Weeks too late, Predators fan discovers free Cup Final tickets in inbox

By the time it dawned on Andrew Fudge to check his Twitter, the amazing prize from his beloved Nashville Predators had long expired.

Now Fudge is an online sensation for missing out on two free tickets to watch the Predators in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at Bridgestone Arena because he didn't check his Twitter direct messages.
"I kind of shot myself in the foot on that one," Fudge told NHL.com. "I didn't even think anything about it, then [Monday] I woke up to clear out all my emails and then thought, I might as well clear up all these Twitter notifications too and there it was."

Though Fudge was unable to attend the Cup-clinching game, which the Pittsburgh Penguins won 2-0 to claim their second consecutive championship, the endeavor wasn't a total loss. The Predators reached out to him Tuesday to offer him free tickets to their home opener Oct. 10 against the Philadelphia Flyers.

"It's neat that they reached out and did that," Fudge said. "It's a good consolation prize, and we'll get to see them raise the Western Conference champions banner."
The Clarksville, Tennessee resident entered himself to win free Cup Final tickets in June as part of Nashville's Twice Daily Tickets, where fans could win by posting photos of themselves at the Tennessee-based convenience store wearing Predators attire and using #TDPreds.

Fudge, who said he spends his social media time mostly perusing Facebook and Instagram, thought at first he had been spammed until reading the full message. After the initial shock wore off, he sent the screenshot of the message to a sports-talk radio station in Nashville, and they gave him a $100 credit to an area day spa as its "Monday Morning Facial." He's giving that to his wife, Whitney.
"My wife gave me crap all [Monday]," Fudge said. "I gave the spa day package to [her] as part of the condolence package."
Fudge said he's been following the Predators passionately for the past 10 years and admitted that his enthusiasm for hockey has surpassed that of his first sports love, football, in the past seven years. He called himself a superstitious fan. He refused to wear Predators attire on the day of Stanley Cup Playoff games and watched each postseason game standing in his bedroom.
Even though he caught grief from the internet, and his friends and family, Fudge is taking his dubious moment of fame in stride and is able to laugh at his mistake.
"One of my buddies had the best quote, 'You're officially the dumbest person in the world of sports right now,'" Fudge said. "I can tell my son and daughter in the future that I got all these articles written about me and that I messed that one up. It's all about how you handle it."
But Fudge also won't make the same mistake again.
"I'm definitely going to have to make a habit to check Twitter at least once a day," he said.