Article originally appeared on 01.14.21.
As the old saying goes, "Evil happens when good men do nothing." Jason Gordon and Travis Verrill definitely earned the title of "good men" after they confronted a man who placed racist signs around their town of Norway, Maine.
The racist signs began appearing a few weeks after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
After seeing pictures of the signs on social media, Jason called Travis to tell him about them and they decided to handle the issue themselves.
Warning: this video contains profanity that may be unsuitable for younger audiences.
After learning about the signs, Jason drove Travis over to confront a man named Richard who was sitting on a park bench who they were told put up the signs. After speaking with Richard, Travis learned that they were both veterans of the 101st Airborne division of the Army.
Richard is a Vietnam vet who appeared to be around 70.
Using their shared military past as a way to bond, Travis tried to "talk some sense into him." Unfortunately, the man wasn't receptive to his message.
"I tried to tell him that his ways were wrong," Travis said. "I tried to say that these fucking signs right here were wrong," he said pointing to a sign in his hand.
Travis soon learned he wasn't going to change the man's mind, but told him that "we ain't gonna tolerate this shit around here. I got better things to do with my time."
Both men are business owners. Travis owns a flooring business and Jason a plumbing and heating company.
Travis warned anyone in his town that if they posted any more signs that he was going to "knock on your door."
Travis believes that the recent reckoning America is having with race is a wake-up call for people to change their ways. "Understand, in your brain, that shit ain't the way it used to be," he said. "You have to adapt."
The video went viral, receiving over five million views. Even though Travis wasn't able to change the old man's mind, he was able to use the situation to spread a message of tolerance. "I knew I wasn't going to change his heart," Travis told WGME. "I knew his ways of thinking weren't going to be different when he woke up. I just wanted the signs down."
The video is heartwarming because it's nice to see two self-declared "working guys" standing up for racial justice and doing it in their own way. "If every town had two guys that did the same thing, it would be a lot better world," Jason told Military.
"If you honestly want to leave a better place for your children than what you came into, you gotta get out here right now and do something about it," Travis said.
The two are happy they could get their message out to such a wide audience, although Travis has one regret. "We had no idea this was going to go this far; I would've used better language," he admitted.
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Ketel Marte was brought to tears during an MLB game after facing a shameful fan taunt.
Baseball manager's poignant support for a player brought to tears after shameful fan taunt
Whether they’re expecting perfection from their favorite players or, worse, behaving callously toward opposing teams, sports fans often forget that athletes are human beings. But athletic competition has the ability to unify and uplift, even amid such painful and unpleasant encounters. Take, for example, a major-league baseball game held June 24, 2025 between the home team Chicago White Sox and visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
A shameful low point occurred when Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was at bat in the seventh inning. Per ESPN, a fan reportedly yelled out a comment regarding Marte’s late mother, Elpidia Valdez, who died in a 2017 car accident in the Dominican Republic. Team personnel, including manager Torey Lovullo, then requested the 22-year-old fan be ejected. (Though he was remorseful and admitted his actions were inappropriate, according to an ESPN source, he was nonetheless banned indefinitely from all MLB ballparks.) "We commend the White Sox for taking immediate action in removing the fan," the MLB said in a statement. Marte reportedly declined to comment.
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While the fan’s behavior is inexcusable, it did spark a powerful and inspiring moment. After hearing the comment, Marte was visibly upset, prompting Lovullo to walk on the field, put his arm around him, and offer some words of encouragement. "[I said,] 'I love you, and I’m with you, and we’re all together, and you’re not alone,'" Lovullo said in a post-game interview, as documented by The Rich Eisen Show. "'No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you’re heard, that guy is an idiot.’"
According to Arizona Republic, Lovullo heard the fan’s comment but didn’t want to repeat it. “I looked right at [Marte] when I heard,” he said. “I looked right at him, and he looked at the person, as well. He put his head down and I could tell it had an immediate impact on him, for sure."
Elsewhere in the post-game interview, the manager called the moment "terrible" and reflected on why he stood up for Marte. "Fans are nasty, and fans go too far sometimes," he said. "I love my players, and I’m gonna protect them…I’ve known Ketel for nine years. He’s had some unbelievably great moments and some hardships as well and some really tough moments in his life. I know those. At the end of the day, we’re human beings, and we have emotions. I saw him hurting, and I wanted to protect him."
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The following day, the Chicago White Sox X account sent out a message in support of Marte, writing, "We’re with you" and "Baseball is family." On The Rich Eisen Show, the show's host addressed the need to eradicate this kind of toxic athlete-fan interaction: "I was hearing [people saying], 'There’s no place for this in major league baseball.' There isn’t. There’s no place for this in our society. I understand that people are saying the MLB has got to do something about this. Fans have a right to heckle players—this is something that has happened forever…But there is a line."
In another recent, depressing sports moment with a beautiful coda, let’s look to Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the eventual champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. During the first quarter, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon—a devastating injury that could potentially sideline him for most of the 2025-2026 season. Following the game, in a lovely display of sportsmanship, Thunder point-guard and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went to the Pacers locker room to check on his competitor. In a press conference, he said, "You just hate to see it, in sports in general. But in this moment, my heart dropped for him. I can't imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It’s so unfortunate."
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