Steve Harvey holds up the card showing the winners after he incorrectly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez at the winner at the Miss Universe pageant. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The news cycle will have moved on by next spring, but that won’t stop the Frisco RoughRiders, a minor-league affiliate of the Texas Rangers, from attempting to capitalize on one of this week’s most viral stories — the bungled crowning of Miss Universe.
Mark your calendars: April 26 we honor #MissUniverse2015 flub w/ “Runner-Up Night” Details https://t.co/0kNxD9Ej3S pic.twitter.com/AtW2ZgzMlj
— Frisco RoughRiders (@RidersBaseball) December 21, 2015
The RoughRiders announced on Monday that they’re planning a theme night called “Runner-Up Night” for April 26 to celebrate famous second-place finishers.
For those who may have missed it, on Sunday, host Steve Harvey accidentally announced the winner of the annual Miss Universe pageant as Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo. But actually, the real winner was Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach. What resulted was one of the most infamous pageant moment in history, with Harvey having to admit to his error on live television as poor Arevalo was stripped of her momentary glory.
[Steve Harvey crowns wrong Miss Universe]
RoughRiders General Manager Jason Dambach, however, wants to put the shine back on Arevalo with the promotion.
“Although it may appear that Miss Colombia has lost, she really has won,” he said in a statement. “In a world in which everyone competes to be first, we have decided to honor how special a second-place finish can be. It’s something to be proud of and celebrated.”
The team says it plans to invite Arevalo to attend the game as a VIP guest and throw out the first pitch. The team also says it plans to invite Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, and Marv Levy, who were the quarterback, a wide receiver, and the coach of the Buffalo Bills, respectively, during the team’s four-year stretch of runner-up finishes in the Super Bowl from 1991 to 1994.
The most famous guest the team is trying to snag for the night, however, is Harvey, although as Yahoo’s Mark Townsend writes, “[W]e don’t think Harvey will make it that night.”
We’ll see.
