I’m with you. The whole affair is kind of syrupy and mawkish; the kind of thing you’d expect from a thoroughly emasculated society. They ought to have let him in on a couple of plays in a more-or-less meaningful situation; that would have given him (and maybe Dad looking down from Heaven) a better feeling than all the made-up opportunity in the world.
Does anyone think that if they were down by 6 points they would have pulled up short? Your answer will tell you all you need to know about this contrivance. Its up there with the “participation trophy”. I feel for the kid but this was not a “win one for the Gipper moment.
In 10 years everyone will have forgotten about this entire episode. Except the young man who got to honor his father. And here we’ve got the prudish old lady crowd tut-tutting us about how the world is going to hell because one kid didn’t something nice for another.
I’m sure every kid on the team will end up a lib on welfare because of this episode. Probably everyone in the stands who cheered too.