From Business Insider · Jennifer Cannon · · 2m
18,000 fans cheered for a stranger at a hockey game
A woman in her eighties became the unexpected star of a Philadelphia Flyers game, and the crowd's joy reminded one writer why we need moments like this.
In brief
A woman in her eighties became the unexpected star of a Philadelphia Flyers game, and the crowd's joy reminded one writer why we need moments like this. An elderly woman dancing on the jumbotron at a Flyers game against the Colorado Avalanche became the unexpected star of the night, moving the crowd and reminding the…
A magical night at the Flyers game
Jennifer Cannon and her husband attended a Philadelphia Flyers game against the Colorado Avalanche. The Flyers were up three to one with less than ten minutes left in the third period, and the crowd of…
A woman steals the show on the jumbotron
During a TV timeout, cameras panned to fans on the jumbotron. A grey-haired, bespectacled woman in a royal blue hoodie appeared, chair dancing with her arms in the air and holding a bright orange Flyers…
She realizes she's on the big screen
The camera panned to Gritty, and everyone booed.When it returned to the woman, she lit up and pointed at herself, mouthing, "Oh, that's me!"
“Oh, that's me!”
The crowd wants more of Good Luck Granny
Camera operators cycled between Gritty, who played along with boos, and the woman, who elicited raucous cheering.Everyone wanted more, and the crowd's enthusiasm grew with each appearance.
She was eighty-four and deeply moved
Under a video posted by Sports Radio ninety-four WIP reporter Dave Uram, a commenter wrote that they sat next to the woman and her daughter.
“I sat right next to her and her daughter, she was crying after being on the screen. It meant so much to her. She's 84 years old but was screaming and cheering all game.”
Why this moment mattered so much
The author's mother died in January, a few months shy of her eighty-second birthday.The author turned fifty-nine that summer and had been thinking about mortality and the state of the world for her grandchildren.
We're all craving joyful moments
Twenty twenty-six has felt filled with an endlessly worrisome news cycle and personally painful moments.Being enveloped by the energy of strangers who come together for a shared, emotionally vested experience has been a salve.
Here's the gist
An elderly woman dancing on the jumbotron at a Flyers game against the Colorado Avalanche became the unexpected star of the night, moving the crowd and reminding the author of the power of shared joy.
