Sports Day in the Life of a Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Blackhawks Fan

Sunday, April 17, 2011 will go down as one of the worst sports days of my life.  I chronicled the day in my head because I knew something special was going to happen.

(Ok, not really). 

Times are by no means exact and some of them are intended for comedic pleasure. 

Let's join in on the action from the top.

7:45 am: Woke up from my stupid recurring dream that consists of my eyes only being half open.  (Should have recognized this as an omen and stayed in bed all day.)

9:00-9:40 am: Woke up again, remembered that I was making a random trip to Great American Launching Pad, and promptly found some stability, gained my composure and hopped in the car.

9:42 am: After falling into a pothole with my car outside of my apartment complex, the "low tire" icon promptly flashed in the dashboard panel.  If I was meant to die going to a Reds game, so be it.  I continued on my journey.

11:00 am:  Picked up a friend in Greensburg, Indiana.  Found out he had just joined Twitter.  Followed him. (This comes in to play...)

11:34 am: Upon approaching the exit for I-75 N to Dayton, a barrage of those orange and white traffic barriers appeared on the horizon.  Turns out that those orange and white barriers split my lane into two lanes.  I recognized that I was in the wrong lane that headed towards Dayton.  The problem was that I recognized this too late to swerve back right into the correct lane.  

All of this occurred while one of those blasted orange and white traffic barriers sat right in the middle of my lane.  I narrowly avoided the barrier via a quick fishtail swerve.

11:37 am: Turned out that the "wrong lane" was the right lane and we merged back onto I-74E towards Cincinnati.  My heart returned back into its chest.

11:38 am: My phone notifies me of a Twitter mention from my friend's new Twitter account.  The tweet: "@matttwellsey watch out for those barrels".  

12:25 pm: I started bragging about my vast knowledge of the Cincinnati roadway system and missed the exit for Second Street that leads to Great American Launching Pad.

12:34 pm: After calling on the GPS to help return us to the ballpark, we sat at a traffic light for four minutes and 27 seconds. (Yes, for some reason my friend, who never remembers anything, started randomly timing the length of the light.  His explanation?  "I just had a feeling.")

12:55 pm: We arrive at the walk-up ticket kiosk and plan to purchase tickets.  Somehow, on my deaf ear side (my left, your right), I manage to hear a man softly say, "Does anyone need two tickets?"  I get his attention and before I could pull out my wallet, which had no cash, he just hands them to us for free.

12:56 pm: The tickets were for a game in July.  Just kidding.  

1:08 pm: We reach our seats just in time for the first Pirates hitter, Andrew McCutchen.  We were feeling pretty good about ourselves.  So far, only $10 spent for parking.  This was great!  We narrowly avoided a wreck and were rewarded with free tickets.

1:13 pm: Back to back home runs to lead off the game by McCutchen and Jose Tabata (Tah-ba-tuh).  Edinson Volquez became on the second pitcher in MLB history to surrender back-to-back jacks to start the game twice in a season.  He managed to do it in his first four starts.  I wanted to vomit.  

1:15-3:03 pm: The Reds dominate play and regain the lead 5-4 by the end of the fifth after home runs from Jonny Gomes and Miguel Cairo.

Sidenote: The biggest play of the rally was a great chair lift by the Reds' bat boy down the third base line in the outfield.  Scott Rolen hit a scorcher that ended up scoring Votto because it trickled down all the way to the wall.  If the bat boy had not pulled his chair, the Reds would not have scored on that play and Scott Rolen would have had him fired.  Huge play kid.  Way to come up clutch.  Rolen owes you a personalized broken bat.   

3:08 pm: Dusty Baker lives up to his stereotype and sends Volquez back out for the 6th inning.  He was already over 90 pitches.  He gives up the tying home run to Garrett Jones and walks another.  Jordan Smith promptly gives up a double to wall and just like that, the lead is gone.

"Excuse me, Mr. Baker, but the fans, media, and other players will stop hating on you and your past if you don't let your curious pitching strategies happen in the present." 

3:40-4:10 pm: Jay Bruce hits a mammoth shot in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game up at 6.  The great crowd of over 32,000 was jacked and could feel the Reds' 10th win of the season on the horizon.  Logan Ondrusek follows Bruce's heroic effort by giving up a two-out RBI single to Andrew McCutchen.

Sidenote: The Reds missed many brilliant chances to blow the game open, with the largest being two at-bats with the bases loaded by Joey Votto and Scott Rolen.  

 4:20-4:30 pm: The Redlegs muster up a two-out effort.  The key at-bat came with Ryan Hanigan hitting with two outs and runners at second and third.  The ENTIRE crowd cheer-groaned (my version of when the crowds obliges with a cheer for a positive situation, but also groans because that same positive situation created a negative situation) because Hanigan was walked.  This forced Stubbs to hit with two outs and the bases loaded.  Not a single person of any baseball knowledge wanted Stubbs to come to the plate.  

After watching one pitch go the the screen and three more miss the zone against Hanigan, Stubbs held back from swinging at the first two pitches in his at-bat.  They were both balls.  I audibly yelled "Don't swing at the next pitch" at Stubbs from my seat in Row P of the highest section behind home plate.  He looked back, tipped his cap, and grinned at me.  I thought he heard me.  Instead, he flew out to right field to end the game despite being 1-for-5 on the day and the tying run being just a walk away from scoring.  Do the coaches not coach?  I paid... I drove two-and-a-half hours for that lousy of an ending.  

4:30-8:00 pm: Did nothing but think about that stupid game for the entire drive home.  It consumed me.  I reviewed the entire thing in my head.  I hate when my team loses one of the one-third of all MLB games that are up in the air.  Baker was at fault for not pulling Volquez.  Votto and Rolen didn't cash in on big-time chances.  The bullpen was shaky.  Drew Stubbs had a tough at-bat to end the game. 

8:00 pm-10:40pm: Blackhawks game in review:

I am a novice hockey follower.  I started watching after purchasing NHL 09 and not being able to score against the computer version of real-life hockey players.  The Blackhawks were the only NHL team on most every night and I was instantly hooked.  I love the sacrifice and the grit.  I love the fights for a purpose.  I love the fights for no purpose.  

I am mesmerized by their world-class skating ability.  I love how a missed check, a poor pass, a stupid penalty, a bad defensive read, or one poor split-second decision can affect the entire outcome of a 60-minute game.

This season's struggle, to me at least, has been inconsistent play from defending Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith.  Those struggles have continued against the Canucks.  He over-commits and has been lazy with his coverage in front of the net.  His puck-handling and shot-making have been less reliable this season in comparison to last year.  It has felt like a sophomore album from a great band.  

Tonight, after smashing home a power play goal, Keith was not heard from again and was directly responsible for several defensive miscues throughout the game.  The broadcast team on Versus recognized that he was sloppy and danced around the topic on several occasions because it is against hockey etiquette to bash a defending trophy winner.

For one of the first times in my fandom history, I recognized tonight that my team just simply doesn't have a shot against a far superior team.  The Canucks are better on every line, offensive and defensive and have a more determined coach (Alain Vigneault is coaching for his respectability throughout an entire nation.  Joey Quennville just won a Stanley Cup in 2010 and has a thin roster because of it.)

Furthermore, a running debate on Twitter this week has been which of the Hawks' 2010 players does the franchise miss the most.  Personally, I think it is Ben Eager.  Ben Eager was a bit of a train wreck and was somewhat grungy.  

However, he brought an attitude that this year's version of the "Best Jersey in Sports" doesn't have in the least bit.  Eager was willing to fight, scratch, and crawl until he got what he wanted.  This year's team gives us Fernando Pisani, Brian Bickell, Marcus Kruger, and John "Which Way Do I Go?" Scott.  

That's not going to cut it.

10:55 pm: I jumped in my car and drove to a gas station for a Blue Bunny pick-me-up.  The Vanilla Crunch ice cream bar was perfect.  I am now ready for another day of being a fan. 

If the Reds lose tomorrow, I might buy the whole freezer at the Walnut Street Citgo and melt all the ice cream inside.