The Greatest Game Ever Played

I’m talking, of course, about the 1958 National Football League championship game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants, played in on Dec. 28 in Yankee Stadium. It was the first and only NFL game to be decided in overtime, and was the most impactful professional football game ever played. You can read about it in Wikipedia.

My interest in the game stems from the fact that my former insurance agent (and still my friend) Al Barry played in that game as an offensive lineman for the New York Giants.

What a pleasure it was tonight to watch the ESPN documentary of the game, and to see Al as one of the guest commentators on the program. The guy is now 77, but he looks as young as he did many years ago when he and his wife Phyllis visited with us in Hawaii.

He’s written a book, The Unknown Lineman / The Lighter Side of the NFL. I’m going to have to read it, for sure. It’ll be available after Jan. 1, 2009 at www.authorhouse.com. However, if you google it, you’ll see it’s currently available at Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble.