Sports Widow

When Cheering Goes Too Far: The Sports Widow's Inappropriate Outburst

June 14, 2008 7:34 PM | 0 Comments

Last night I went to a movie, which was featured in the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), entitled The Wackness.
One of the members of my Movie Club, which is 16 years in the running, is a past president of SIFF, so we always let Mary do the driving and select the movie during the festival. She has a film website you should definitely try out. This is a welcome change from attending Little League Baseball games, which are my recent preoccupation. The problem is that I've gotten to be such an exuberant, vocal fan that I don't know when to cut the cheering off. Here is my embarrassing example.

The Wackness was showing at my all-time favorite movie theatre in Seattle, The Egyptian Theatre. Once we were seated the director introduced the movie. He had to have been in his 30s, which just taunts me. It seems like all of the directors today are really young and have this youthful perspective. Anyway, he introduced two of the stars of the movie, one of which was Josh Peck. When I heard that name it sounded strangely familiar, like an old friend. I racked my brains... How do I know that name? Then it clicked. He's been in my living room for years as one of the stars of Nickelodeon's sitcom Drake & Josh. Forgetting that I was with the erudite film crowd, I started hooting and hollering with delight. I couldn't wait to tell my children, knowing that they would be impressed. The problem was that I was practically the only one hooting & hollering, so I slid down in my seat and tried to pretend I was invisible. I've got to get a grip, man, and control these outbursts. OK, that definitely didn't sound youthful or cool.

BTW, The Wackness is a great film. It's a coming-of-age story about a young drug dealer (Josh Peck), which takes place in 1994 New York. It's about his relationship with a wacky Sir Ben Kingsley, who plays the boy's shrink and accepts in-kind payments for his services, as in weed, marijuana, grass, pot. I was amazed to see Josh Peck's incredible performance and maturity as an actor. It was definitely worth cheering about.

Later on I went home and decided the megaphone can be a very useful device to add volume and emphasis. I've been using it to order people around: a wake-up call in the morning, reminders to my husband to take out the recycling, etc. Consider it.

Life is a contact sport. Grab the megaphone.
The Sports Widow
(aka Nan Hall)