The Magic of Derek Jeter Lives On In Pinstripe Bowl
By Owen Gabbey
@ogab_3
Joe Camporeale – USA Today Sports
Some disillusioned people might not believe in the idea of magic. They might feel as though it’s for those of us who have given up on the rational ways of explaining the world. To those doubters, to those people who can no longer experience wonder, I simply ask you to believe in the wonder of Derek Jeter. For his power truly cannot be denied. Even after his retirement, when most assumed his importance on the sports world would simply turn to golfing with President Obama, he still affects games in ways no one thought possible.
What I’m talking about, of course, is the New Era Holiday Pinstripe Bowl between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Boston College Eagles. In this game, Penn State staged a late comeback, driving down the field. They needed to kick a field goal to send the game into overtime. So Penn State kicker Sam Ficken calmly stepped up and nailed the 44-yarder. So, we moved to overtime. Here, the Boston College kicker missed the extra point, at which point Penn State scored, Ficken nailed his extra point, making him the hero.
Now, some of our more cynical friends would argue that this was simply due to Ficken being one of the more accurate kickers in the country, going 24-for-29 on FGs throughout the season. But this is the simple explanation. The real explanation is that Ficken was driven by the power of his locker partner at Yankee Stadium, the host of the Pinstripe Bowl. The regular user of that locker? That’s right. The Captain. Derek Jeter. Ficken even said that teammates told him he would kick a game-winner when he was assigned Jeter’s locker.
You can have all the talent in the world, but some things are unavoidable. The fact that you’ll have the day of a lifetime when using Jeter’s locker is one of these things. So, deny the power of many things. But never deny the power of Derek Jeter.
Owen Gabbey is a baseball writer who also contributes for the NFL for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ogab_3, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.
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