Yesterday was a heart-warming day in Arizona sports and it all started with Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov getting ill. You could even say, "Ilya was illing," if you are into really stupid plays on names. The beneficiary of Ilya's illness (sorry) was somebody called Tom Fenton.
Chance are good that unless your name is also "Fenton" or you are otherwise "Fenton-associated," that you've never heard of this guy before. In fact, there are no actual reports demonstrating that he had ever heard of himself before getting a call from the Phoenix Coyotes asking if he could drop his haircut plans and get his no-named ass to Madison Square Garden to fulfill the role of backup net-minder.
Our buddy, Fox Sports Arizona's Todd Walsh -- who's always great with these kind of people interest stories -- was on the case with the exclusive Fenton interview. You should watch it, but only if you are prepared to have a little tear well up in the corner of your eye.
That might even make it NSFW in some places like a police precinct or TV newsroom, where crying is frowned upon.
This entire Fenton affair (I bet he never thought he would have an affair named after him) has me thinking ... who on our SB Nation Arizona staff could possibly get an emergency call up?
- Jose Romero is a big soccer guy, so maybe if a team is in town for an exhibition game, he gets the call to be a backup left side defender. He's too short to play in the middle of the field, but he's solid and pretends to be a tough guy.
- Lolly Konecky is really into skiiing and biking, but those aren't actual professional team sports that would ever need an emergency call up. That shouldn't stop her from riding her bike to the slopes and getting in a few runs.
- Brain Gibberman wants to be a radio star some day. Would Bill Simmons call him to be a fill-in podcast guest to talk for 60 minutes about the Jets? (lol, just kidding)
- How about Scott Howard? Let's say the Suns get some kind of food poisoning and they are desperate for a point guard at the last second. He does have this experience to fall back on.
- Justin, however, claims that he's the best hoops player on our team, which could be true, but with that beard, I just peg him more as a darts man. Is there such thing as professional darts? Are they called darters?
- Personally, I am not expecting The Call. Being older than Grant Hill is a big disqualifier, but back in the day, I could ball ... but unfortunately, now I work in a place where crying is frowned upon.
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