The Curse of the Blackout

In an odd turn of events, there was actually a triple header on ESPN for the game of the week. This was the result of weather, early schedules, and sheer luck. It was a perfect way to spend the middle of a week. I went into work early so that I could leave and watch all three games on television. To be quite honest, the first two games were merely time fillers until the Diamondbacks and Dodgers game came on at 7:10. Most of the Diamondbacks away games are broadcast on 3TV, a local station in Phoenix. This makes it easy for me to watch them when they are out of town. Fox Sports Arizona has most of the home games and some away. Since I do not get Fox Sports Arizona, I am left to listen to these games over the radio. Well today happened to be one of the days when the game is also on ESPN2. As game time approached, I readied all the things I would need so that I would not have to be disturbed while the Diamondbacks were on. I had chips, dip, a hot dog, a small cooler of pop, an Internet connection to check the other games, and my Diamondbacks hat. Only 2 minutes until the game started. I changed channels only to find the College World Series game was still being played. I could not believe that they would not preempt a college game for the beginning of the Diamondbacks. According to the Internet, the game has started and I am left looking at USC versus Florida State. Since the Diamondbacks did not draft players from either of these schools, I could care less about the outcome of this game. Granted, baseball is baseball but not when the Diamondbacks are on. Finally, Florida State scored so that the game was over. After what seemed like an eternity, the commercials ended and we were sent to Los Angeles. There was Luis Gonzalez standing on second base, "Hey how did he get there?" I shouted to no one in particular. Before I even finished that sentence, the screen went black and a message appeared in the center of the screen, "This program has been blacked out in your area." I jumped to my feet screaming as the game went black never to be seen again. How could Major League Baseball be so cruel. I spent the rest of the evening staring at this black screen listening to the game unfold on the radio still in disbelief of what had just happened.