For his sixth birthday, Teddy’s mother, Sil Mazzini, offered him two options: the family could visit Legoland or Disney World, or Sil could throw a party for his friends.
He chose to have a party right away, and Mazzini started making plans right away. She reserved a room for 40 people at Peter Piper Pizza in Tucson for 30 classmates and their parents, sent out invitations at school, put together goodie bags, and then waited for Oct. 21.
But none of the pizza parlor’s guests showed up. Only Mazzini, Teddy, and the boy’s out-of-town father were there.
Mazzini got one phone call from a parent who had to cancel. But besides that, she thought she would have about 32 guests. Nobody came.
Mazzini said in a phone interview that Teddy didn’t really notice. He was too busy with his dad at the arcade. He won a bunch of tickets, which he turned in for something. He ate pizza. It was a good birthday. On Monday, he was very happy and went to school.
“He didn’t understand it,” Mazzini said. “If that happened to an 11- or 12-year-old, it would be tough. But since he’s so young, he’s fine.”
But Mazzini was upset. She put in a lot of time and money to make invitations, decorate, and buy pizza for the party. She got enough cake to serve 40 people.
She said, “My fridge is very small.”
A friend told her to take a picture and post it on Facebook if she needed to get rid of her anger. Then the post got very popular.
Teddy’s birthday was written about by two local TV news stations. Another party was planned for him by a radio station in his area.
She said, “No thanks.” “We’re all pizza-ed out. No more pizzas.”
When the Phoenix Suns heard about the story on Twitter, they sent their own birthday wishes. The team tweeted, “How about we have a party with thousands of people at our place?” “You can have all of the tickets to Wednesday’s Suns vs. Lakers game.”
Jason Rowley, the president and CEO of the Suns, said in a phone interview, “Who knows what really happened, but at the end of the day, we get to give a 6-year-old a birthday experience he will never forget.” “As long as they don’t wear jerseys from the Lakers.”
Teddy got four tickets to the game at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Friday. He’ll get to hang out with the players before the game and meet the Suns’ Gorilla mascot, whose favorite food is pizza, just like Teddy’s.
“I bet you thought we’d say bananas, right? The official team bio for the Gorilla says, “In fact, he likes them on his pizza, but a lot of pizza places don’t have that topping.”
His mother said that Teddy is a big sports fan. This is his first time going to a big sports event.
“These are the kinds of things you want to be able to do when you have a professional sports team in your market,” Rowley said. “Who can really argue with a 6-year-old coming up to watch a Suns-Lakers game?”