Striking Out

I've never understood the phenomenon of Popping The Question on the Jumbotron at a sports event. For starters, do you really want to share this deeply personal, intimate moment with 20,000 strangers? And even if you're OK with that, will she be? And what if she says no? Do you really want to suffer that humiliation before all of Raider Nation?

I raise the issue because my friend Ben Kepple has blogged about the sad story of one romantic fool who decided to propose to his girlfriend at a Houston Astros game:

To recap: The Kiss Cam, which encourages couples to smooch on camera, zoomed in on the gentleman with highest hopes for the evening.

As happens often — usually once a series when the 'Stros are at home — the schmaltzy music started to play and the man scrambled to his knees and reached for the engagement ring.

Usually the guy slides the ring on his intended's finger, they kiss enthusiastically, then everybody settles back into their seats to watch more baseball.

This night, however, the woman looked surprised, then mad at the sight of the ring, either spilled her popcorn or dumped it on the gentleman's head and left amid a chorus of boos....

The woman didn't return to her seat. The man left amid sympathetic cheers after the top of the sixth.

Back when my wife and I were dating, I once casually asked her what she, as a woman, thought of Jumbotron proposals. The exact words now elude me, but the gist of her response was something to the effect of most unromantic idea ever.

So, suffice it to say, when it came time to pop the question, it wasn't at Dodger Stadium, which was probably for the best, seeing that I got a "yes" and not a headful of popcorn.