The Comeback Kid

We had two comebacks occurring simultaneously today. The stuff sports highlight reels are made of. Well, not quite. But it made for good blogging fodder.

You know my hubby is a lifelong Celtics fan. Last year, thanks to an NBA championship win over the Lakers, Carter jumped on that bandwagon, too. Since I don't have allegiance to any NBA team, I'm fine with cheering for the Celtics when they're on TV.

This afternoon, I walked into the living room and saw Carter was reclined on the couch playing his DS, Daddy was in the chair and the Celtics were on TV. I saw they were behind by 10 or 12 against the evil Lakers. "That doesn't look good," I said.

That's when Jim caught my attention, putting his "shhh" finger in front of his mouth, then pointed to the TV again. He was watching ESPN Classic. In other words, this was an old game. Not so old -- just Game 4 of last year's Finals. A game Celtics fans recall as the "greatest comeback ever."

I could see right away what was going on. He was going to see how long it took Carter -- quite distracted by his video game -- to figure out it was an old game. So I plop on the couch and decide to play along. It's almost halftime, the Celtics are behind by 17 or 18 and Daddy's "game" begins.

Daddy offers to bet Carter a quarter that the Celtics will come back and win. But it's not just a quarter. He gives him 20-1 odds or something and says if the Celtics win, Carter just owes Daddy a quarter. But if the Lakers win, Daddy owes him $5. Carter takes the bet (how could he not?) and they shake on it.

During halftime, we decide to play the 3 to 13 card game. In just two hands I am about 50 points to the bad. My points slow down a bit, but I am gradually inching toward the loser bracket.

Meanwhile, we are keeping an eye on that Celtics game and by the end of the third quarter, the bet has doubled -- $10 or 50 cents, depending on the winner. Sometime in the fourth quarter, when the Celtics take their first lead, it doubles again. Now we're talking $20 or $1. Carter is OK either way. "I got a dollar ready."

With about a minute left to play, Daddy proposed this: "How about if the Lakers win, I give you $20 but if the Celtics do win, you just clean the litter box instead of paying me a dollar." OK, says Carter.

With about 10 seconds left, Daddy finally shows the "info guide" on TV and Carter realizes he's been played. I wish I would have had a video camera. His reaction was better than anything you'd see on Punk'd or Candid Camera or Howie Do It. Genuinely hilarious!

After he settles down (Daddy and I can't stop chuckling), we decide to finish the 3 to 13 game. We're down to the last two hands and I am still losing my keester. It's my deal and, honestly, I dealt myself 7 wild cards! Unheard of! So I go out immediately and suddenly find myself in first place. A place I hung onto during the last hand, too.

Talk about some great comebacks! The Celtics win... Mommy wins... And we have a clean litter box!