Well That Was Entertaining

So a week or so ago I receive a message from Mo, my buddy Lyle’s wife, explaining that his birthday was coming up and she wanted to get the lot of us together for a dinner and Cougar game.  Without looking at the TV schedule, I mentioned the Cal game was on Thursday and that would be a great one to get together for.  Not only was it a great game, but it just happened to work with all of our schedules, which is not any easy task to do; just ask my buddy Grimmace’s wife LeeLee who tried planning his birthday dinner around a dozen schedules back in November.

So come Thursday we all realize near the last minute, actually around 7:30 am, the game wouldn’t be on TV at all.  So we look through all of the Fox Sports Channels, which were a no go.  I checked the main athletics page and it looked as though we might be able to stream video live from CBS Sports, as there was a little icon in the lower screen that said “watch.”  So we banked on this, which was rather stupid.  At about 6:45 the party is in full swing and Lyle, Grimmace, Doof, Myself and Lyle’s dad Vic head into the living room for some man time and Cougar basketball.  We They were connecting a PS3 to the TV (coughcoughthatihelpedhimmountcough) so we could stream video live from the website and watch a nice, big picture.  When we found out that didn’t work, we decided to stream Bud Nameck from the site, but the plug-in didn’t work.  So next we tried 1090 AM’s website, and when that failed we tried an actual AM radio; they still make these?

It’s now 7:07 and the game is getting underway, so we throw up a Hail Mary.  I pull out my trustworthy phone (it has been replaced in the neighborhood of 9-15 times since I first bought it in May of 2008), the same one from my story last week that overheated and died between Portland and Hood River; which Verizon had just connected for me hours earlier.  Thanks Verizon, I was only without my personal cell phone for 14 days.  At the 18:50 mark the Cougs were down 2-0, so I made sure loud and clear to announce this.  About 5 minutes later, ESPN Mobile refreshed to the 15 minute mark and we were down 13-3, and all of us thinking “oh great, it’s gonna be ASU all over again.”

For the next 15 minutes we were all stuck in some weird version of purgatory.  All we can hear is the ladies laughter coming from the kitchen, as we frantically try to figure out how the game is playing out.  Not only has it been stuck at that score for quite some time, but as you might recall from my article last week, ESPN Mobile gives no updates other than the score and time when games are played in Pullman.  During this 15 minutes of hell the over/under on how many times I heard “what’s the score now?” is easily 18; and I’d take the over.

When ESPN Mobile stopped cooperating, Doof and Grimmace both pulled out their phones (which are way smarter than mine) to see what the score really was.  Turns out their phone’s really weren’t smarter than mine, and meanwhile I shuffle over to CBS Sports Mobile.  Only to find the score is 26-8.  “It’s early”, “they won’t shoot like this all night”, “we need Dick Bennett back to teach these guys some defense.”  Then a funny thing happened, and the Cougs made it a 4 point game at the half.

Now it is halftime and we all dish up loads of mash potatoes, flank steak and BBQ baked beans, still hypothesizing over what is going on in this game.  As the food has settled the game resumes and the Cougs keep it close for a while, before falling down 14 points.  At the 1:40 mark Grimmace announces we’re down 9 and the birthday boy says “that’s only 3 shots.”  Touché Lyle, touché.  Unfortunately the Cougs never get closer than 5 points again and we start off another home stand with a loss.  The night closed when we got an unexpected call from a fraternity brother, Brando, who had just finished a softball game in the Arizona Penal League. 

I couldn’t imagine that when Mo organized a dinner for 14 people, most who were intent on actually watching the Cougs, would turn to a night of men staring at their phones.  Asking questions like “Are they playing defense?” “Want to sneak out to the car and listen to it on my radio?” and of course “What’s the score?” But seriously Mo, thanks for dinner, and happy birthday Lyle.

After the dust settled Thursday night, the Cougs, Dawgs and Zona sit at the bottom of the standings, but are only back 1.5 games from Cal and ASU.  If the Cougs really want to make a run at the conference title, these are games they must start winning.  Of course, when Jerome Randle drops 39 points and Cal as a team shot 55% on 20 attempts from downtown, it might make this difficult to accomplish.

As for me, I won’t have to check the score against Stanford on my phone as I’m headed out the door for the drive to Disneyland.  Pullman, here I come!