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I said on Monday that the movie that is Eric Devendorf's career would be coming to it's fitting third-act conclusion this week with the NBL Finals. Playing against the Waikito Pistons, the team that spurned him and therefore represents the many journalists, scouts and fans who did the same, Devo was set to find redemption in a championship. If this truly was going to be an epic finale, then the Pistons would win game one of the best-of-three series, followed by Eric leading his team back in game two to set up a do-or-die final showdown.
And that's exactly what happened. The Pistons shut down Devo and took game one while Devo came alive in game two.
The winner-take-all Game Three of the NBL Finals is set for Thursday. You can bet your ass that the Pistons will take an early, seemingly-insurmountable lead only to watch Devo and his Saints chip away until they've gotten within two points late. With one last chance at greatness, Eric Devendorf will find the ball in his hands and he will launch a three-pointer as the clock expires. It will go in. Pandemonium will reign. Redemption will be Eric Devendorfs.
And you won't see a lick of it. That is, unless someone is there to help.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say ESPN doesn't have an interest in moving any of their programming to accommodate those interested in a New Zealand basketball game. But what about Time Warner Cable Sports in Central New York? The game features a well-known Syracuse star, the people of Syracuse are interested in watching him complete his hero arc, it's a basketball game...what more do you need?
The game is scheduled for 7:30pm tonight in New Zealand which translates to the primetime hour of 3:30am in New York. Now, I'm willing to bet whatever programming they currently have scheduled for 3:30am can be easily finagled to make room for Devo's crowning achievement. Of course, they can also just broadcast the game a little bit later in the morning if that works for them as well so a lot more folks can watch. Either way, I'm sure they can pull it off.
SO, the only way they can possibly do this is if you let them know you want to watch. E-mail them, call them (315-634-6471), go down to their building in your Devendorf jersey and let them know to flip the switch for New Zealand programming ASAP.
Magic will happen tonight in New Zealand. We are all witnesses...maybe.