Sometimes, you’ll encounter situations where “leaning into it” is welcomed and preferred. Enter: The 2023 Pinstripe Bowl. Emanating from Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, New York, the venue has its own history. Namely, the New York Yankees, the most successful sports franchise in North American sports history.
The Yankees are known for many things, and among them is the radio voice of John Sterling. The team’s longtime radio play-by-play man has his unique brand and style. His game-ending send-off of “Yankees win… THEEEE Yankees win!” skyrocketed in popularity and visibility during the team’s dominant run in the late 1990s. It’s become an iconic call that’s sometimes embraced when they win… or, of course, turned around on them when they lose.
Pinstripe Bowl play-by-play man Drew Carter saw an opening emerge on Thursday. The 2023 Pinstripe Bowl neared its conclusion as the Rutgers Scarlet Knights were poised to defeat the Miami (FL) Hurricanes. The clock went triple zeroes, and RU celebrated a 31-24 victory over the Hurricanes. And apropos of nothing, twenty years ago, that would have been a substantial freaking deal (Long live Big East Football.).
Carter signed off from the game the only way he probably felt he could. Imitating Sterling’s iconic call, the ESPN play-by-play put his spin on it.
Drew Carter called the Pinstripe Bowl today for ESPN, and fittingly, Carter imitated John Sterling to sign off from The Bronx.
"Ballgame over! Scarlet Knights win… THEEEEEEEEEEE Scarlet Knights win!" 🎙️🏈 pic.twitter.com/V8VejEEyEl
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 28, 2023
Well played. To Carter’s credit, he earned himself a very favorable response online. That might be the biggest accomplishment of all, considering that the Yankees rarely play well to neutrals.
Sometimes, you have to just lean into it. Shout out to Drew Carter, who did exactly that and found his way into favor with everyone watching.
