After attending an Atlanta Hawks/Detroit Pistons game and watching a great back-and-forth contest earlier this week, I realized I have been a ‘fortunate fan’ as of late.

I’d guess the majority of fans in attendance at your average professional sporting event, are not regular fans or season ticket holders. Instead, most fans who attend sporting games do so sparingly — somewhere in the range of 1-5 games in a season (less for football of course). Some fans miss out due to the late evening times of the event (and subsequently having to work the following morning); some because of the cost of not only the tickets but also traveling expenses; and others miss out for their own reasons from the belief it is better on TV to a lack of interest.

For the most part, the casual fan enjoys the experience of going to the game regardless of whether the game is close or a blow out. It is just that — an experience — rather than just a game.

However, a thrilling game during one of those rare outings is something a spectator may remember for a lifetime. But the games that can have this impact are usually few and far between.

Well, that hasn’t been true for me. I’ve been lucky enough to be in attendance for a string of great games…

It started last summer with baseball. Working with a minor league ball club in West Virginia, I went on a day trip to D.C. with another intern to watch the Washington Nationals battle the Cleveland Indians. The game was a fairly ho-hum two run affair until the ninth inning.

In the final frame, both closers got hit around. First it was ‘I can’t see through my hat’ Chad Cordero, who gave up a three run jack to Victor Martinez that gave Cleveland a one-run lead. Joe Borowski tried to upstage Cordero with a blown save of his own, but he was saved by the god-awful baserunning by Nook Logan, who got himself thrown out to end the game after an egregious turn around third base with Ryan Zimmerman about to walk to the plate.

This great game in D.C., which was complemented by sitting about 10 rows up thanks to the financial assistance of an usher (always be friendly to ushers!), was followed late in the summer when I returned to the ATL and watched the Braves defeat the San Francisco Giants on a Chipper Jones drive that bounded off the leftcenter wall for a walk-off double. Of course, this was only after Bob Wickman blew up in the top of the ninth inning to give the Giants the lead.

I wasn’t able to make it back to a sports arena until the calendar year had changed to 2008, but luckily my fortunes didn’t change.

With Sidney Crosby headed to town to take on Atlanta’s Thrashers, I decided it was time to make my inaugural appearance at a NHL event. I was excited to be going to my first game, and the game lived up to any and all expectations. Sid the Kid scored twice, but in the shootout was stoned (as were each of the first three shooters from each team including stars Evgeni Malkin, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Marian Hossa) forcing the shootout to go to sudden death. A nice stop by Thrashers’ goalie Kari Lehtonen set the table for Mark Recchi. Recchi, who was released by Pittsburgh earlier this season beat Ty Conklin to give the Thrashers the victory.
I enjoyed the game so much that I’ve made it back for the NHL All-Star Weekend and two other Thrashers’ games. The All-Star Game was thrilling with the Eastern Conference winning in the last 30 seconds on former Thrasher Marc Savard’s goal.

As for the two Thrashers’ contests, the Thrashers lost the first game to Montreal prior to the All-Star break, but the game included a game-tying third period goal and was again decided in a shootout. I got to witness my third shootout when I was in attendance for the Thrashers defeat of the Buffalo Sabres. The Thrashers/Sabres game was the most exciting professional game in any sport I’ve ever been to.

With only a minute remaining in the third period, the Thrashers were trailing by a goal and pulled Johan Hedberg from the goal for an extra attacker. Then in 15 seconds, the Sabers were whistled for penalties on two separate occasions giving the Thrashers a 6-on-3 but with only 45 seconds to find the back of the net.

Despite the shortage of time, the Thrashers were remarkably and, to a fan in attendance, pain-stakingly patient. Then the game-tying shot came off the stick of rookie defenseman Tobias Enstrom with only 17 seconds remaining. The crowd erupted, and being the fortunate fan I am, I jumped for joy like a little school girl.

The game saw a scoreless overtime, even though there were a couple of breath-taking chances for both teams. The shootout was an emotional roller coaster (especially with backup goalies in net for both teams), but the Thrashers were victorious thanks to Eric Perrin’s dominant fake to the right and shot to the left in sudden death.

Of course, my most recent expedition took me to Philips Arena for Detroit’s 94-90 victory on Tuesday. It looked rough in the first half for the hometown Hawks when the Pistons took a double-digit lead that stretched as high as a 15 point margin due to the impressive play of Rasheed Wallace.

(Unbeknownest to me prior to my attendance Tuesday when he hit nearly every shot he took and scored 15 points in the first quarter alone, Wallace may be one of the most dynamic players in the NBA. At 6′11″, Wallace can post up, shoot threes, and is a defensive presence down low.)

However, the Hawks stormed back in the third quarter behind J-Smoove’s (Josh Smith) ability to fill up a stat sheet (30 pts, 6 rebs, 3 blks, 2 assists).

The game was a see-saw affair in the second half, but then the Billups guy decided it was time to score a couple of baskets — HUGE baskets, that is. Billups scored 12 of the Pistons’ final 16 points including drilling a pair of three-pointers and a jumper (all with a defender draped all over him) to help give the Pistons the W.

Regardless of the Hawks’ loss, I had a great time at my first NBA game, as well as the other games mentioned. I’m just thankful I’ve been a ‘fortunate fan’ lately, BUT I also realize, as a superstitious sports fanatic, that I’ve likely just jinxed myself for many games to come.

Now that you’ve heard about my ‘fortunate fan’ experience, let’s hear about your best ‘fortunate fan’ story.

What great game or unforgettable moment were you able to be in attendance for?

Shotgun Spratling

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