J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets!

My friend Bob won a silent auction at a community theater he's involved in and had two tickets to yesterday's Buffalo Bills-New York Jets game, and invited me to come along. I gladly did so, having not seen an NFL game for more than 40 years.

I like the NFL very much, though it's a distant second to baseball in my eyes. Going to games is problematic, given the cost and selectivity--many teams have notoriously long waiting lists for season tickets, and places in line are passed down in wills. Plus, I've always thought football is a better game to watch on television.

But I wasn't about to turn down the chance to go. I had no rooting interest in the game. I root for the Detroit Lions, one of the few teams who have never been to a Super Bowl, and have never won a championship in my lifetime. I'm fairly neutral about the New York Teams (I'm also fairly close to Philadelphia, and there are a lot of Eagle fans around). I find Jets' coach Rex Ryan to be obnoxious, but while sitting in a sea of people wearing green Jets jerseys it was easy not to make waves and politely root the Jets on.

It was a great game, with many lead changes. The game really turned on a penalty. The Bills Steve Johnson caught a touchdown pass that put the Bills up 14-7 just before the half. He got a little carried away in his touchdown celebration. First he mocked the Jets' Plaxico Burress by miming shooting himself in the leg, and then flopped to the ground with his arms spread like airplane wings. He was flagged for excessive celebration, which was tacked on during the kickoff. The Bills kicker then mangled an attempt at a squib kick, booting it off of an up man for the kickoff return team, who recovered it for great field position. The Jets were able to drive it in for a touchdown.

The Bills managed to regain the lead, 24-21, but the Jets drove down the field with a few key catches by Dustin Keller. They got the winning score with just over a minute left. But the Bills had time, and managed to drive down the field. But then Johnson, who can't have had a good trip back to Buffalo, dropped what might have been a touchdown, and then Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick missed two times on throws to the end zone, the last one as time expired.

The last NFL game I went to was in October of 1971. I know the date because it was the same day that the Pirates beat the Orioles in game seven of the 1971 World Series. It was so long ago that the stadium (the Astrodome) and one team (the Houston Oilers) don't exist anymore. The Lions beat the Oilers that day, 31-7. I also have a faint memory of my dad taking me to an Eagles-Redskins game in what must have been the late '60s. It was back at old Franklin Field.

Due to the low sampling, yesterday's game now qualifies as the best NFL game I've ever been to.