Six days and a memory

As I sit here trying to comprehend the sporting events over the past six days, I sit back, shake my head, glance at a Minnesota Twins calendar and Syd Davy magazine feature pinned up at my desk and crack a “I was fortunate to experience this” smirk.

I then grab a drink of water, because my voice is still shot and I’ll need it again Sunday when I return to the Metrodome.

Don’t know who Syd Davy is? Read on and you’ll realize why he became a solid footnote in four of the most memorable days ever for a local sports editor.

And not even Wednesday’s loss by the Twins could put a damper on what happened (see game story below).

This column started locally Friday when Broncos football coach Jay Boyle recorded his first career victory. The plan was to log all the weekend sporting events, including Boyle’s win, with dates and times and put them together for today’s paper. But as pens ran out of ink and moments piled on moments, there came a point Monday night before kickoff when I gave up. My last time log was at 7:15 p.m., and it was thanking the Canepa family for bringing their 42-inch high definition television into a Minneapolis parking lot.

That’s right, 13 football fans without tickets — plus the occasional passer by and parking lot cop — watched Monday night’s game under a Vikings gazebo in a parking lot adjacent to the Metrodome ... on a 42-inch high definition television. Perfect reception. Perfect outcome. No crowded bar. Grilling at halftime. And an added bonus of hearing the roar from the crowd before watching the big plays on T.V., courtesy of a 7-second delay on all football broadcasts.

The time log might’ve started Friday and ended Monday before kickoff, but the memory log continued well into Tuesday, capped by Carlos Gomez scoring the most exciting regular-season run in Twins history.

Then there’s Saturday’s Badger-Gophers football game, which featured Paul Bunyan’s Axe — and Goldy Gopher in a purple Brett Favre jersey — at TCF Bank Stadium for the first time. The outcome was a downer, but roughly 3 1/2 hours later, Michael Cuddyer’s eighth-inning blast against Kansas City put the Twins in an unthinkable position to steal the division. Badger victory forgotten.

In attendance Sunday at the Metrodome, I couldn’t help but wonder why I was going to miss a place that was so inhospitable for baseball. Then came the 13-4 victory to force Tuesday’s contest. And then a closing ceremony that featured goose bump moment after goose bump moment.

“ ... And we’ll see ya tomorrow night.”

Jack Buck’s famous call of Kirby Puckett’s Game 6 home run could’ve been used Sunday, although Monday began well before the sun went down.

Tailgating, or “Favregating” as we tabbed it, started around 1:30 p.m. Two of the first Favregaters who showed up walked by ESPN analyst Steve Young on the way in. An hour later, an interview with www.sportsbubbler.com was conducted.

This is when Davy comes in. From Winnipeg, Davy has been to over 200 straight Vikings games at the Metrodome and is known most recently as the super fan who Randy Moss would look for when he jumped into the stands after a touchdown. I usually leave recognizable people alone, but as he yelled into a television camera during an interview — berating Packers officials for “making the biggest mistake in NFL history,” for letting Favre go — I had to find some time to grab a picture with the legend, especially since he’s featured in my cubicle after getting in The Sporting News magazine. A picture was taken, a memory was made and he even gave me his personalized football card which read “NFL’s Most Fanatic Fan,” courtesy the USA Today.

Around 5:45 p.m. Monday, as some fellow Favregaters and I were soaking up the situation, a Vikings fan pulled out his check book to pay for some tickets. Pretty standard, until he filled in the memo part of the check with — “For: The best day of my life.”

For that guy it was. And for Jay Boyle, Friday, Oct. 2 will always be known as the day of his first victory. Saturday, Oct. 3, will stick out positively for Badger fans and Cuddyer and Twins fans, but negatively for Gopher fans. Sunday, Oct. 4, will be known for the last regular season game at the Metrodome ... which was scheduled, and Monday, Oct. 5, hosted the most-watched Monday Night Football game of all time.

Oct. 6?

Thanks to the Minnesota Twins, my 28th birthday was capped by jumping around a buddy’s living room when Gomez dove across home plate.

Everyone has a favorite sports memory, and the ridiculousness of these past six days has yet to completely soak in.

When it does, I’ll be searching for that next great memory, just like Boyle will be searching for his next victory.