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By now I’m sure you’ve all heard about the tragedy that occurred in Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL. This senseless violence hit the staff of The Scrum Sports particularly hard because it’s so close to Tampa and for me, it’s my home town. This week on The Scrum Sports podcast was dedicated to #OrlandoStrong and at the beginning of the show there was a montage of audio from the writers giving our thoughts on the tragedy. The show is awesome and you should definitely check it out, but this show, particularly the beginning is beautiful.
As much as I could go on about my feelings about what happened in Orlando, that is not why I’m writing. I’m writing about something that was announced today that made me proud to be a Tampa Bay Rays fan. Today the Rays announced that for Friday June 17, 2016 game against the San Francisco Giants all remaining tickets will be sold for $5 and all proceeds from the game would be donated to the Pulse Victims Fund. Additionally, there will be a special We Are Orlando Shirt given out to all fans while supplies last.
Every year the Rays host a Pride Night that typically coincides with St. Pete Pride weekend. A lot of teams host Pride Nights, but not many can boast that theirs occurs in a city with one of the largest Pride festivals in the country. This year the Rays due to the attack on the LGBTQ community, decided to step it up, put their money where their mouth is and offer their monetary support to a cause where it is so very much needed.
When I saw this post, I was sitting in Baltimore International Airport on my way home to Tampa from visiting friends and family in Pittsburgh. Seeing that post made me wish I was wearing Rays gear so everyone in the the terminal knew I was a Rays fan and that my team was the one that stepped up to support Orlando. I love the Rays and being a fan, but today I was proud. I was proud to be from Orlando, I was proud to live in Tampa, and I was proud to be a Rays fan.
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