By Joe Davidson
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The 52nd Pig Bowl lacked offensive fireworks Saturday afternoon in the first football game played on the Cal Expo grounds in the 57-year history of the complex.
But it wasn’t for a lack of effort, as men in their 20s, 30s and 40s collided over four long quarters, nor did the struggle to gain first downs dim the significance of the charity contest.
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The Northern California -rooted firefighting Fire Dogs beat the greater Sacramento-area law enforcement Hogs 3-0 at Heart Health Park under sunny skies and in front of some 7,500 spectators, some in shirts that read, “It’s good to be a Hog” or, “It’s good to be a Dog.”
The Pig Bowl is the longest-running charity football game in the country, one that in the 1970s and early 1980s drew crowds in excess of 29,000 and was regarded as Sacramento’s Super Bowl. The contest is rooted in recognizing and celebrating first-responders. The lasting meaning includes honoring those who lost their lives while working to help others, whether from a shooting or a burning building.
Scores of those from Northern California who were killed in the line of duty in the last year were recognized before the game in an emotional tribute at midfield. Family members represented the fallen, including those whose careers included playing in the Pig Bowl.
The Fire Dogs and Law Hogs were united as one before kickoff, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries. The game had moments of testy exchanges between the clubs, the Fire in their striking red uniforms and the Law in ominous black tops. Game director Cary Trzcinski made sure emotions did not boil over and lead to a melee, sticking his thick body and fierce game face into one brewing moment in the second half.
Trzcinski and an army of volunteers have worked tirelessly to keep the game going. He is a retired deputy with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office who played in 13 Pig Bowls as a fullback and linebacker, several of those games played in honor of his friend and work partner Vu Nguyen.
Nguyen was a member of the Sheriff’s Office gang unit who was killed by a gang member in Sacramento in 2007.
“We make sure that none of the people we’ve lost or those lost from the Fire side are ever forgotten,” Trzcinski said. “This game is for them.”
Among those recognized before kickoff was Susan “Suzie” Smith, a flight nurse who died in October after the Reach Air Medical Services helicopter on which she worked crashed onto Highway 50 in Sacramento. She was 67.
One kick and a goal-line stand
Chad Alves ensured that the Pig Bowl did not have just the second tie in the history of the series with majority of the games played at Sacramento City College’s Hughes Stadium or Hornet Stadium at Sacramento State.
A Sacramento County paramedic, Alves boomed a 41-yard field goal with 8:36 left in the fourth quarter, a play set up by Colin Kelly. A firefighter in Contra Costa County, Kelly made an interception and had a short return into Law territory. The field goal led longtime area television personality Walt Gray to say with emphasis from his media perch on the air for ABC10’s stream of the game, “We’ve got points in the Pig Bowl!”
“The kick felt great, and it was good,” Alves said excitedly afterward.
Said Kelly of his game-changing interception, “Just had to make a play.”
The Law marched for a final attempt to tie or win it, but was stopped on a goal-line stand, with two runs pushing the ball to the 1-foot line. A quarterback plunge up the middle as time ran out led to a gang tackle. The Fire Dogs were sure they made the stop, while the Law Hogs were certain they had scored.
It took several long seconds for referees to conclude that the ball carrier was short, and a sea of red-clad Fire players stormed the field.
Trzcinski said the Pig Bowl is locked into Cal Expo and Heart Health Park, home of Sacramento Republic FC. The goal posts are easily removable for storage, and the natural grass field sparkled, even if the game did not.
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