andy Griffith in black and white and Little House on the Prairie in color?
![[[File:Andy Griffith Don Knotts Andy Griffith Show 1960.jpg|Andy Griffith Don Knotts Andy Griffith Show 1960]]](https://coachdaddyblog.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/andy-griffith.jpg)
Maybe not *that* baffling. Andy Griffith ran from Oct. 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968. The story of the widower sheriff in Mayberry, N.C., started in black and white but changed to color in 1965. Shot in the 60s, the Andy Griffith Show probably took place in the 1930s.
Did you know Andy Taylor made time with five ladies during the show’s run? They were pharmacist Ellie Walker, short-timer Mary Simpson, nurse Peggy McMillan, high school sweetheart Sharon DeSpain and schoolteacher Helen Crump.
Little House on the Prairie aired from 1974-83. The series, an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, featured the Ingalls family’s Minnesota farm life in the late 1800s.
Because TV had switched to color nine years before, Little House appeared in full color. The legend goes that the late Michael Landon, who played Pa and directed 89 episodes, had the set of Walnut Grove destroyed so no one else would use it.
5. How did M&Ms get their name?
Not from the rapper.
(As an editor, I saved a writer’s arse when he referred to the rapper as M&M.)
M&M stands for Forrest Mars and William Murrie. Forrest Mars Sr. noticed chocolate treats in hard candy shells in soldiers’ rations in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). By World War II (1939-45), they were as American as a five-touchdown fourth quarter.
Did you know the vegetable dye printer at the M&Ms plant can stamp 2.5 million candies an hour? That means they could print 83,333 M&Ms in the time it takes the Ravens and Vikings to score 35 points.
Football and candy? That’s the kind of math made for dads.
Just a dad ... 
Good questions 🙂
They ask some five-star questions, these three.
Numbers 4 and 5, I actually knew the answers for and wouldn’t have had to look up if asked those same questions. Just saying and nice to know that sometimes I do know something around here 😉
Good on you, J-Huld! I love how the 70s haircuts in Little House kept it not so real.
thanks for giving me the answer to my lifelong m&m’s question. and it is an adult’s right to buy candy, we’ve earned it!
i’m just grateful one of those guys didn’t go into business with a dude named smith.
That quote is hilarious and true, except when one has little kids, that candy must be scarfed down while hiding in the closet. 🙂
I did not know that about the M&Ms. Now I know who to thank as I eat my peanut ones every day.
That football game was unbelievable. Seeing as how I have a family full of football-lovers, I heard all about it.
Those angry shots are quite satisfying. Bummer that in the end both games were lost, but it shouldn’t take away from the feeling of accomplishment.
Parenthood teaches us creative ways to hide our candy, doesn’t it Christine? I like your approach!
The cool thing about M&Ms is that if the stamp isn’t perfect, they don’t care. There are none tossed for that.
My luck, I’d have been watching that game and thought, “aw, hell. It’s 12-6 with 2 minutes left. I think I’ll go make a sandwich quick.”
I love to watch how my girls respond to adversity. It’s inspiring to me, as a man who, as a boy, never got anywhere close to pressure situations in sports – unless you count holding down the bench as high pressure.
Your new blog look is awesome, by the way. Look forward to getting over there again for a while. I miss your writing!
Whew! Fatherhood keeps you busy, doesn’t it? I need to share #3 and #5 with my children- I’ve got a soon-to-be-driver and a daughter with a candy addiction. She’ll probably try to figure out how many M&Ms she could eat in an hour. 😉 And we always love soccer talk…
Happy Friday!
It’s a beautiful chaos, fatherhood. I hadn’t given much thought to where the key was in the ignition until a little co-pilot brought it up.
Soccer talk rocks. That tournament was the one your team came down for!
Even playing Don MacClean’s ‘American Pie’ with the key on ACC would be cause for a jump, it happened. I know. As for the final seconds, it’s all about playing the entire game – I tell me kids, you don’t have to lead the entire game or race, but you have to be prepared to take the lead in the end. Sure a dominant performance is great, but when two teams are evenly matched – it comes down to endurance and having the mindset to win in the final couple of minutes. It’s all good. Congrats to your daughter, life is full of pressure moments – learn young, play hard.
I had to figure American Pie and Hey Jude aren’t the songs you want to mess with on the ACC. Is your entire story post-worthy?
I want my girls to know it’s never over til it’s over, either when you’re behind or ahead. Even in a blowout, I’ll tell them, ‘finish strong!’
I’m so proud of how they weather the pressure moments. They inspire me.
M&M’s have M&M stamped on them–even Peanut M&M’s? I’ve never noticed it. You are a wealth of knowledge, Eli 😀
I guess “Mars & Murrie” wouldn’t fit! Yep, it’s there. I feel bad if I eat M&Ms in the dark and don’t even acknowledge what color they are.
Stick around Lyn – you’ll learn something for sure. I know I do.
Great questions! I especially love the color TV one as I watched the reruns for one of those shows and the live versions for the other. Television shows were so much better than they are today.
Happy Friday Eli!
This was a diverse batch, Tiff. I watched Little House live, too – and like the Andy Griffith episodes pre-1965.
The caked the makeup on Andy like a cheap bakery when they went color.
Funny thing, shows back then didn’t have to toss in a lightly-veiled sexual innuendo every 32 seconds to keep up ratings.
And the writing … I’ll put a M*A*S*H* script up against “How I Met Your Mother” any day of the week.
OMG.. M*A*S*H – best show ever!
Hawkeye Pierce was my hero at certain points in life.
Eminem ain’t M&M for sure 😉
Did you know you can order your custom M&Ms? Meaning you could assort green and gold ones.
Or sky blue and black ones for that matter!
Happy Weekend, E!
You’re not so badass as a rapper if you’re named after something in a candy-coated shell. I did know about the custom M&Ms, but I thought it was that you could have something printed on them, not that you could pick the colors!
Interesting facts. #3 I knew some of it but none of the rest. I’m feeling nostalgic now for an episode of Little House with a side of M&Ms that I can just go buy and eat even though I haven’t had a reasonable breakfast or lunch.
Ain’t they though, Kenya? I had no idea so much was going on in that steering column. In some circles, a bowl of M&Ms might be considered a reasonable breakfast. Or lunch!
Another excellent set of questions. Had to chuckle at the B&W v. colour question…..guess we’re old since we remember B&W TVs, huh? M&Ms? Thinking you’re right…..good thing it wasn’t someone with the last name S……
They brought it again, Torrie. There’s another question in the hopper about why TV *had* to be black and white. I wondered that myself as a kid. Why not green and blue?
Glad someone got the Smith point …
They built the destroying of the “Little House” sets into the last TV movie they made.
*hangs head in shame that I know that*
Oh, and guess who ordered a Lego Han Solo this week? To go with the carbonite-block version I already have 🙂
I didn’t know that about the house! I read that there was one remaining structure, but that it burned by accident.
(I also learned Michael Landon was a heavy smoker and that the set for the show turned out to be an awful spot for radioactivity. Several crew members wound up with cancer.)
Sweet about the LEGO Han! Post a pic of him when he comes in, would you? Do you have many other Star Wars LEGOs?
Admiral Ackbar, C3PO, R2D2, Yoda, a few storm and shadow troopers and a few imperial guards. 😀 So far at least…
Sweet!
Eli, Eli, Eli this is why I adore you. VARIETY. Of a sort that is beyond refreshing. I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve locked the ignition on our second car (its acquisition is a story just waiting to be told) and been unable to remove the key …
And here I thought it was because of my stellar use of punctuation, Kelly. The variety is all the girls’ – I just try to corral it. Maybe Go Ask Daddy should come standard in auto users guides.
I knew #5!! With a dad who worked there for 30+ years, and not to mention, I toured the plant myself! I did. I hand stamped a million M&Ms. Ok, that was a joke. I ate a million fresh ones, though.
Off the bat, I couldn’t even think of who made M&Ms, Tamara. The plant probably smells delicious, doesn’t it?
I might or might not have been among the 85% of readers of your comment who believed that you really did hand-stamp M&Ms. Use this one in your next post about jobs, would you?
Ahhh, Boz Scaggs… The soundtrack of my college days.
He’s just a cool dude … as a kid, my uncle loved him, and I’ve always appreciated his coolness. Boz’s, and my uncle’s.
Interesting! I never thought about color vs. black white on those shows. Good to know about M & Ms. I wish my parents knew stuff.
Girl power!!