And the Good Lord settled the matter...
Updated: Sep 16, 2018
Did you ever hear of the miracle that occurred at the 1986 Mondial (World Cup) for Argentina's Diego Maradona?? The Good Lord Himself provided an assist on that day, and he did it again right here in the greater Orlando, Florida area - this time in American Football.
The Man Upstairs was at it again during the Thursday night matchup a few days ago between Central Florida's JV and Freshman teams from Edgewater and Ocoee high schools.
All week long, my freshman on the Ocoee team had been told it was a combined team against Edgewater, but someone along the way had a miscommunication. Edgewater, it seems, had not been given the memo. Who knows what went wrong where, or why? Things happen, and innocent mistakes were made. Edgewater rushed to put in their JV team as Ocoee seemed to pull out their JV, and back and forth it went as the clock continued to tick away without concern for our two team's problems.
A hot mess was in the works, and the matchup wasn't a fair one what with freshmen and jv cycling in and out and reasonable frustration mounted as the refs and coaches were trying to figure out what was going on and how to fix the situation or hold the JV game immediately following the mixed up match.
Meanwhile, we had a bit of rain during the game, no biggie - blue skies seemed to be back - but as halftime buzzer sounded, BOOM! the sky lit up with lightning strikes and thunder claps immediately following. The stands were evacuated just as the heavens opened up and anyone in the open was drenched to the bone.
We waited nearly 50 minutes as the fate of the second half - and second game - were in the balance as torrents of rain flooded the field and the sidewalks.
For those who don't know, here in Orlando we are under the jurisdiction of Orange County School District (OCSD) which mandates a 30/30 rule. The rule states that " when staff members see lightning, they begin to count the time until they hear thunder. If the time is 30 seconds or less, students and staff must be kept in a safe location because lightning is in the immediate area, presenting a safety hazard. We have to then wait thirty minutes after the last thunder clap is heard before leaving the safe location."
Football fans were a mere 1 minute away from clearing 30/30 when another round of lightning struck nearby... and the game was called off.
The score couldn't have been a more perfect ending for such a confusing match - it was a solid tie, 8-8. No one won, no one lost. A fitting end for two teams just trying to do the right thing after a rather human miscommunication.
Thanks for the assist, Sir. Well played.
check out the pictures at bit.ly/ocoeehs