Best Day Ever

There are so many stories in my life that I would consider funny. However, there are a select few that have been down right hilarious. One such story stands out. I am a football fan. When I was a kid my favorite team was the St. Louis Rams. The 2000 Super Bowl winners, which were called the “Greatest Show on Turf”, had some of my favorite players in the sport. My all time favorite was Tory Holt.

I live in St. Louis now and was devastated when I learned that the team was moving to Los Angeles. I had never even been inside the stadium, let alone seen a game there. My dad and his best friend are both from St. Louis. They were huge Rams fans. When my dad came down for a visit, we all got tickets to go see the “Greatest Show on Turf” play one last game in the dome. It was a flag football game but still.

Before I got any further, I need to make a few things clear. My dad and his friend are both 50 years old. When they were in college, they both played sports. My dad played baseball and his friend played soccer. Since they've been in college, they have argued over who is the better athlete.They will still joke about it today. The thing is, they are both older and out of shape.

My dad says baseball is a real sport so he is the better athlete. His friend says you need way more endurance to play soccer so it is obviously him. This was all in good fun but it went on all day long. It started as soon as we all met up at a bar before the game. The waitress talked to my dad’s friend and he joked with us saying, “See, she was flirting with me because she knows I play soccer.” My dad made a comment about how if she knew he had played baseball then she’d be flirting with him.

Again, this is all just having fun and joking around. On our way to the game is when things started to get more competitive. After a couple of beers and this back and forth banter, it was now time to prove who was more athletic. We were in a long hallway that had a moving walkway in it. They were going to sprint down the walkway as fast as they could. I was there to time them both. It was painfully slow but both their times were very close.

This didn't settle the score with either of them so the argument continued. We got to the game and it was amazing. I was seeing some of my heroes of the game play in their stadium. They are all older now but still look as if they could be playing for real. It was an amazing experience I will never forget. Of course, during the game they kept making jokes about who would be able to keep up with these professional athletes.

After the game is where things got interesting. We just happened to find out which hotel the team was staying in. We figured we should go grab a beer at the hotel bar and maybe see one of the players just pass by. When we got to the hotel, we saw five of the players sitting together at a table. The first guy I spotted was the man himself, Tory “Big Game” Holt.

Without hesitating both my dad and his friend walked right over to their table. I followed close behind. They were very polite to the players thanking them for putting on a great show in the dome.

My dad said, “You know what, you guys look like you could still be out there playing ball. You're all in such great shape.” They took the compliment and then my dad’s friend stepped up.

“You know it’s crazy. We are almost the same age. The problem is you guys look like that (in shape) and we look like this (out of shape).”

That is when it happened. Tory Holt, my hero, spoke up.

“Well, clearly you two aren't athletes.” I immediately shook his hand.