It’s no secret that the television cameras at sporting events often catch fans in the midst of semi-embarrassing moments. And, of course, good sports announcers are adept at poking fun of these aloof fans when action slows down on the field. But it appears that not all fans take such comments in good fun. A sleepy Yankees fan is now suing ESPN after two announcers on the network mocked him for falling asleep at Yankee Stadium during a baseball game. He insists that the announcers’ commentary and the images of him asleep have damaged his reputation.
The fan, Andrew Rector, has reportedly filed a $10 million defamation suit against the team and the sports network, as well as commentators Dan Shulman and John Kruk. Rector is evidently not too happy that his brief nap became a nationally televised event. He alleged that Kruk unleashed an “avalanche of disparaging words” over his attempt to catch a few quick minutes of shuteye. “It was not a pleasant situation,” his mother, Ms. Rector, explained. “He was very unhappy. Everyone made fun of him everywhere he went.”
Rector does admit in the Bronx Supreme Court suit that he took a brief nap during the game between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox on the evening of April 13th. However, he takes issue with the comments that Shulman and Kruk made in regard to his nap. In his typo-laden lawsuit, Rector claimed that the “false statements” the two announcers made include suggestions that he was “not worthy” to be a Yankee fan and “is a fatty cow that needs two seats at all time and represents symbol of failure.” While Rector adamantly maintained that the announcers used words like “fatty” and “stupid,” neither Shulman nor Kruk uttered such insults in the clip. It remains unclear whether they commented later in the game on Rector’s lengthy nap.
Watch the Clip from the Yankees vs. Red Sox Game Here:
But the suit doesn’t stop there. Rector also claimed Major League Baseball is responsible for the “vituperative utterances” appearing about him on its website after the clip of him sleeping was posted the next day. It is clear that Rector was subject to some online ridicule. Twitter users, for example, had a ball with the situation, inserting Rector’s picture in various situations, including one that featured him as “Sleeping Beauty.”
Rector further claimed that he was portrayed as “a confused individual that neither understands nor knows anything about history and the meaning of rivalry between Red Sox and New York Yankee.” Rector, a used-car dealer, claimed that as a result of the comments, he has “suffered substantial injury” to his “character and reputation,” as well as “mental anguish, loss of future income and loss of earning capacity.”
Mike Soltys, a spokesman for ESPN, declined to comment on the lawsuit, calling it “frivolous.” The Yankees also declined to comment, as did Patrick Courtney, the spokesman for Major League Baseball.
The morale of this story? If you want to take a nap, you probably shouldn’t do so on national TV.