This is fantasy football:
So I'm playing the guy who is a game ahead in our division in the Manly Football League, a holdover from the pre-Web era that STILL counts only TDs, FGs, safties and XPs (with 4 points for a TD pass and 1 point for a 2-point conversion pass). I'm up 36-32 going into a Monday night duel between Tony Romo and Cowboys kicker Nick Folk.
Here's how I lost:
After taking a 40-33 lead on Romo's first TD pass (and Folk's XP), Folk's field goals pushed my opponent to a 42-40 lead. But I came storming back behind Romo's late TD drive to take a 44-42 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining. Romo's pass for the two-point conversion would have made the score 45-42 and closed out the week, but Terrell Owens dropped it.
The Cowboys recovered the ensuing onside kick and then began toying with me. Romo's completion on first down put Folk in field goal range, but it was reviewed and reversed. Romo's second completion put the Cowboys in range for a 63-yarder. With 7 seconds remaining, Romo's pass on third down moved them in close enough for a 53-yard kick.
Folk hit it, only to have it waved off by a Dick Jauron time out. This trick has worked in two previous games this season, as kickers choked when asked to hit long field goals twice in a row. But Folk didn't. He lined up and punched it right through. I know this because Mike Tirico told me. I had my shirt pulled over my face for both attempts.
I lost 45-44.
And the worst part?
I started the wrong kicker. Neil Rackers scored 10 points, but Nate Kaeding scored 11 on my bench. Had I gone the other way in setting my lineup, I'd have won on tiebreaker points and I'd be in control of the division this morning.
Instead, I am a bitter, bitter man.
I love this game.
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