It’s been a rocky year-end for a lot of people. The weather in New York has been a bit weird and with mercury out of retrograde, we’re having a difficult time finding things to blame our hardships on. Each day can’t come faster, and a little raincloud seems to sit on the shoulders of every other person I see in this city.
Or at least, that’s the state I was in before coming into the New York City GOODfest. But when I headed into the BAM theater, the little glow of the lights and the energy of the room shifted my body chemistry. All of a sudden, I felt a little more *up* you know?
I was entranced by the opener, Madame Gandhi, whose spoken word and song committed the audience to a rallying cry of social change and activation. Her refrain: “The future is female, the future is female.” I couldn’t agree more. I played with the Google Pixel I was given for the evening, and as an iPhoneographer (I know, I know), I couldn’t get over how great the photos looked in low light, helping me capture Kiran’s face and energy with more distinction.
After a lull, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band emerged from the back, guerilla-style, and the blared through the crowd. Everyone held out their phones to capture it as they headed to the front of the stage, later joined by Shilpa Ray, a local blues punk band with a frontwoman that I can’t get out of my head. In an energized room, her silken voice and sardonic sense of humor captured the crowd and brought things down a notch.
When Glass Animals finally came on, most of the crowd (myself included) were a few glasses in. The theater was lubricated, and feeling positive, so when frontman Dave Bayley came out and let out his first little croons, we were all the way up there on his level. Something about the theater lights and the time and space we were at created a bit of a tingle in the room. Like I said, with everything going on right now, it was a sweet relief to feel some good.
Nurse and patient smiling.
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Holding the hand of a patient.Image via Canva - Photo by Portra
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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.
- YouTubewww.youtube.com
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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