It's Like That, and That's The Way It Is: Until The Final Buzzer

"It ain't over 'til it's over." - Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra was never known for his spot-on usage of the English language. But those six words have transcended baseball and sports as a whole to mean something completely beyond (or possibly exactly what) Yogi was trying to say.

It ain't over 'til it's over.

You never know...

My good friend bought me tickets to the White Sox-Twins game this past Friday, June 6.  Even though my birthday is on the fifth, I figured it would be better than watching the Sox pound on the Royals (even though they ended up pounding on Minnesota).

During the seventh-inning stretch, I met up with another few friends that were attending the game. One of them asked me how long I was going to stay.

"Until the final out," I replied.

I was taught somewhere by someone as soon as I became a baseball fan that you always stay until the final out. Part of this is that fan superstition that you can affect the outcome of the game just with your positive energy, but part of it is that you never know what can happen. You just never know.

"We start over again!"

On June 25, 2006, the Chicago White Sox were down 9-2 to the Houston Astros after seven innings. I was listening at home on the radio, disconsolate that the Sox couldn't get anything going against Roy Oswalt, but still hoping for some kind of rally. Even after Tadahito Iguchi hit a three-run homer in the eighth, they were still down by four runs (putting the Sox "within a slam," as Ed Farmer says.)

Somehow, the Sox loaded the bases in the ninth against Brad "I Should Have Jumped Off A" Lidge. And miraculously, Iguchi came up again.

"Fastball! Left-center field!  That one, way back there...IT'S TIED UP! Can you believe it?! We start over again!" - Jon Miller, calling Tadahito Iguchi's grand slam on 6-25-06

"They get it to Fisher..."

Everyone knows the Spurs and Lakers had their rivalry in the early part of this new millennium. It was a blow-for-blow affair, with the Shaq, Kobe and Phil Show going almost even with the Spurs' Big Three of Timmy D, Tony "I'm Married to Eva Longoria-" Parker and Manu Ginobili.

The Spurs were down one with 5.4 seconds left. The inbounds pass came into Tim Duncan, who looked to give-and-go with Ginobili. Manu was knocked down, however, so Duncan dribbled to the top of the key and threw up an off-balance fadeaway with Shaq in his face—and scored, leaving with 0.4 seconds on the clock.

To the players, the announcers, to everyone in San Antonio and watching at home, the Lakers were dead.

That's when Derek Fisher became a legend.

"Here [the Lakers] go. They get it to Fisher...HE SCORES!  Derek Fisher scores at the buzzer!!!" - Al Michaels, calling Derek Fisher's miracle shot over the Spurs

The story of "Big Shot Rob"

Robert Horry may not be liked everywhere in the NBA (mostly in Phoenix, Detroit, or Sacramento), but he is a good player with a substantial resume: Horry has been in the playoffs every single year since he came into the league, and as the picture shows, he has won seven championship rings.  Seven rings.

Jordan won six. Kobe's won three. Magic? Five. It's not fair to compare Horry with the greats, but he's been in the right place at the right time.

More than once.

"Ball tipped out to Horry; a straight-on three...GOOOOD! The Lakers have won!  Robert Horry's greatest hits tour continues!"

Just in case

There are countless other comebacks.  Jordan's "Shot" over the Cavs in '88; Elway and Co.'s "Drive" to beat the Browns; "The Play" that made Cal announcer Joe Starkey an icon. You just never know what's going to happen.

This phrase doesn't only hold true for sports. This holds true for life. There's a reason I get chills when I watch Iguchi's grand slam or when I hear the Trinity College announcers scream into the microphone.

Celebrated sportswriter Frank Deford came to my class this past semester to do a question-and-answer session. I tried hard to think of a good question, and I asked him why he thought sports were important.

"Sports are a microcosm of life," he said.

At a deep level, we see sports as a "movie" of our daily lives. Triumph, defeat, drama, setbacks, advances, heartbreak, courage, perseverance—it all plays out on the proverbial "field of battle."

Those setbacks and narrow defeats might hurt us inside as fans, but those come-from-behind victories give us hope and inspiration that we might win out over the obstacles that face us in our daily lives.

So the next time you're at the game and your team is down at the last out or with the final seconds ticking away, don't head for the exits just yet.

Miracles can happen. And not just on ice.

Until next time, keep waving the Pennant.

Photo courtesy of Suprizymurta.blogspot.com.