Unlike Bob Uecker, 78-year old Golden State Warriors season-ticket holders Marian Ours and Rosemarie Chonzena have no intention of moving to “the front rowwwwww.”
“You can see everything, it’s a bird’s eye view,” Chonzena told reporter Will Reeve of their seats in Row 16 of Section 208, the highest seats in Oracle Arena. In his piece, currently viewable on the SportsCenter Facebook page and set to hit ESPN’s playoff coverage when the Warriors return home, Reeve explains how they travel an hour by train then walk a mile to the arena, before even heading w-a-y up to their seats.
“Yes, it’s very far — you see signs for the BART station, but it’s nowhere to be found,” Reeve said after following Ours and Chonzena on their trek. “And they’re such celebrities when they go through the gates. They take the same route every game, so the elevator operator knows them, the ticket taker knows them, the usher knows them. That night we were with them, and they walked through with a camera, and a small entourage, everyone loved it.”
No surprise to Reeve who jumped on the story, which was first raised by current L.A.- and former Bristol-based – associate producer Laura Ramirez. It was run through Senior Coordinating Producer for SportsCenter Digital, Now and Next-Generation Content Glenn Jacobs.
– Will Reeve
“[Ours and Chonzena] were so sweet,” Reeve said. “They knew everything about the Warriors and basketball — Rosemarie had an encyclopedic knowledge of everything since she’s had the tickets since 1988. And, she had tons of gear. The reason we shot in her kitchen is that the room she usually keeps the memorabilia in is her laundry room, and there is barely enough room for one person, much less three people and a camera crew.”
Their story is part of the “What We Love About Sports Today” series, of which Reeve said, “We’re looking for stories that remind us of why we love sports and the people who play them. There is so much negativity today, and lost in the shuffle is what’s good and what’s joyful about sports. This example shows the dedication, the love, the passion these women have for their team — the fact they’ve sat in the very last row of the arena for almost 30 years. The reasons we love sports are sometimes irrational, sometimes crazy, sometimes stupid, but for some reason, it makes sense to us.”
