People sometimes ask me, what's my fascination with sports? A few things come to mind. I am a little obsessed with statistics, and using them to formulate why something is or isn't what it seems. Another reason would be that I like to play a lot of them. While I'm not very good, I enjoy working as a team and maybe in my mind, pretending that the game is bigger than it actually is.
But neither of those are the reason I am writing today. There is a third reason I love sports, especially watching them. You never know when you are going to see something special. A lot of times, you can feel that something could happen. It's a "wouldn't it be cool if..." moment. Sometimes, its an epic play or a huge upset, or a post game tirade. My favorite of all, is the late game comeback. You've seen or heard of the big ones, Bills-Oilers, Mavs-Heat, Yankees-Red Sox, among others, but the most amazing comeback I've ever seen wasn't on a field, or a court, or on a rink, but an octagon.
I'm not a huge MMA fan. It's fast pace and high action does make it more appealing than boxing. On Sunday, the UFC had an event in Pittsburgh, and what happened might be the most amazing 30 seconds ever. Cheick Kongo is a veteran MMA fighter. He's not the best, but he's still a pretty good fighter. His opponent, Pat Barry, (Not the FOX 19 Weatherman) is not a slouch either. They are the main event of the evening, and boy, was that a good call.
The round starts out with the two men sizing each other up, landing a few probing shots to figure out what their game plan is. After some slow building, Barry comes in and with one big punch sends Kongo down hard. As Barry tries to get on him, but Kongo gets to his knees and while he tries to stand, Barry continues the assault. Kongo gets to his feet and after another shot, he falls. Hard. He looks like Jenga blocks toppling over. And for a second he's on his back. Then, something happens.
Kongo struggles to get to his feet. Barry is trying to hold him down but allows Kongo to stand again. And honestly, how can you blame him? The last two punches Kongo took while standing floored him. It's going to happen again, right? Barry rushes in on his dazed opponent and gets caught with a punch while he is coming in. And then an uppercut, and wait... Pat Barry is out. He's out like VHS, Myspace, and Charlie Sheen's acting career.
On the video between 4:37 and 5:05, Pat Barry seemingly knocks his opponent out TWICE only to lose. It's an amazing comeback. It's an amazing series of events. And it's stuff like that fight that make sports so fun. Because for every blowout, late comeback that's thwarted, and just plain boring game, there is a Chieck Kongo becoming the Semi-Conscience Superman. And that's what makes sports the most rewarding form of entertainment. If you stick it out long enough, the amazing happens.
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