Bill S.
11-01-2010, 00:39
Gentleman,
Last night and tonight, I had the pleasure of attending the World Series in Arlington, Texas. Last night, after the national anthem, 4 F-16's did a fly-by over a large American Flag shaped like the U.S.A. Talk about giving you goose bumps, or as my brother said, "man that shit gets you jacked!". I thought that was a thrill...but tonight before the game I got to witness something truly special:
First, the huge flags they rolled out were done so by members of the military. When the announcer stated that fact, the entire stadium went absolutely apeshit. It was amazing. As my mom said, it was nice to see everyone going crazy not for the celebrities, but for the people that truly deserve it. I believe the announcer said the service members were from Ft. Hood and from a reserve base in Ft. Worth. What makes this so great, to me, is that I've experienced this before. Although I no longer live in the Lone Star State, I have been fortunate enough to be able to go to many sporting events here, the opening game at Cowboys stadium, the NBA all-star game last February, countless Ranger's games and 1 Star's game. I've gotta tell ya, every time they mention members of the military (which is just about every time) the whole crowd just looses their minds. I've been to events in other states, and it's just not the same. It truly makes you feel great to know the whole country isn't consumed with the liberal hippie bullshit the media feeds us.
Secondly, they brought out the special guests, two "special Texans", Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. This is when the crowd really lost it. No one booed. Not one single soul. I remembered back to when W was President and the media had nothing good to say about him. None of us Texans got that memo. It was amazing. 43 threw out the first pitch to Nolan Ryan while 41 stood by his side. Then the crowd cheered "USA! USA!" for a minute or two. Just thinking about it gives me chills. It is def. a moment that I will never forget. Even later in the game, when they showed them along with Barbara and Laura on the jumbo-tron... everyone just lost it, cheered, yelled and screamed.
Lastly, between 2 of the innings, they did a solute to service members with some special guests: Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; An under secretary for the DOD (I believe that was his title); The former commander of all forces for something in Iraq, based out of Ft. Hood, I believe is what was said (sorry I didn't remember all the details, but I didn't want to say something I'm not 100% sure of); a Sar. Major I believe from Vietnam; and several other Service members who all just got back home. The crowd yelled louder and longer for all of the above then they did for any part of game I've ever been to, and that IMHO is something worth seeing!!!
My only point is that I've been extremely lucky in being able to go to some pretty awesome events in Texas, and what stands out to me isn't the games themselves, but the respect and love of country everyone in Texas shows. I'm not saying it's not like that other places because obviously it is, I am only stating what I have personally seen and been moved by. I mean my Rangers, who have never been to the World Series...hell, who have never won a post season series period just went down 3-1 tonight, and what I'm thinking about while laying in bed isn't the loss, it's what I had the honor of experiencing before game!
Here is a link for the video of the family Bush riding into the stadium and then the pitch:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/10/31/former_president_bush_throws_out_first_pitch_at_ga me_4_of_world_series.html
And here are two pictures I took myself from games 3 and 4.
Go Ranger's, but more importantly, Go America!!!!
Last night and tonight, I had the pleasure of attending the World Series in Arlington, Texas. Last night, after the national anthem, 4 F-16's did a fly-by over a large American Flag shaped like the U.S.A. Talk about giving you goose bumps, or as my brother said, "man that shit gets you jacked!". I thought that was a thrill...but tonight before the game I got to witness something truly special:
First, the huge flags they rolled out were done so by members of the military. When the announcer stated that fact, the entire stadium went absolutely apeshit. It was amazing. As my mom said, it was nice to see everyone going crazy not for the celebrities, but for the people that truly deserve it. I believe the announcer said the service members were from Ft. Hood and from a reserve base in Ft. Worth. What makes this so great, to me, is that I've experienced this before. Although I no longer live in the Lone Star State, I have been fortunate enough to be able to go to many sporting events here, the opening game at Cowboys stadium, the NBA all-star game last February, countless Ranger's games and 1 Star's game. I've gotta tell ya, every time they mention members of the military (which is just about every time) the whole crowd just looses their minds. I've been to events in other states, and it's just not the same. It truly makes you feel great to know the whole country isn't consumed with the liberal hippie bullshit the media feeds us.
Secondly, they brought out the special guests, two "special Texans", Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. This is when the crowd really lost it. No one booed. Not one single soul. I remembered back to when W was President and the media had nothing good to say about him. None of us Texans got that memo. It was amazing. 43 threw out the first pitch to Nolan Ryan while 41 stood by his side. Then the crowd cheered "USA! USA!" for a minute or two. Just thinking about it gives me chills. It is def. a moment that I will never forget. Even later in the game, when they showed them along with Barbara and Laura on the jumbo-tron... everyone just lost it, cheered, yelled and screamed.
Lastly, between 2 of the innings, they did a solute to service members with some special guests: Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; An under secretary for the DOD (I believe that was his title); The former commander of all forces for something in Iraq, based out of Ft. Hood, I believe is what was said (sorry I didn't remember all the details, but I didn't want to say something I'm not 100% sure of); a Sar. Major I believe from Vietnam; and several other Service members who all just got back home. The crowd yelled louder and longer for all of the above then they did for any part of game I've ever been to, and that IMHO is something worth seeing!!!
My only point is that I've been extremely lucky in being able to go to some pretty awesome events in Texas, and what stands out to me isn't the games themselves, but the respect and love of country everyone in Texas shows. I'm not saying it's not like that other places because obviously it is, I am only stating what I have personally seen and been moved by. I mean my Rangers, who have never been to the World Series...hell, who have never won a post season series period just went down 3-1 tonight, and what I'm thinking about while laying in bed isn't the loss, it's what I had the honor of experiencing before game!
Here is a link for the video of the family Bush riding into the stadium and then the pitch:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/10/31/former_president_bush_throws_out_first_pitch_at_ga me_4_of_world_series.html
And here are two pictures I took myself from games 3 and 4.
Go Ranger's, but more importantly, Go America!!!!