We want to hear your stories of your personal experiences at live sports events!
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The Good Men Project Sports Section is re-launching its weekly series, “From the Front Lines…of Sports.”
This feature is a place for contributors, editors, and readers to share personal stories of their experiences attending live sports events. The posts can explore aspects of the game itself, the feeling of being there, of spending time with family or friends, or anything else connected to the experience. And it can be any type of sports event, big or small, from the NCAA Basketball tourney with buddies, the SuperBowl with friends, on a baseball trip with your kid, or to a minor league baseball game with the family.
There has been and surely will continue to be many negative stories spinning out of the world of sports – from privilege to concussions to abuse to greed. We want to make sure to shine a light there, but we also want to focus on the good stories too. That is our hope for this feature. We need not rely on cute internet kittens alone to feel good about sports!
There are so so many of the good stories, and we want you to join us and help to tell them.
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To explain a bit more about how we envision this feature, here are a couple personal examples:
This past weekend, I went with my younger brother, my son and my daughter to the finale of the Yankees vs. Red Sox Series at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees were going for the four game sweep. The Stadium was packed, and it was a lovely night.
Even though the start of the game was delayed by a non-existent rain storm, we passed the time, wondering if the guy sitting behind us was actually Donald Sutherland or not. (He wasn’t, but, I mean, come on!).
As for the game, the Yankees jumped all over Red Sox starter, David Price, early and often. Judge homered. Urshela homered. And the Yankees ended up winning the game 7-4, sending the Red Sox to their 8th straight loss and extending their lead over Boston to 14 1/2 games. That was satisfying indeed. We commemorated the occasion with a selfie to rival Ellen’s Oscar Night Selfie. (We think.)
But the best story from tonight’s Yankee game came in the 9th inning. The lefty Andrew Benintendi was up for Boston. Chad Green was in for the Yankees, slinging 97 mph cheese. Benintendi fouls off a pitch and it comes soaring towards our section – the mezzanine just on the 3rd base side of home plate. Not many foul balls come there. You need a lefty and he needs to foul it off at an odd angle and hard.
So the ball is a mile high in the air and coming right towards me. Locked in. I reach out and it hits my hand and glances off, rolling into the row in front of me. A gregarious (and buzzed) Bronx native Yankee fan picks it up and starts yelling “42 YEARS!! YES! 42 YEARS! FINALLY. YES.” He is *so* happy and excited. High fives all around.
Now former Yankee, Alex Rodriguez, is in the TV booth doing the game for ESPN, because its Sunday Night Baseball. We have a direct sight line into the booth. And this guy who caught the ball is hooting and screaming, holding up his prize and saying “Hey A-Rod!! Check it out!!! 42 YEARS!!” And we’re all up and signaling and yelling and waving at A-Rod. So A Rod finally smiles and gives a little lean forward out of the box and waves at us. (!!)
Big cheers go up from our little group in our section.
Next, a tiny kid in a Luke Voit Jersey shyly comes over from a few sections over. He quietly asks if he can have the ball. As soon as the words are out of his moth, the guy shrugs and immediately tosses him the ball. The kid smiles and heads on back to his parents.
The guy then says: “Wow. I gotta tell ya. I came to regret that decision the second after I made it.”
Anddddd, scene. Cracking up. 😂 😂
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About five years ago, I went with my then 10 year old daughter to the NY Red Bulls playoff soccer game. We sat right near the crazy cheering section, which pulsed with energy all game, complete with raucous singing, flag waving, and music. Each team had a ‘big name’ superstar. For the Red Bulls it was Thierry Henry. For the New England Revolution, it was US Men’s Olympic hero, Jermaine Jones. It was a close exciting match, which (sadly for us Red Bulls fans) New England won 2-1 on a late goal by Jones.
We had a blast, but like any good fan, my daughter was displeased with the result:
Lauren: “Rally towels don’t do anything.” @NewYorkRedBulls lose 2-1 on late goal. — Michael Kasdan (@michaelkasdan) November 23, 2014
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So, you see, experiences like that could be a turned into a From the Frontline…of Sports post.
But you’ll do way better!
Please send your submissions to myself at [email protected] or contact us via Twitter @MichaelKasdan or Instagram @mkasdan using the #GMPFrontLineSports and #GMPSports hashtags.
Editors are standing by…
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