Last night I was working at home, not too far away from the Liberty Bowl, where the University of Memphis Tigers were opening their football season against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
I was too busy to watch the game, but around 10:30 or so, I noticed the BOOM BOOM BOOM of fireworks.
Fireworks at the Liberty Bowl? Why? I couldn't figure it out at first, and then it dawned on me. Something unbelievable had happened. The Tigers had chewed up the Bulldogs, and were celebrating their first victory of the season. Wow. That was unexpected, but I was very happy for the home team.
So later that night, I switched on Sports Center to see the score, to see how Memphis had accomplished this. A close game, I thought, with maybe a Hail Mary pass to cinch the win. It took a while to learn the real news. On a Thursday night, college football isn't exactly the first thing they cover. Finally, I noticed the game results displayed on the "crawl" at the bottom of the screen. I stared in dismay at the score: 59-14. And it wasn't in the Tigers favor, as everyone knows by now.
So the question is: Why, exactly, were they shooting off fireworks after a 45-point defeat?
I guess everyone was just very, very happy that the game was finally over.
