Hope you kept the receipt for that ring

In thirty-plus years of attending live sporting events, I've seen my share of public wedding proposals done via Jumbotron, airplane banner, and the like. One of my best friends proposed to his wife by putting a message on the scoreboard during a Rangers game at Madison Square Garden. She said Yes, and I figure any groom-to-be with half a brain has a pretty solid idea that his beloved will say Yes when he tries a stunt like this, but as some Astros fans saw on Monday night, that doesn't always happen.

The biggest excitement happened in the stands [after the fifth inning] when a fan failed in his public attempt at popping the question.

With the couple highlighted on the big screen, the mood soured after the man took a knee to offer an engagement ring. Wearing a brick-red replica Astros jersey, the woman appeared to angrily dump a bag of popcorn on the man before rushing up the stairs amid a chorus of boos.

After the top of the sixth, the man left amid cheers from the sympathetic crowd.

"If it was an act, she put on a good one," Garner said. "She looked totally surprised and then totally mad. We couldn't even get a proposal right down here tonight.

"We lead the league in marriage proposals, and we couldn't get that one right tonight."

Ouch. I suppose the only way for this to be worse for that guy is if that footage finds its way to YouTube. Though I suppose in the long run, he may end up better off. Not that that's likely to be a consolation for him right now.

UPDATE: Missed this features story about the proposal:

The Astros fan whose marriage proposal was rebuffed in front of 30,000 fans actually struck out twice Monday night.

He didn't get the girl.

And now he's stuck with the $300 bill from the Astros, which is the tab for two tickets, the proposal shown on the centerfield scoreboard and a souvenir video of the proceedings.

"We did what we said we were going to do," said Pam Gardner, president of business operations. "We hope these proposals will be serious and special, so people have to think before they do it."

Gardner said she wasn't sure what to do with the video of the first rejected marriage proposal in the history of Minute Maid Park. Certainly it belongs to the gentleman if he wants it, she said. Otherwise, the staff will dispose of it discreetly.

Uploading to YouTube would not be discreet, would it? A small blessing for the poor fellow.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 22, 2007 to Baseball