"The Play" at 25

The Play - 25 Years Ago, originally uploaded by shanan.

25 Years Ago this month. If you like sports, it's pretty amazing. If you bleed blue and gold, you can't stop smiling for about 10 hours every single time you watch the video and hear Joe Starkey call the play.

See coverage at the Chronicle and Wikipedia (below). Or you could just watch the video again and again.

The Play refers to a last-second kickoff return during a college football game between the University of California, Berkeley ("California" or "Cal") Golden Bears and the Stanford University Cardinal on November 20, 1982. Given the circumstances and rivalry, the wild game that preceded it, the bizarre and heavily disputed way in which The Play unfolded, and its lingering aftermath on players and fans, it is often recognized as the most memorable play in college football history and among the most memorable in all of American sports.

After Stanford took a 20-19 lead on a field goal with four seconds left, the Golden Bears used five lateral passes on the ensuing kickoff return to score the winning touchdown and turn defeat into a 25-20 victory. Members of the Stanford Band had come onto the field midway through The Play, believing that the game was already over, and this was the basis for some protests as to the legitimacy of The Play, but the touchdown stood. However, there remains some controversy as to the legality of all the laterals.