I was extremely nervous early in the game, literally pacing the living room after every place. I understood the legacy at stake.
Then early second quarter I felt a strange calm. It was still scoreless but we were controlling the game. It's maybe the first time in my life I remember relying on the big picture and not fretting the little details.
This will all work out. It did.
After the game the city of Miami took to the streets. It wasn't anything like the recent Heat celebrations. No pots and pans. That didn't exist at all. Also there wasn't a centralized location, like Bird Road for the Heat. No, it was everywhere and more joyous and genuine. People stayed in their neighborhood and waved white hankies and banners. A major trend at the time was to take a white bedsheet and write a celebratory message on it, then have several people hold it up alongside the street in front of your house. This went on everywhere. Cars driving slowly would honk in tribute while everyone cheered.
I've mentioned previously that my family greeted the team at Miami International. I grabbed my mom's hand and pulled her closer and closer to the podium, as she apologized to all the people we were squeezing past. I didn't care. They can watch from 100 yards. I want 10.
Many years later I enrolled at USC. I remember sitting in the Coliseum and scanning the entire structure, trying to imagine that day when the Dolphins culminated perfection. Then a cute coed in short shorts would walk past and jolt me into the present.