Florida State University for decades under Bobby Bowden (it’s legendary coach; one of the two winningest coaches ever until the Penn State coach had his games discounted because of the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State University) had a couple of years where a missed field goal lost games to the important rival University of Miami. The kicker’s field goal went “wide right“ on more than one occasion. If you’re not a football fan, it meant it missed going between the uprights and was to the right of them. No 3 points!

I helped create a financial planning study group in Tallahassee decades ago and one year I arranged to pay $1000 to bring a very wise financial planner from Atlanta to spend lunch with us talking about how he did things. We got a lunch meeting room at the Ramada Inn on North Monroe near I-10 Tallahassee.

Unbeknownst to us, that very same lunchtime the g-d damn touchdown club for Florida State University was meeting, and when Bobby Bowden and the players appeared, the yelling, screaming, table pounding and cheering were so loud that even in a small room next-door we could not hear our expensive speaker talk

Our meeting was over. I’m walking out to the parking lot and who do I see in his Ford at the curb but Bobby Bowden the coach. One of the things Bobby Bowden got for being the coach was free Fords every year plus money from the Ford dealership for shilling for them. So as I come towards his car, he leans down and looks towards me through the passenger side window (that side of the car was towards the curb) and he asked:

“How you doing, boy?”

Well, apart from being a Yankee living in the deep south and being a grown man in a business suit during the day being called “boy”, I really understood he was just being friendly. Until he let a kicker accused of crimes stay on the team I had respected his integrity.

So I squatted down a little bit and hitched up my pants and looked towards him through the passenger window. I was not very close to his car and I said:

“I don’t know, Coach?”

“What do you mean, boy?”

And I said:

“I grew up in Miami. I went to Florida State. I still haven’t decided how I feel about Wide Right!”

His jaw dropped open. I can claim to have gotten to taunt Bobby Bowden, the infamous coach of Florida State University!