On Sunday night, comedian Steve Harvey was hosting the Miss Universe pageant, and he made a mistake. An honest, but horrible, and hilarious mistake. Instead of properly naming the winner and first runner up (that means second place in pageant-speak), he mistakenly called the first runner up the winner. She got the crown and everything.
And then he had to correct himself and take the crown back. It’s cringeworthy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmqAjr0xs04
OK. So you might have enjoyed that. But why am I mentioning it on a baseball site?
Because the Texas Rangers’ AA affiliate did this:
Mark your calendars: April 26 we honor #MissUniverse2015 flub w/ "Runner-Up Night"
Details ➡ https://t.co/0kNxD9Ej3S pic.twitter.com/AtW2ZgzMlj— Frisco RoughRiders (@RidersBaseball) December 21, 2015
Oh my
From the announcement:
“Although it may appear that Miss Colombia has lost, she really has won,” said RoughRiders Executive Vice President and General Manager Jason Dambach. “In a world in which everyone competes to be first, we have decided to honor how special a second-place finish can be. It’s something to be proud of and celebrated.”
The RoughRiders plan to formally invite Ariadna Gutiérrez Arevalo, “Miss Colombia,” as a VIP guest for the night. Gutiérrez will enjoy a suite for the night and an opportunity to throw out the first pitch. The RoughRiders are also inviting Steve Harvey to serve as the on-field host for the evening.
With the night celebrating famous second-place finishes, the Riders have also extended an invitation toJim Kelly, Andre Reed, and Marv Levy the quarterback, a wide receiver, and the coach of the Buffalo Bills during their four-year stretch of runner-up finishes in the Super Bowl (1991-1994). The team will celebrate other second-place finishers including Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera (runner-up onStar Search); Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken (American Idol); Carrie Underwood and Michelle Obama (high school salutatorian); Al Gore and Mitt Romney (presidential elections); and Cowboys running back Darren McFadden (two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up).
Like all Riders home games, fans will have the chance to participate in on-field games, but on Runner-Up Night, prizes will be awarded to the second-place, not first-place, finishers. Other in-game promotions include a seat upgrade to the “Second-best seat in the house.”
Only in minor league baseball can you pull something like this off, and I love it.