I WANNA BE ROYAL

Today I said to a co-worker prior to a meeting, pick your poison!  He was complaining about having to go and watch eleven-year-olds jump on a trampoline for two hours.  I said, “That’s awesome!  They will tire out and you will have some peace.  You could be me and have to watch four hours of Dance Moms with my twelve-year-old.”  He quickly relented and said that he would rather watch his jumpers than gossiping, vicious dance moms. 

While watching Lifetime’s Dance Moms episodes this week, I saw an ensemble team perform a choreographed set to the Grammy award winning Lorde’s’ hit Royals.  The peanut sized dancers wore little maid costumes to express their desire to be ‘Royals’.  Interesting choice of costume and take on the song, until I read the back story behind the creation of the song- an interesting nugget I just couldn’t resist.



It seems that New Zealand’s own Lorde wrote the song after seeing a 1976 National Geographic photo of Kansas City Royal, future hall of famer, George Brett.  According to an article on ESPN.com, “The photo of a young, smiling Brett in his home Royals jersey, surrounded by autograph seekers holding brand-new baseballs, inspires the girl's song about missing out on the lifestyles of the rich and famous. The song becomes a worldwide hit, wins multiple Grammy awards, and turns the 17-year-old girl from Auckland into a star. “  Who would have ever thought of that take on the song but the songwriter herself!

And now you're Royal. @lordemusic meets @Royals icon George Brett. pic.twitter.com/7BPRW6VYJD
— MLB (@MLB) April 16, 2014

She finally got to meet Brett this week and it was the meeting of a lifetime for an unlikely fan.  I understand that feeling completely.  You see, I am a closet George Brett fan.  There, I said it. 

Next to Bucky Dent and Pete Rose, I was secretly in love with him but could not admit it particularly after the pine tar incident and certainly not with the rivalry we had with the team back in the mid to late 1970s.  I wanted to be Royal too, but I was a Yankee and that just was not proper!

I remember a Sports Illustrated edition with Mike Schmidt and George Brett on the cover.  I relished that cover and kept it within a stone’s throw of my bed, where I also kept Olympic speed skater Eric Heiden’s pictures, my Burger King 1978 Yankee poster and my Yankee yearbooks. 

Perhaps I don’t have to be Royal to feel Royal as a Yankee fan.  We have 27 championships, a legacy of amazing players and the most elite baseball team in the country, if not the world.  If that’s not ‘Royal’, I don’t know what is.  But, hey, I wouldn’t mind meeting George Brett myself.  It would be dream,that took about 38 years to come true. 

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof



 
You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!