THE NIGHT THE ORANGE BOWL CAUGHT FIRE
The Orange Bowl’s been rotting at the seams for years, so much so that a leak in the roof caused a short circuit in 1991 that then caused a small fire in the broadcast booth during the Miami/Nebraska Orange Bowl.
The NBC team had to switch to the Japanese feed, which luckily was not turned to teacher/student bondage porn at the time. You can hear the Japanese announcers for a second:
“And the smells-like-butter rapist gives the ball to smells-like-butter rapist number two…Miami, Japanese listeners, is full of cocaine! Cheap and affordable cocaine! I have consumed piles of it in between using my crazily overvalued yen to pay for fat-buttocked prostitutes! Invest now!”
Then Gayle Gardner and Paul Maguire gamely attempt to keep up with the grainy footage from the studio, with Gayle asking if Paul could help out with translating the Japanese. The only shame is that Dick Enberg is not shown running from the booth in flames, since we agree with Quentin Tarentino that every film needs a man on fire running through the background of at least one shot. Director’s commentary tracks for Kill Bill represent! That’s something a Miami crowd would definitely clap like mad trained seals for, dear reader.









1
More Bunda says:
More Bunda please.
July 13th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
2
Wooderson says:
I miss that old orange bowl logo. He seemed so happy.
Maybe it’s cause he caught a big old whiff of the yayo from downtown.
July 13th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
3
Oops Pow Surprise says:
Good Christ, it’s not as if this is the only place on the internet to see a world-class posterior.
Something tells me Lamar Thomas would have welcomed a studio fire.
July 13th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
4
Wooderson says:
Lamar Thomas would definitely warn us not to go bring that “fire” shit into the OB.
And so we would be treated to our tarantino moment.
July 13th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
5
PJ from NU in SF says:
No no no no no.
Set Maguire on fire, not Dick Enberg. What’s that nice old man from Michigan ever done to you, Orson?
Besides, can you imagine the call? “Maguire’s on fire! Maguire’s on fire! Oh, the humanity!”
July 13th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
6
Whitey says:
See I’m more picturing Enberg yelling “Oh… myyyyyy” while being engulfed in flames… and it strangely pleases me.
You can find pictures of bunda elsewhere? Who knew?
July 13th, 2007 at 1:05 pm
7
Orson Swindle says:
Maguire was in the studio. Otherwise, we would have had him immolated in that scenario.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
8
F Noles says:
Remind me again, how many national championships and super bowls have been played in the swamp? Oh right, but at least the 300 lb, back country hookers are in rampant…bring on a big game.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
9
Holly says:
The Orange Bowl bit me in 2001 (this is not a euphemism; I required a tetanus shot), and is not to be trusted.
July 13th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
10
letsplaytummysticks says:
From now on I will claim all life problems whether from fire, drunkeness, or peeing my pants to by due to “atmospheric conditions.”
July 13th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
11
A'Mod Ned says:
Fire-
Next you want to start something at the Orange Bowl, my crutches are at your service.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
12
SeaTrojan says:
Too bad the clip didn’t have Gayle Gardner’s feeble attempts at doing play by play during the mishap. It was God awful and I believe it precipitated the end of her network ascendancy.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
13
jebushchrist says:
So that’s what The Rock was cookin’!
(sorry)
July 13th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
14
Out of Conference says:
You know it’s a long hot summer that won’t end so football can start when a hated rival defends another hated rival’s shithole of a stadium. Gawd, I love me some football.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
15
Wooderson says:
Holly, what exactly are you into? that’s some craziness.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
16
PW says:
You just know that 75% of Japanese television programming is teacher/student bondage porn.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
17
PW says:
Holly, now that I know you’re caught up on your tetanus shots, I want your number.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
18
PW says:
Holly, now that I know you’re caught up on your tetanus shots, I want your number.
Who am I kidding, I wanted it anyway.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
19
PJ from NU in SF says:
Orson, I’d forgotten about that break in the reign of Criqui and Trumpy over the OB press box, and that Bill Walsh was the color guy with Dick for those years… for some reason I can see both of them in South Park Hell.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
20
beast in 'bama says:
Immolation of Enberg’s fine by me. Ever since he referred to Wimbledon as “delicious tennis.” Haven’t watched a match since.
July 13th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
21
Refuse to stab a pig says:
#8, you are right, when it comes to a structurally unstable, urine-soaked den full of the most football-IQ challenged bandwagon fans located in the worst neighborhood in D-1 football, nobody beats the OB!
Hail to the gangsta rap played during TV timeouts!
July 13th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
22
Kipp says:
More importantly, where are the pictures of women available on the internet? I’ve never heard of such a thing, and I don’t believe that they exist. The internet is only for educational/research purposes!
Racy pictures of females on the internet . . . who’s ever even heard of such a suggestion?
July 13th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
23
SC_Gator says:
I’m surprised they weren’t able to switch to a Spanish feed of one form or another. After all, this is Miami, there has to be Spanish broadcasting going on.
July 13th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
24
MCab says:
#20 – Delicious Tennis is my pimp name. I got ho’s on the’ track at the country clubs. A lot goes down in those tennis rooms.
Spanish feed for football that long ago? Don’t think too many latins were into pigskin back then. Funny enough, I remember that game. I didn’t even know the rules and I loved college football, and never gave a damn for the Saints.
July 13th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
25
BobTyDavieham says:
Kipp, let me know if you run across any of those “racy pictures” I never even thought of such a thing, but what a great idea
July 13th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
26
Joe says:
Funnily enough, I”m reading this from a hotel room in Japan. And yes, there’s porn on the TV, but haven’t you heard? The NEW Hottness here in Japan is maid costumes, not the schoolgirl. That’s an old standby though.
And to translate the Japanese, it was “We’re sorry everyone, we’re having technical difficulties with your nightly schoolgirl pornfest. Please watch these lumbering foreigners run around in this game they call “football” for a while until we can bring you your regularly scheduled schoolgirls being tortured with candlewax”
July 14th, 2007 at 7:32 am