Lesson Reaffirmed: Leaving Games Early Is Stupid

I know you’re not supposed to judge people, but I’ve always looked down upon those who leave games too early.

They might have their reasons: It’s a blowout, so they leave because they want to beat traffic, because they have to wake up early the next day or because they want to go drink more of their own booze and not the $8 stadium kind.

That’s cool. Whatever. I still think it’s dumb.

What if your team mounts the greatest comeback of all time? Or what if your team coughs up a huge lead and needs your vocal chords to help inspire them?

You can’t walk out on a game that still has enough time for a dramatic turnaround. Right?

And then, last night, I became a hypocrite. I walked out on LSU-North Carolina.

I had gone to the game as a college football fan, without any particular rooting interest aside from seeing a good game. But I had left the Georgia Dome right around the time of the unbelievable LSU fumble that gave the ball back to Carolina with enough time to win the game.

Fortunately, I heard some commotion and ran back inside. But with apologies to whoever I attend games with in the future, I’m probably not leaving the stadium or arena until the clock reads 0:00.

As LSU built a 20-point lead at halftime and maintained its advantage through the third quarter, hundreds of fans got up and headed for the exits before the fourth quarter even began.

I sat up in the upper deck seat I had bought for $50 off a scalper and shook my head. You can’t leave before the fourth quarter! There’s still too much that can happen!

Of course, I’m not going to lie and say I thought UNC could actually come back down a dozen players and 20 points. On the other hand, I wasn’t a fan of either team in particular, so I didn’t have that irrational hope: Maybe we can somehow get back in it!

Even as the fourth quarter went on, the Georgia Dome lost about one-third of its crowd. Thousands of people left. Tar Heel fans seemed to have no faith in a comeback, and Tiger fans were sure that the game was over.

You know the rest of the story by now. Carolina scored once, scored twice, got an onside kick and was driving for the winning score.

I thought, Yesssss! I’m so glad I stayed for the whole thing. Those people who left are suckers!

But when the Heels gave the ball back to LSU with 1:37 remaining and had only two time outs remaining, I became a sucker myself. The game was over, I figured. All LSU had to do was basically go into victory formation and the Carolina had no shot.

So I left. I walked out of the upper deck, down those winding ramps that seem to take forever to return you to Earth and out the door of the Georgia Dome.

I wasn’t three steps out the door when I suddenly heard a gasp-like cheer from inside the building. Suddenly, everyone around me did an about-face and ran back into the open doors of the Dome.

The TV screens on the concourse showed what had just happened: LSU fumbled and Carolina got the ball back.

What???

Hundreds of people dashed back into the seats, but for many it was too late. A bunch of sorry saps were probably halfway to their cars, ignorant to the fact that they’d just walked out on an incredible turn of events.

I was lucky to get back in and see Carolina almost pull off what would have been a miraculous, memorable comeback.

But I was kicking myself: Why did I leave? Why not just stay the extra 1:37 and finish out the game?

After all, if you leave a game early, you’re taking a calculated gamble that you may miss the best finish ever. That’s potentially a big risk at losing out on the “I WAS THERE!” factor.

Is it worth beating traffic?