A Tale Of Two Cities: Radio Play-By-Play Of Walsh's Miss
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- To borrow from Charles Dickens, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Depending on which radio station you were listening to, Blair Walsh's missed 27-yard field goal knocking Minnesota out of the NFL playoffs sounded like either the epoch of belief or the epoch of incredulity.
From the airwaves in Minnesota, where broadcasters Paul Allen and Pete Bercich were preparing for a game-winning play, the horror set in swiftly:
"Snap good, spot down, Walsh's kick is up ... and it is NO GOOD! He missed it! Are you kidding me?! The season can't end like that! He missed it left! And the Seattle Seahawks are off to Charlotte. ... Well sometimes you'd just rather be lucky than good, and for the Seattle Seahawks, they were lucky today."
And, in contrast, the broadcasters in Seattle, Steve Raible and Warren Moon, who were no doubt preparing for a much more somber end to their play-by-play:
"The snap, the kick is up. It's NO GOOD! Are you kidding me? It's no good! Oh baby, it's Christmas in Minnesota! And the Seahawks have dodged a bullet!"
Never have the words "are you kidding me" sounded so different from two sets of lips.