I’ve long billed SportsChump as a website “of the people, by the people and for the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”
Now that I’ve bastardized our nation’s history by combining the Gettysburg Address with the Preamble to our Constitution, I mean exactly what I say, or more appropriately, what our forefathers first said centuries ago.
Without the contributions and conversations from readers like you, this website would essentially be me talking to myself. Not that I still wouldn’t do so; it would just be far less conversational.
This latest installment was inspired by a single text sent by a long-time friend.
He, who we shall hereby refer to as Sir William, sent me a photo of his day out at the ballpark, a beautiful May afternoon at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, where his beloved Pirates were hosting the Milwaukee Brewers on what appeared to be, as you can see, a picturesque Saturday afternoon.
Days later, I thought to myself, why not host a contest where readers submit memorable photos they have taken over time, accompanied by a few words about why the photo was so special to them. I would dole out cozy, comfy SportsChump T-shirts for each contestant, inspiring us to dig deep into the archives to find these special moments.
Well, Sir William outdid himself and inspired me, yet again, to host not a contest, but rather a forum, our own personal photo album.
Instead of writing about the photo he’d already submitted as I thought he would, I in turn inspired Sir William to send forth a far more meaningful photograph of another, more memorable day at the ballpark.
Here, my dear friends, are his words and his photo of choice.
Chris, here is my photo and story.
“Here is my favorite photo from a sporting event. It’s game 3 of the 2013 NLDS at PNC Park. The photo is my wife, me, my father, and my brother Richard, we also attended game 4.
I’m a lifelong Pittsburgh Pirates fan, like my father, like his father. My dad and his dad used to take the train from Youngstown to see Pirates games at Forbes Field. Janette and I moved to Pittsburgh in 1990 for residency, fell in love with the city, and went to lots of games, got season tickets. My dad and I used to talk about how he and I both had an irrational love for the Pirates, about how a win or loss could change our moods on a daily basis.
When the Pirates made the playoffs in 2013, for the first time since 1992, my 80 yo father flew up from Tampa for the playoffs.
I hadn’t been to a Pirates playoff game with my dad since 1979, when my dad took Richard and me to the clinching NLCS game 3 vs. the Reds.
Those were two of the best days of my life. I watched my team in the playoffs with my favorite people in the world.”
Well said, sir. And thank you so much for sharing.
As well said as all the Tampa Bay area residents who placed focus on the Rays, during all the years that the TB Lightning accomplished everything we could ever ask them to accomplish, and put a permanent change into our emotions. I’ll never return to the days of being unable to fall asleep, until I knew that the Lightning won a game.