Braves fan celebrates early, loses race in spectacular fashion

Always treat your customers with respect is a philosophy every business should subscribe to. But what if the customer celebrates too early and ends up getting a face full of dirt as a result? Are all bets off then? Is it OK to laugh at their misfortune as you pass them by?

That’s a question we must ask after watching Friday’s “Beat the Freeze” race at SunTrust Park in Atlanta, because that’s where an unfortunate Braves fan suffered all of the embarrassment that’s been described.

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First, for a little backstory. “The Freeze” is a masked racer who races one challenger during every Braves home game. He even has his own Twitter account where he’s been known to taunt fans from time to time.

As for the race, it starts at the left field foul line and goes around the outfield warning track before finishing near the right field foul line.

The Freeze’s identity has been concealed, but his speed is off the charts, which is why he typically gives opponents an enormous head start.

That was the case again on Friday, and though The Freeze was gaining ground quickly it still seemed for a good portion of the race that he wouldn’t be able to catch up.

That’s when two things happened.

First, The Freeze kicked it into yet another gear that didn’t seem humanly possible.

Second, the fan actually slowed down slightly to begin his celebration. That was his downfall literally and figuratively, as he took a face-first dive the moment he realized he was being passed.

We’ve seen some epic collapses in sports over the years, but this is as spectacular as it gets.

And if you think The Freeze felt bad about it, think again.

He’d better be careful though. If he keeps stealing Goldberg’s catchphrase he might end up eating a Spear at the end of one of these races.

It should also be noted the fan was not injured and appeared to be in good spirits despite suffering this setback. So even if it seems wrong to laugh, at least he’s laughing with us.

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Making matters even better? The Braves would go on to win 3-2 on Rio Ruiz’s walk-off single in the ninth inning. So while it’s a moment he’d probably love to forget, at least he had something to truly celebrate thanks to the Braves.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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