Soon after returning to the Bronx from World War II, I went to the Stadium to see a football game. The home team, called the New York Yankees, was inept but all through the game a stout woman sitting alone several rows away was loudly cheering her heart out.
Watching her, I thought about the emptiness of some lives that could only be filled with devotion to a team of professional losers. I was overcome with emotion over such pathos until someone told me that the woman was Kate Smith, whose business manager Ted Collins owned the team, bought no doubt with his percentage of her earnings as one of the most popular singers of the time.
During the seventh inning break at tomorrow's final game before they demolish the Stadium, there will likely be tears on and off the field as the booming sounds of Kate Smith's "God Bless America" fills the storied arena for the last time.
As it does, I will be thinking of the day I felt so sorry for the fat lady who is singing for the last time at the field of dreams that has meant so much in my life.
You have some interesting stories to tell, Robert.
ReplyDeleteI think you may have lived during the best years of this country even though you had to live through WWII.
I can't help but wonder if this is like the Romans tearing down the Colliseum or the Greeks tearing down the Acropolis because it didn't provide enough parking.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly is "American Tradition?