It was a balmy night at my friend Tony's house. His lack of air conditioning made the entire scene more tense as game 7 of the Sega Genesis NBA Live '96 Finals went underway. The Orlando Magic with their centerpiece Shaquille O'Neal faced off against me with a perfect Bulls team, created Michael Jordan sent from the heavens and all (yes, we managed to move Florida over to the west thanks to the games customizing features).

It was a few days after his birthday. We had played through the entire playoff series on preceeding days on his brand new TV, a 20 inch RCA. The game came with the TV as a package deal, a great birthday if there ever was one. After we both ammased near perfect season records on the previous editon of the series, we both decided it was time for a final battle. Very few of the games were tense in the playoff brackets and neither of us lost a game, a testament to EA's wonderful AI programming. Why we actually PLAYED through the entire playoff bracket in the first place is still a mystery, but the time had finally come. 6 battles down, one to go.

Orlando has home court for reasons unknown. Jordan and the rebuilding Bulls get off to a furious start, building a quick 20 point lead in the first half. Shaq was off, 2-10 from the floor if I remember. The fourth quarter proved to be the turning point as the 20 point lead had all but dissapeared.

It was getting to be late in the evening, probably around midnight. Both his parents slept while the 4th quarater anarachy began. How anyone could sleep in this situation was baffling to us at the time, but we ventured on. With a minute to go, Jordan had fouled out with a 4 point Bulls lead. We fought for the entire minute, rattling our brains trying to figure out who should be on the floor. Fouls and time outs were frequent, but with 2 seconds on the clock, I nailed a 10-footer to go back up by two. Tony, depleted of time outs, frantically passes the ball inbounds to Shaq. From 70+ feet away, it happened.

"Shaq, for three! IT'S GOOD!! IT'S GOOD!"

In what still stands as my most enraged moment of my life....ever, I fling his 6-button controller across the room while screaming an explitive I shall not repeat. The controller, moving faster than it ever had before, hits squarely on the new TV's cheap plastic power button, shattering it in countless pieces.

As we both stand there, completely overtaken by the events, we glance at each other. It was just one of "those" moments when you just break down laughing because you know how screwed you really are. Even worse, the loud explitive and controller busting woke up his dad. Since he worked an early shift, he was none too pleased. The game was taken from us after much bantering and non-laughing. Tony didn't see the game again for at least a week.

The TV still worked thankfully, though it did take a pencil to turn it on. It took him about 2 weeks to talk to me after that, but he eventually came around. Shockingly, that 6-button still works too. He gave it to me when he sold his Genny a few years back. We recognized it from the mark on the side. Yes, I still have a tendacy toss a controller, but I'll most certainly throw them in the opposite direction of my TV from now on. I've made certain of it ever since.