No memory lives in a deeper and more miserable corner of Buffalo Bills fans' minds than Scott Norwood's wide right kick as the clock ran out on Super Bowl XXV.
The highlight reel is always reminding us just what it was like. The camera pans over the sidelines as every player and coach turns his head to follow the path of the ball through the Florida sky. Then, a shot from below shows the ball sailing just wide of the uprights.
People who grew up here still talk about how they cried that night.
That's why what happened the next morning was one of the most bittersweet and beautiful moments in the history of Buffalo.
After their pre-dawn flight landed, the players got on the team buses at the airport. They thought they were going back to the stadium and then heading home for a bleak winter. But the buses took a surprise turn, toward downtown. The drivers parked behind City Hall. The players were led up several flights of stairs.
They emerged onto a stone balcony, high above a broad public square, to a breathtaking sight--a roaring red white and blue sea of tens of thousands of Bills fans.
"They sustained the clamor. On and on it reverberated," remembers former head coach Marv Levy in his new book. "When finally the noise began to subside, some of the fans started a chant. Quickly, others joined in. Soon they were bellowing in unison: 'We want Scott! We want Scott! We want Scott!'
"The crescendo mounted, and at last Scott Norwood, urged forward by several nudges from his teammates, stepped forth to speak. His voice was cracking, but he spoke for us all when he said, 'I know I've never felt more loved than right now. We will be back. You can count on it, and we are dedicating next season to the fans of Buffalo.'"
Levy had coached for decades, in cities across America. But this morning inspired him to say, "There are no fans anywhere like Bills fans."
I have often thought of this story in the weeks since UB's loss in the finals of the MAC tournament, a game that came down to the final play. With one second to go, the ball tipped by Leon Williams of Ohio sat on the rim (for what seemed like forever) and fell in to give the Bobcats the win.
After the game we sat in the Harry Buffalo, a bar near Gund Arena, drowning our sorrows. We grasped for a way to describe the way our hearts dropped as the ball sat on the rim and then fell. Some of us who were Bills fans could only say, at first, "It was just like wide right."
That was a good analogy, in the sense that we came ever so close, and it would have been so perfect.
But it was also a good analogy because we felt as deeply proud of the Bulls as that vast crowd felt after the Super Bowl. After several more rounds and several toasts, I knew that there were no fans anywhere like UB Bulls fans, and I eagerly awaited the big pep rally at which we could thank the players for a great season.
I am still waiting.
It may seem that the time is not just right. The Bulls have moved toward the backs of UB sports fans' minds for now, as the Final Four converges on St. Louis, make-or-break time for our bracket pools.
But this season meant a lot to us. We want a chance to thank the team for a great season. And we want to show our pride in the seniors, especially those of us who are seniors ourselves.
There was a small rally in the Union, I guess, a few days ago. But it wasn't publicized until the day it was supposed to take place. It was hardly the venue and setting this sort of celebration deserves. As a result, not too many people showed up.
The athletics department has really dropped the ball.
Call out the Mighty Maniacs! Call the Cage Crazies, the Idbihi Crazies, and the Bortz Supremacy! Call Jon Amitrano! The cheerleaders, dazzlers and band! The community, who supported the team so well!
Maybe the players aren't sure they want to do it. They are a humble, classy team, and I can understand their desire to fade quietly from the spotlight.
But that's not how we do things in Buffalo. We may get beat in the most heartbreaking ways possible, but we come together to celebrate our teams, we pick ourselves up, and we come back fighting.
When celebrated, and shared by everyone, that tenacious spirit can bring a community together. Until now, it has been shared only by those of us who grew up in Buffalo, who remembered "wide right" and "No Goal." But now that spirit can unite everyone at UB.
After the dust settles on the Tournament, let's come together and say farewell in style.
