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Everyone in my house is a sports fan, and so am I. Well kind of. I don't get as emotionally invested as my husband or son. I think sports should be entertaining, not put you in a bad mood. My husband and son have preferred teams for most every sport, except soccer. We won't go into that. We make sure to take our son to live games, which has solidified him as a fan for several teams.
I must admit baseball was not one of my favorites. I find it a little boring. Then I saw a video online of a stoutly built ump breaking into dance. This led me to more videos of players in choreographed dance routines and doing back flips. I was hooked. This isn't baseball. It's Banana Ball!
For those who aren't familiar with Banana Ball, I will summarize. They took all the boring parts of baseball out. The crowd participates and the game has a two hour limit. This was "baseball" I enjoyed. I started watching full games online. I wanted more. I wanted to be there!
I wanted tickets. This was my first hurdle. You can't just buy them. The Savannah Bananas are all about a fan-first experience. To prevent scalping and outrageous price gouging, they have a lottery for buying tickets. The lottery sign-up only runs for one month, October. If you are lucky enough to get picked, you are given the opportunity to buy tickets for the next season. I searched for a game near us. The Savannah Bananas were going to be playing at Kinnick Stadium, home of the Iowa Hawkeyes! I set a reminder and waited. Once I got an e-mail that the lottery was open, I quickly signed up. Unbeknownst to my husband, I also signed him up. Spouse privileges. Two chances are better than one. Months later I got an email that I had been picked in the lottery. My husband was put on standby. I set my account up and waited.
I cannot tell you how excited I was when ticket buying day came! This was serious stuff. You are given a one-hour window to get your tickets. I set alarms. I notified my scheduled clients that I may have to take a moment to buy tickets during their appointment.
When my time came I logged in. Success! I picked the day and hit "buy tickets." Then it happened. THE CIRCLE OF DEATH--THE FROZEN SPINNING WHEEL! My friends were telling me to refresh the page, but I was terrified to lose my spot. It just kept spinning. It may sound dramatic, but my level of anxiety was through the roof! A minute turned into 5, then 10, then 15.
I reached out to a friend who had been picked for an earlier spot, and she hadn't experienced the spinning. I was certain I was going to miss my opportunity. I finally decided to hit refresh. Same thing. I spent a large portion of my hour-long slot refreshing to no avail. A client told us she had the same thing happen, but to just keep refreshing. I had to pick my son up from school and couldn't wait any longer. I worried about the signal being dropped in my usual dead spots on my drive, but I had no choice.
I got into my car, set my phone on the console and kept hitting refresh as I drove, watching the time on the clock as the last minutes of my time ticked away. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw a different color screen. I had tickets! I thought the hard part was over, but I was wrong.
As game day approached there was a severe heat advisory in effect. Then there was a lightning delay. Then rain. But, after waiting 3 hours for the weather to pass, the Savannah Bananas and the Firefighters played! We cheered, we waved, we sang and danced in the stands. Even my husband. I had high hopes but the experience was better than I expected!
In true fan form my husband and son weren't happy that the Bananas lost to the Firefighters. But they loved the game. We didn't get home until 3 a.m. We didn't care. It was worth it. I have turned them into Banana Ball fans. Mission accomplished. Don’t slip on the banana peels!
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Have a good story? Call or text Curt Swarm in Mt. Pleasant at 319-217-0526 or email him at curtswarm@yahoo.com. Curt is available for public speaking