Valley catching Coyotes Fever
May 9, 2012, 11:42 PM | Updated: May 10, 2012, 1:05 am
Phoenix has long lived with the label of being a bandwagon
sports town. It’s one of the perils of being a relatively
new professional sports market and a city known for its
melting pot feel and lack of natives.
But if Phoenix sports fans are given a reason to root, by
God, they’ll root.
And the Phoenix Coyotes are giving fans a reason.
The ‘Yotes are getting ready for their first-ever
appearance in the Western Conference Finals against the
Los Angeles Kings, and captain Shane Doan, who happens to
be the longest-tenured athlete in Phoenix, is noticing the
difference in the buzz the team is creating.
“I was in the bank yesterday and they had the manager and
everybody come out, and I’ve been to the same bank for ten
years,” Doan joked. “They all came out and were talking
to me and it was cool. They had all followed the game and
were all involved.”
I wrote a couple of weeks ago that Phoenix is starting to feel like a hockey
town, and apparently the team captain is feeling it
too.
Finally.