Coyotes give fan sense of normalcy in Iraq

Ryan Narramore, director of publicity for the Phoenix Coyotes, submitted the following letter from a Glendale serviceman for publication.

Thank you, Coyotes, for another great season, and for helping me to keep my sanity.

My name is Sgt. Richard Voorhis, and I am a member of the Arizona National Guard. My unit is the 996th Area Support Medical Company out of Glendale. The reason I'm saying thank you is simple. I have been on active duty orders since October of last year, and am currently deployed overseas in Iraq. I am also a season ticket holder. We have 2 seats in section 103, and I have been a rabid fan since 2003. Until then I was a Colorado Avalanche fan, but have since seen the error of my ways.

Since I've been deployed, I have followed your season, no matter where I have been at (Camp Bullis, Texas; Ft. Lewis, Wash; Kuwait; and now Iraq). Mostly it has been online. In Ft. Lewis, I could "watch" the games in almost real time. They have a box score feature that updates every 30 seconds, and tells who took a shot, whether or not it was on goal, who got a penalty and what it was for, and, of course, goals. Almost as good as being there.

But here in Iraq, I wasn't able to use that feature because of the time difference. Arizona is 10 hours behind me. But every morning when I got up, first thing I would do was check on the game Everyone thought I was crazy when I would yell after a Coyotes win, or grumble after a loss. As the season started to close, you can believe I was checking the standings on the whole Western Conference. I would do the math to see who had to lose and to whom for my Yotes to make the playoffs. The funny thing is when I'd IM with my wife and kids each night, I'd be the one that would tell them how many points behind the Coyotes were, and who had to lose, and how many times they'd have to lose in order for us to make the playoffs.

Following you guys on your hunt for the "WHITEOUT" really kept my mind off of what is going on over here. It gave me a little touch of home that could almost make me think that I wasn't nearly halfway around the world. But most importantly, it gave me just one more thing that I could talk with my family about back home, and share with them like I was there.

Now that the season is over for you guys, I have to resort to following the rest of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It's gonna be Pittsburgh and Detroit in the finals. And like a true Coyotes fan, all I can say is . . . GO PENS. Anybody other than Detroit!

I'd also like to say that you guys made such an improvement this year. Last year we were at the bottom of the league. This year, you were in the playoff picture until like the last four to five games. This was such an awesome year!

I'll be following the transactions over the off-season and can't wait for next season to start. You can rest assured that I'll be following you guys until I get home. Hopefully in time for Christmas.

So, thanks for a great season, and let's get a Whiteout next year.

Richard D. Voorhis

Sgt., 996th ASMC, AZARNG