Wednesday night was a good night for Phoenix sports. The Suns won their regular season finale and locked up the number three seed for the playoffs, the Coyotes won their playoff opener, and the Diamondbacks pulled off a come from behind/blown lead/extra inning victory over the evil Dodgers. And I missed most of it.
I should be used to it now, being "trapped" (and willingly so) by my other responsibilities of being a husband, dad, and worker. But still, the fan in me sometimes just wants to cry. Here is how my evening went:
5 PM- Wife gets home. She asks what's for dinner (yep, I cook), except I realize that the question was code for "Let's go out." For the record, a pasta was in order.
5:10- Four kids and two adults in the minivan headed to Serrano's, our favorite Mexican restaurant (we also had a $10 off coupon, so an added bonus). Upon arrival, chips and bean dip, rolled tacos, cheese crisp, machaca beef nachos, and a chimichanga are consumed. All for only about $16.
6:15- Mrs. Trapped Fan has two buy one, get one coupons for Coldstone Creamery. Hello, Germanchökolätekäke for me. Also, hello, two boys who can't decide which flavor to share.
6:45- A stop at ANOTHER Coldstone Creamery (to use our daughter's free birthday ice cream coupon that had to be used at another store). This one goes to the freezer for another night.
7:00- We're home! Bathtime for kids, grading essays time for me. I'd turn on the Dbacks game to watch the start, but DVR is recording "Human Target" and "In Plain Sight," so no TV for me.
7:40- Kids out of bath, time for the churchy stuff. Read some scriptures, have a prayer as a family. I get the tweet from a_zone: "GOAL!". I'm guessing the Coyotes just scored. I still can't turn game on.
7:45- We turn on the recorded Tuesday show of "American Idol" (that's what we do on Wednesday nights because the kids live it and I love my kids, even if I don't love "Idol"). No sports on TV until at least 9PM. (This is where I note that Twitter has saved my life as a trapped fan. While watching the Elvis karaoke episode of "Idol," @dbackswriter , @paulcoro , @nickpiecoro , and @a_zone keep me up to the moment.)
8:22- I get this tweet: "Suns just took a 17 point lead, Yotes just scored, Stephen Drew just went deep. Best minute ever!" A small part of me inside wants to cry. I was missing it all. I get Elvis songs and Spanish writing tests.
8:55- I can turn off "Idol". Andrew Garcia and Katie Stevens have been put out of their misery, I mean, eliminated. Only one of the kids is still awake, so she goes to bed. Now on to watching the Suns (the second half is about to start), but switching to Dbacks and Coyotes (Coyotes and Dbacks both winning).
9:35- Switch station to Coyotes game, it's in the last two minutes. I keep it there and watch the end. Part one of the trifecta complete. Suns in command for part two.
10:00- Still mainly watching Suns game (even though the win is not in doubt), but switching frequently to baseball game. I worry because Bob Howry is in the game and the last two times I saw him pitch were accompanied with memories of baseballs being hit into the stands by the opposition.
10:05- Suns have 98 points, Lou "I shoot FT worse than Shaq" Amundson at the free-throw line with less than 30 seconds left in the game. 99 points gets fans free tacos. I tweet as he amazingly hits both shots, "Will lou get us to 99? Yes. Yes he did. Tacos!" Part two of three complete. I get a_zone tweet about Justin Upton's mammoth home run to give the team the lead. Things looking positive.
Some time later: Chris Young just misses catching the drive that Chad Qualls gives up to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. I really hate it when the Dodgers come back (OK, I hate pretty much everything about the Dodgers). Extra innings.
11:30- I just finish folding laundry. Game still tied. I take clothes upstairs and haul sleeping kids up to their rooms. I come back down, still nothing changing.
11:45- It's the top of the 11th. I give up. I'm done. I can't tell if it's really Russ Ortiz pitching for LA, or if my mind is tormenting me with visions of that worthless trash heap of a pitcher on the team I loathe. I go to bed. I can't bear staying up even later and risk watching a defeat.
5:30 AM, Thursday- I check my phone as I get up in the morning for the text with the score. Sure enough, the trifecta is complete. Dbacks win, 9-7. What? In eleven innings? I just missed it. CURSES!!!
Oh well, it's a victory at least. Three Phoenix teams, three wins, all in one night. Pretty amazing, even if I only partially experienced it.
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