Friday, October 24, 2008

Misnomer

Why is this called the "Immaculate Reception"?



It's actually pretty messy.

1 Comments:

Blogger New England Guy said...

Don't mess with the one of the key events of my youth.

The product of the recently-deceased Myron Cope, Pgh TV sports anchor (think Howard Cosell a couple registers higher and with ADD)- he didn't make it up but popularized from a caller. PIttsburgh in early 70s was very much attuned to traditional Catholicism-basically an accepted part of life-i.e.I recall regular family resturants only serving fish during Fridays in Lent (and advertising this fact). This season was the first good one for the Steelers in about 40 years and the fact that they came back from elimination at the very last minute on an improbably odd play seemed like an act of God.

The title is a take of the feast of the Immaculate Conception which I will go out on a limb here and state was not truly understood by most parishioners (myself 11 year old self included) but was the name of a Holy Day of Observation which seemed duly mysterious and religious (BTW, it refers to the conception of Mary without original sin, not to the later conception of Jesus by Mary).

Point is the word "Immaculate" is used to invoke the sense of divine intervention not to its natural meaning of perfection and without sin (which would also be inaccurate, a Frenchy Fuqua, the intended Steelers receiver later stated that he touched the ball before it bounced to Franco HArris, making the play illegal under the rules in effect at the the time)

3:34 AM, October 24, 2008  

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