Moments in Time
Winning pictures, in their spontaneous glory
This is Kingdom’s
“Celebration” issue, so here we take the brief literally by remembering some of the finest sports celebrations ever caught on camera. In narrowing down a broad range of moments, we have established what it takes to create a great, memorable celebration: passion, spontaneity and drama. Failing that, ski goggles, plastic sheeting and a life preserver will do
Honestly, sporting celebrations are not what they used to be. Case in point: baseball locker rooms nearly every time a team wins—even something not quite World Series-worthy. The poor backroom staff cover the lockers in plastic sheets so cleanup is easier, then the players put on logoed ski goggles to protect their eyes, photographers are assembled and drinks are carefully arranged on a table—and only then can the players spray beer and bubbly all over each other, with all the spontaneity of the Staten Island Ferry.
It’s embarrassing. Even worse is that corporate sponsors have stepped in to drag sports’ celebrations even lower. Apart from the goggles we now have to endure the beer supplier’s name printed all over the plasticsheeted backdrop. Don’t even start on the choreographed touchdown celebrations in today’s NFL. Is this Dancing With the Stars or football?
It was great when golfer Amy Alcott won the Dinah Shore (now ANA Inspiration) in 1991 at Rancho Mirage and jumped into Poppie’s Pond. She was the first and it was emotional, funny, and unexpected. “It was just a moment when I embraced my happiness,” Alcott said later. But these days the winner must get wet whether she likes it or not— and whether she can swim or not. In 1998, Pat Hurst waded rather than drown. In 1999, Dottie Pepper jumped in but surfaced with an ear infection, then a year later told Karrie Webb to take antibiotics after jumping in. Stacy Lewis’ mother fractured her leg in 2011 after joining in the jump, and that finally prompted not a cancellation of the ritual, but the transformation of the pond into a swimming pool, complete with chlorine, sponsored signage and attendants waiting with sponsor-branded towels. How spontaneous.
Traditions are great, and they often begin with spontaneous moments. But some celebrations... Well, they’re as fleeting as the victory, and that’s OK. Trying to recreate those flashes of brilliance that so move us when they appear, like shooting stars, is not unlike telling the same joke over and over again. No matter how great it was the first time, there’s only one first time. The good news? New stars and new victories await, and with them will come new celebrations. Get your ski goggles ready.