When I was a kid, the Giants need to win their last game of the season (against the Cowboys) in order to make the playoffs for the first time in almost twenty years. Danelo, who missed a pair of early chip shots, tied the game in the last thirty seconds.

In overtime, his chance to win the game clanked off the upright. Watching on TV, it looked like the football deflected in for the winning score. Thinking the Giants had won the game, my dad jumped so high that he hit his head on the newly installed ceiling tiles. It wasn't until several seconds later, when we saw the Cowboys taking the field, that we realized it was still tied.

Fortunately Danelo nailed the winning field goal later in the sudden death overtime. My old man was much more careful with the celebration the second time, ensuring that the Giants had in fact won and that he didn't jump too high.

I don't know the height of the ceiling in the basement, which served as the recreation room during the 1980s. It can't be more than seven feet, at most.

That was twenty-five years ago. I can remember the dust falling from the ceiling as if it was yesterday. It's the first thing I thought of when I heard Joe Danelo's name mentioned on ESPN this morning.

UPDATE: 1/8/07 Countertop remembers Joe Danelo from yesteryear.