The Fall Classic and Sleep Deprivation

Being a sports fan and a morning radio personality is not necessarily the best fit because much of what you watch, or want to watch (on TV or in person) is at night. For more than 36 years my alarm clock has gone off somewhere between 2:22 a.m. and 2:50 a.m. and sleep has often taken a back seat when it comes to a choice between that and say watching a game.

Of course the nature of the game has a lot to do with my choice as I’ll bail on a nothing special regular season game and allow myself to fall asleep in bed. During a Mets game in the summer I’m often in a comatose state by the 3rd inning which means I’ll get a solid six hours of sleep which is a (pardon the pun) home run for me. Same for a Rangers game in January and even a Sunday Night or Monday Night Football game that I don’t care about, especially considering the current state of my fantasy team.

However when my team gets to the postseason the priority changes and as much as I cherish a good night’s sleep I’ll give that up to watch and root until the bitter end.
That’s been the case the last two seasons with the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs but I never expected that here in late October I would be faced with the same dilemma because of the Mets.

I’ve battled a few nights with little sleep as they got past the Dodgers and Cubs and last night I was prepared to do the same as the World Series opened in Kansas City. Unlike many of my morning radio colleagues my schedule does not allow me to get home in the afternoon and take a nap as I usually don’t get home before dinner time.

Last night I did manage a 20-minute doze-off before the pre-game show began and by the 2nd inning I decided to watch the game in bed. Things were going fairly well and the Mets were two outs away from capturing the opener and it looked like I would get to sleep before 11:30 and manage a bit more than three hours.

You might know by now that my plan and hopes were dashed by a game-tying home run as the game went into extra innings...10, 11, 12, 13, and 14. I kept looking at the clock and considering turning the game off but I couldn’t. Finally at 1:19 the game ended and not well for the Mets…or me. I couldn’t fall asleep right away and the last time I looked at the clock it was 1:31. 71 minutes later at 2:42 the alarm went off and I was up and heading to the shower. I have a really busy day today and won’t get home until after 6pm.

Game #2 is tonight and I’m planning to watch until the bitter end, or my eyes close.