Hot Dogs, Soda, Tickets ... Engagement Ring?
Proposals at sporting events still populate American arenas and stadiums

There’s a video making the rounds over at YouTube. On the surface, it’s a scene you’ve witnessed being played out at stadiums and arenas all over the country for the past couple of decades.

Guy has his girl captive – figuratively of course (but barely). During a stoppage in play, or perhaps even at halftime, he pops The Question. In full view of tens of thousands of spectators – because it inevitably ends up on the Jumbo Tron scoreboard – and potentially millions watching at home. And she’s going to say NO?

Well, one girl did – sort of.

The video shows the guy near center court at a pro basketball game. He goes through the traditional deal – bending down on one knee, the whole bit. The girl is animated in her surprise and empathy for the poor dude, who would only imagine himself being rejected in his worst nightmare, given the scenario.

Worst nightmare realized.

She listens to his probably molasses-filled drivel, then waves her hands in front of her, a gesture designed to be seen by the crowd and the cameras. And away she walks – off the court, toward an exit.

The guy is mortified, the crowd is stunned. But it turns out to all be a prank, an evil trick placed on the would-be fiancé. But it also gives us a snapshot of what such a rejection might look like – and it’s not all that pretty.

For whatever reason, American men are still proposing to their girlfriends at sporting events, placing them on the spot. Whether it’s a banner flying over a stadium, or a lighted message on the overhead scoreboard, women are still being strong-armed – a tradition that just won’t go away.

The practice took an odd twist at this year’s Super Bowl Media Day, when Mexican TV reporter Ines Gomez-Mont, armed with a crew and a microphone, and dressed in a wedding gown, interrupted the festivities by shouting out a proposal for marriage at New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. She was politely rebuffed, and later tried it with New York Giants QB Eli Manning. Same result. But her rejection was hardly unexpected.

Apparently, there is some sort of romantic touch to making such a private, tender moment so very public and Internet-ready. At least, the men seem to think so – or, to be more accurate, they think their women think so. Sometimes, of course, there’s a big difference between the two.

How come this practice doesn’t turn up at other public venues, like at the movies, for example? Maybe that would be too rude to the other patrons. A really cool thing would be to get in cahoots with the actors in a play. At the arranged time, one of the players on stage could look to the crowd and say, “Lisa, will you marry Robert?”

Just a thought.