|
|
Unbeknown to Bon Jovi, ESPN2's cameras had it all, live and in red-faced color.
"OK guys," rock's arena football darling would say later, "let's straighten out this finger thing right now."
Bon Jovi had just been filled in. His pointed reaction came with the Soul trailing Georgia by just six points in the fourth quarter, and after Bergeron had apparently dropped a would-be TD pass at the 4.
As the ball came loose, however, Bergeron kicked it to the back of the end zone then hopped on it. To his delight and the disbelief of some 14,583 fans - touchdown, Force!
Huh?
The game officials huddled, then it was announced the TD would stand. That's when Bon Jovi rocked his head, then silently signaled what most of the fans were thinking. Watch the birdie ...
"I didn't understand the rule," Bon Jovi said. He was told later by ESPN2 announcer Mike Greenberg that all a receiver has to do is take two steps with the ball in his hands for it to be a catch - and replays showed that's about what Bergeron took before dropping the ball then recovering it at the back of the end zone.
Oops.
"I apologize for the middle finger thing," Bon Jovi sang. "I didn't know the rule. Simple as that."
Minutes later, the energetic Bon Jovi, accompanied by his security entourage, spotted Bergeron getting interviewed ...
"Hey Troy," he bellowed with a hard smack on the shoulder pads. "You played great! ... And you did have possession of the football."
Yeah, Troy knew that. Really, he did.
"I have no idea what happened," Bergeron said. "I caught it and went to run and it slipped ... but I knew it was live in the end zone."
The controversial score came after the Soul had launched a second-half comeback and had closed to within 48-42. But after that Bergeron TD recovery with 9:32 left to play, another Soul resurrection would be hard to come by. Not that they didn't try.
Idris Price struggled in from the 1-yard line to cut the deficit to 54-49 with 3:23 left. But the Force then kicked into time-killing mode. The Soul stopped Georgia on a third down run at the Philadelphia 1, but Georgia was able to run the clock down with the Soul out of timeouts. Kicker Xavier Beitia then chipped at the carpet for a 15-yard field goal with 12 seconds left, sapping the Soul for good.
Down they dropped to 4-1, a game and a half behind Dallas (6-0) in the AFL's Eastern Division. The teams meet Monday in Dallas.
Southern Division leader Georgia (5-1) jumped up immediately with a 42-yard timely bomb from Greisen to Chris Jackson on the first play from scrimmage. That set up a Bergeron 7-yard TD catch 1:03 into the game. The game would be tied at 14-all after one quarter, but after Georgia went up two scores, Tony Graziani hit Archbishop Carroll product Sean Scott with a 24-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 28-21.
Greisen then chucked the ball from his 1, and Bergeron turned it into a 49-yard TD. Undeterred, Price bellied in from the 1 with just three ticks left on the first-half clock to make it a 35-28.
To start the second half, Wes Ours was about to bring Philadelphia to within a point, but fumbled crossing the goal line. Georgia capitalized when Greisen hit Jackson for a 28-yard TD and a 42-28 lead.
Graziani drove the Soul right back, only to throw one into the hands of Georgia defensive back Hamin Milligan at the Force goal line. A short time later, the Force's John Ritcher went in from a yard out, and the Soul was down 20. Maybe that's when the frustration started to build in the team luxury box.
"They won the turnover battle," Graziani said. "Against a potent offense like that, you can't make too many mistakes." The Soul still had life when Price angled in from the 2, then Graziani hit a wide open Charles Pauley for a 45-yard TD with 11:56 to play. That brought the Soul to within 48-42, and another big Graziani comeback seemed in store.
Instead, Soul viewers were about to be treated to a priceless TV moment.
