...you can't do that!

 ...you can't do that!

    One of my favorites of all Greg's stories was a gem about his Dad who was loved by all the guys that stopped in on McNerney for gab and sports on TV.  Each weekend during football season the men played what was known just as "the card" or football card where you were given a choice to pick teams with odds on an actual cardboard entry form. There was both college and pro teams on the cards that were marked with the meaningless "business stimulator only" and "not to be used as a Solicitation to wager." You got them under the table from the agents of local bookmakers, often local sporting goods stores. They were really a way to heighten interest in the games and give men and boys something to get excited about since most of these games meant nothing outside of cash-extraction from amateur gamblers and facilitators called touts. Winning was very difficult and often the payoffs never happened over many years. To win the card was a great cause of celebration and frequently you would get two games won and be hanging on the outcome of one single game. It was extra dramatic to have the game you needed to win on a Sunday when the NFL put on their shows for mostly defeated fans. On this particular Sunday September 28, 1978 John had managed to have two wins in the bank and his pick of the San Diego Chargers were in front of the hated Oakland Raiders with just ten seconds to go. John was counting his winnings (probably twenty-five bucks) as Kenny "the Snake" Stabler took a snap from center Jim Otto on the fourteen yard line with the Raider trailing 20-14. Young Greg was recovering from a case of the flu and was watching on a portable in a bedroom knowing the possible glory that lay ahead for his Dad. Stabler was stacked up by Charger end Fred Dean and any chance of his throwing a pass was made futile. So Stabler just let loose and fumbled the football  and it appeared the game was over. However, the pigskin bounced toward a Raider lineman who swiped at it and sent what should have been a dead ball bouncing toward the goal line. At that point, tight end Dave Casper sort of dribbled the ball around the two yard line, shoved it into the end zone and fell on the ball. The clueless refs threw their hands in the air, signalling touchdown as time ran out! Greg feebly croaked from the bedroom "you...can't...do...that" and then he heard an enraged voice from the front room boom "you god damned fucking son of a bitch!" This being the second time he heard his father use that profane curse. Moments passed and Grace was heard scolding John for his language which he tried to deny but she shot back with force "YOU DID TOO!  In NFL history the play is forever known as "The Holy Roller"

 If a ball is fumbled in the field of play, and goes forward into the opponent’s end zone and over the end line or sideline, a touchback is awarded to the defensive team;