It was a one in a million shot that paid huge dividends.
Root Sports' compulsion to show crowd shots during Pirates broadcasts finally resulted in something worthwhile.
During last Sunday's 18-inning marathon in Washington, the cameras focused on a young boy with his family. The kid was right out of central casting, the kind of kid who could probably make a nice living appearing in McDonald's commercials.
We saw happy kid, frustrated kid, tired kid, distracted kid and, ultimately, jubilant kid when the Pirates won the game on Starling Marte's home run.
What started as another random crowd shot actually turned into a secondary story line. The game dragged on, and we watched the kid react to all the twists and turns.
We saw him leave temporarily with his father. Then we saw the results of that trip when the kid had ketchup on his cheek from his extra innings hot dog.
Before you knew it, the kid was on the highlights shows and all over the Internet.
Part of the reason this worked so well was the kid didn't know he was on TV, so his reactions were genuine. There wasn't someone sticking a camera in his face and telling him to wave or yell, "Let's go Bucs."
It was Norman Rockwell in the video age. Root even stayed out of the way during the game, leaving the kid and his family lone until after the game. Then they unleashed Robby Incmikoski on the poor people.
It was found gold, and Root wisely ran with it.
The bad thing? We'll now get a million more crowd shots that won't pay off nearly as well.
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--LOOKING FOR ANSWERS
More than halfway into the season, and the Pirates' rotation is more unsettled than it was when spring training opened.
Most of the turmoil isn't even injury-related.
People can beat up Jeff Locke seven days a week (and they do), and there's no question his inconsistency is both frustrating and unacceptable.
Save some of the invective for Jon Niese, too, whose lousy first half earned him a demotion to the bullpen.
The Pirates have a group of talented but inexperienced prospects to mold into a rotation. Starting that process this year should make the future better, but it could be a rocky ride in 2016.
But while so-so pitchers like Locke and Niese are easy targets, the real problem has been the inability of Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano to repeat past success.
Without their No. 1 and 2 starters performing in a manner worthy of those spots, they won't be able to salvage this season.
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--LOOKING FOR HELP
The Pirates would like to move Locke and/or Niese but undoubtedly recognize they have very limited value on the trade market.
In fact, it's hard to imagine they could move Niese withoit agreeing to pick up a big chunk of the money remaining on his contract.
At the same time, they'd also like to acquire a proven major league starter.
So they're in the unique situation of looking to both add and delete pitchers as the trade deadline approaches.
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--BAD SURPRISE
If the reports are accurate and Le'Veon Bell winds up with a four-game suspension for missing a drug test, you pick the word:
Stupid. Selfish. Reckless. Irresponsible. Immature. Dumb. Unprofessional. Thoughtless.
Actually, if the suspension becomes official, they all apply.
For all the vetting of draft choices, how can there still be unhappy surprises like those from Bell and Martavis Bryant?
The NFL Players Association is probably working now on getting marijuana penalties reduced in the next labor agreement. Until then, though, it's the letter of the law.
Seems like a guy who recently rapped about getting a $15 million contract would realize that.
In the meantime, the Steelers should be looking for a running back.
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