I realized something today that was so insignificant to me at the time, I thought little of it. And when I realized it today, it was only because it would be a big thing to others, yet it remains insignificant to me.

I've seen N'Sync in concert.

The year was 1999, and the Women's World Cup was coming to the United States. Women's soccer was taking hold in the American sports consciousness and would culminate with a United States shootout victory over China in the Rose Bowl that would lead Brandi Chastain to give Nike - or whatever brand of sports bra she wore - some extra exposure.

But it all started on June 19 at the Meadowlands in northern New Jersey. I was there, writing a feature on a local player who did not play in the game. I drove up to the stadium from the Jersey Shore with her family and I tailgated with them before the game. When it was time to go inside, I found my seat in the front row of the press box, which seemed to be floating in the air above the field (incidentally, Giants Stadium would be the perfect site for a Quidditch match). I was sitting two seats from George Vescey, a legendary New York Times columnist. And there, down on the field, so many stories below, N'Sync came out and performed during the pregame festivities. Thousands of little girls in the stands screamed, many of them wearing their No. 9 Mia Hamm jerseys.

And I yawned.

But I saw N'Sync in concert.