When the New York Yankees clinched their spot in the World Series last week, the casual TV viewer might have wondered if they were about to go swim the 200m butterfly with Michael Phelps.
Call it a fashion statement for the very rich and very happy: There they were, stars like C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Johnny Damon, sporting swim goggles to protect their eyes from the victory champagne being poured, squirted and sprayed amid the post-game revelry.
Champagne celebrations have been around since the 1950s, when they took the place of beer, but goggles have become a familiar sight only in recent years in the locker rooms of Major League Baseball’s top teams. And some die-hard fans aren’t too happy.
Sure, they say, it’s important to preserve those valuable eyes. But the eyewear sure looks a little goofy, doesn’t it? And more important, it suggests a broader problem, these fans say: Post-game celebrations have become too predictable.
“I guess it was funny when they first poured champagne on somebody, but it’s just too prepared, too scripted now,” says Matt O’Donnell, a high school history teacher from Sebastopol, California.
O’Donnell, 39, is an ardent Boston Red Sox fan (his four-year-old son’s middle name is Fenway, after Fenway Park). “Please, No More Champagne Goggles!” he pleaded on his baseball blog in September, when his team was about to clinch a playoff spot.
After every big victory, he complained, the plastic sheets go up, “and then a few players will put on the readily available ridiculous looking champagne goggles and begin spraying their teammates. A manager or coach will inevitably be sprayed with bubbly ... and the perpetrator will think it is the funniest thing ever. Yawn.”
While the goggles don’t lessen any respect for the top players, Oakland A’s fan Patrick Stimson does see them as a sign that today’s athletes may be getting a little softer.
“There’s a notion that today’s players are coddled, multi-gazillionaire athletes, and maybe this is an outgrowth of that,” he says.
On his own baseball blog, Stimson recently posted the question of whether champagne goggles were ever acceptable, or whether it made the players seem, well, wimpy.
“Most people thought it took away some of their manly nature,” he says.
Talk to an eye doctor, though, and you might be converted to the pro-goggle side.
Champagne has a high alcohol content, high enough to damage the surface lining of the cornea, said Dr Matthew Gardiner, director of emergency ophthalmology services at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
“A corneal abrasion like that usually heals within two to three days, but it can be extremely painful while it’s healing,” Gardiner said.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS