2008 Woodie Awards
Buried Jersey, Great Prank
Dan Olender
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Sports
What do you get when you have tons of concrete, a new Yankee Stadium and a die-hard Red Sox fan all in the same place?
Comedic gold.
Certainly you've heard the story by now:
Red Sox fan is a construction worker working on the new Yankee Stadium.
Red Sox fan decides he's still a little upset about 'the Curse of the Bambino' and wants the Yankees to suffer some 86 years of despair.
Red Sox fan places a David Ortiz jersey in the ground and begins to pour concrete over it.
Incredible. This is the best thing to happen in this rivalry since the great drama of the 2004 ALCS. The Yankee-Red Sox games have gotten old and over-hyped recently for people outside of Red Sox Nation and the Evil Empire, but this is a story that just can't be hated.
When this story first came out, I couldn't stop laughing. This guy had such a great idea in the spirit of fun, and better yet, he actually carried it out. He probably did this in front of more than a few Yankee fans as well, which, one would think, would have put his safety at risk for trying such a bold prank.
Then, the Yankees spent Sunday afternoon jack-hammering the concrete to try and find this jersey to rid the new stadium of any potential curse-bearing apparel. In all seriousness, this was a great move by the Yankees. Whether you believe in curses or not, you can't have a billion-dollar stadium going up knowing that somewhere, in the depths of the concrete, lay a jersey that represents your most hated rival.
The only thing that went wrong with this is the story leaked to the New York Post. If only this story could have stayed a secret until say, Opening Day 2009, then this would have been even better. What better way to ruin the pomp and circumstance that will be Opening Day at the new Yankee Stadium than letting the world know about this little prank.
Either way, this is also such a fun story because it brings the fans into a professional sports rivalry. After high school the fans aren't normally part of the rivalries other than as outside observers which is ironic because the fans are the ones that care so much about the matchup. This is a creative, old-school move that reminds me of students of rival schools stealing each other's mascot before they play their big game.
Comedic gold.
Certainly you've heard the story by now:
Red Sox fan is a construction worker working on the new Yankee Stadium.
Red Sox fan decides he's still a little upset about 'the Curse of the Bambino' and wants the Yankees to suffer some 86 years of despair.
Red Sox fan places a David Ortiz jersey in the ground and begins to pour concrete over it.
Incredible. This is the best thing to happen in this rivalry since the great drama of the 2004 ALCS. The Yankee-Red Sox games have gotten old and over-hyped recently for people outside of Red Sox Nation and the Evil Empire, but this is a story that just can't be hated.
When this story first came out, I couldn't stop laughing. This guy had such a great idea in the spirit of fun, and better yet, he actually carried it out. He probably did this in front of more than a few Yankee fans as well, which, one would think, would have put his safety at risk for trying such a bold prank.
Then, the Yankees spent Sunday afternoon jack-hammering the concrete to try and find this jersey to rid the new stadium of any potential curse-bearing apparel. In all seriousness, this was a great move by the Yankees. Whether you believe in curses or not, you can't have a billion-dollar stadium going up knowing that somewhere, in the depths of the concrete, lay a jersey that represents your most hated rival.
The only thing that went wrong with this is the story leaked to the New York Post. If only this story could have stayed a secret until say, Opening Day 2009, then this would have been even better. What better way to ruin the pomp and circumstance that will be Opening Day at the new Yankee Stadium than letting the world know about this little prank.
Either way, this is also such a fun story because it brings the fans into a professional sports rivalry. After high school the fans aren't normally part of the rivalries other than as outside observers which is ironic because the fans are the ones that care so much about the matchup. This is a creative, old-school move that reminds me of students of rival schools stealing each other's mascot before they play their big game.
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