The slogan “Boston strong,” which started as Twitter hash tag before going viral, made the rounds of professional sports yesterday. It appeared on the side of sneakers at Madison Square Garden as the Celtics faced off against the Knicks in the first round of playoffs.
It appeared even more dramatically at Fenway Park, where Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz gave an impassioned speech before the game — the first to be played in Beantown since last Monday’s deadly marathon bombings.
Affirmations of America’s strength and its citizens’ love of country after terrorist attacks are nothing new. In 2001, they were captured in stirring posters in which photos of the American flag appeared above the caption “These colors don’t run.”
But Ortiz’s language may have become a little too colorful for some when he exclaimed, before a house-size backdrop of the Stars and Stripes, “This is our f***ing city.” Fans in the stadium went wild, as did likely many who tuned into the game on TV.
Those who felt the profanity was over the top will get no sympathy from the Federal Communications Commission. The agency’s chairman, Julius Genachowski, tweeted his blessing, writing on the FCC’s official Twitter account:
David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today’s Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston — Julius
The video, with the unbleeped f-bomb, follows.
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