Distance yourself from Anger

The Defensive Specialist knows that he promised a comprehensive review of the Sydney Blue Sox seat allocation night for Friday morning but a bad case of hypothermia put a severe crimp in plans. Obviously when the Defensive Specialist promises to deliver, the loyal readers are up bright and breezy in front of their PC’s waiting for the post to drop. You can only imagine the server and modem meltdowns that occurred as people continually refreshed their web browser throughout Friday morning hoping that something would land. To put the meltdown in perspective, think about the booking catastrophe last week with Virgin Airlines and double it!

So for breaking hearts and the Internet, the Defensive Specialist apologises.

It was probably a good thing that the Defensive Specialist didn’t sit behind the Deep in the Hole super computer on Thursday night and try to bang out a review for a number of reasons:

1)    As mentioned, the Defensive Specialist was suffering from severe frost bite in his outer extremities as a result of sitting in the icy NSW night air for 3 hours and any resulting output would have looked like this: SAJHTENDOIHDGIUTGJD:GFIGKGKGKJ:KG:GK:GKENHSHH as the Defensive Specialist’s frozen digits clubbed away at the keyboard.

2)    The 2-hour trek back from the Blacktown Olympic Facility to civilization in Sydney meant that the Defensive Specialist would be working at 12am and as we all know, you should never blog fatigued.

3)    Spending 4 hours in transit and 5 hours in a freezer had the effect of eroding the Defensive Specialist’s usually Zen like persona. You also should never blog angry.

The advantage of delaying this post was that the Defensive Specialist was able to cool his jets and manage the rage. A big part of what makes the Defensive Specialist truly special is the ability to distance himself from anger. When the emotions are heightened, that is when routine is lost and mistakes take place. With a few days behind him, the Defensive Specialist was confident that an objective review of Thursday night could be provided. On top of that, the Defensive Specialist was able to see a doctor and restore the blood flow to his hands.

Anyway…

The Defensive Specialist made the 3-hour journey to the Blacktown Olympic facility from Sydney CBD and was amazed at the line of anxious fans curling around the entrance. At the Defensive Specialist’s rough estimation there were approximately 2346 Blue Sox members itching to get their seats (later confirmation on actual members in attendance: 200). It was at that moment that the Defensive Specialist stared to feel the ABL!

Fans eagerly waited as their names were called to step forward and claim mysterious yellow envelopes. The Defensive Specialist was eager to grab his quickly and quietly, after all, it was the Blue Sox’ big night and the last thing the Defensive Specialist wanted to do was have his name called and for people to flock to him.

The Defensive Specialist snagged his yellow envelope, enthusiastically tore it open and pored through the contents:

1 x membership certificate (see accompanying photo)

1x fixture

1 x Blue Sox sticker white

1 X Blue Sox sticker powder blue

1 x Blue Sox sticker pink (how many dudes cars do you think these will end up on as a joke?)

1 x Blue Sox ruler (is there where the Defensive Specialist uses the blue vein joke he’s been sitting on since he heard the team name? No, it can wait)

The Defensive Specialist stowed the contents back in the envelope and headed for the grandstand in order to catch a glimpse of the Blue Sox as they practiced. Unfortunately, the lights were off and the team was working out on a backfield. One of the down sides to getting a bit older as the Defensive Specialist has is that the eyesight isn’t what it used to be so unfortunately the Defensive Specialist isn’t able to provide any intelligence on the Blue Sox squad as he wasn’t able to make any faces out from 450 feet away.

The Defensive Specialist shrugged off that inconvenience because he knew that he’d have a bird’s eye view of the talent for the duration of the season. The Blue Sox GM came out and explained how things were going to work. People would be led over to the reserved section in groups of 5 in order to make their seating selection. The Defensive Specialist immediately stood up in preparation for the VIP’s to be called first.

The first five were called sans Mr D Specialist, which was a little perturbing, but the Defensive Specialist assumed they were calling people traveling with infants or those who needed additional assistance. The next 5 names were read out, once again with no mention of the Defensive Specialist. The Defensive Specialist reclined in his seat, accepting that dignitaries and life members should get first dibs. The Defensive Specialist searched for excuses why his name wasn’t being called for about 7 more groups until reality set in that the Defensive Specialist wasn’t going to be afforded any sort of privileged treatment!

Obviously the shock of that understanding was confronting, so too was the minus 3 degree Celsius temperature, the lack of activity on the main diamond and the 2.5 hours the Defensive Specialist had to sit and wait. Boredom, cold, hunger and a desperate need to urinate made the Defensive Specialist’s stay agonizing. The Defensive Specialist could see Blue Sox fans who’d selected their seats frolicking with a complimentary sausage and drink but the Defensive Specialist couldn’t move (not even to use the toilet) for fear of missing his name.

Finally after what seemed an eternity, the Defensive Specialists name was called. Unfortunately, it took the Defensive Specialist 5 minutes to thaw out and regain the use of his legs. As he walked towards the reserved section, it became abundantly apparent that all premium seating had been snapped up and that the Defensive Specialist would be filing game reports from a light tower in right field.

The Defensive Specialist wandered directly behind home plate in the hope that a stray seat had been left unclaimed. A number of Blue Sox administrators approached, assuming that he was a crazy person since all seats in this area were snapped up in the first 3 groups. The Defensive Specialist managed to catch the eye of the NSW GM manager who hurried over and said; “Do I have a seat for you!” The Defensive Specialist was flattered that the GM would think to save a seat in the press box, but being a man of the people, the Defensive Specialist would prefer to be part of the crowd. All sense of flattery was lost as the GM led the Defensive Specialist toward the right field light tower….

Despite a lengthy wait, a case of hypothermia, starvation and no chance to see the Blue Sox work out, the Defensive Specialist ended up with a solid seat. Lets hope the action on the field makes the sacrifices worthwhile this season.