Basketball enthusiast and Reddit user PARTYxDIRTYDAN was certain that the Golden State Warriors would not defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder to advance to the NBA Finals against his beloved Cleveland Cavaliers. So confident was he in this supposition that he made a bold promise on an NBA subreddit: “If the Warriors win the series, I’ll eat my shirt to make up for Cavs fans; you have my word.” On Monday, much to the chagrin of Oklahomans and PARTYxDIRTYDAN alike, the Thunder fell to the Warriors at Oakland’s Oracle Arena by a score of 88-96. Their season was over, but PARTYxDIRTYDAN’s greatest challenge was still ahead of him. That very day, a video called “Eating My Shirt For Warriors Winning Series”emerged on YouTube. In a very matter of fact style, it documents exactly how the bearded, bespectacled Cavs fan keeps his strange promise. This is what being true to one’s word looks like.
Eating highly unlikely things is one of the internet’s favorite pastimes, especially on YouTube, so a video like “Eating My Shirt” is really nothing all that unusual. It’s a pretty mild example of the sub-sub-genre. The hapless Cavs fan does not own a Warriors shirt, so he simply writes the legend “CAVS IN 6” on a plain white T-shirt and uses that instead. Citing a desire to not die, he refrains from eating the entire shirt. Instead, he cuts out a few sections of the scapegoat garment and consumes them with barbecue sauce. Apparently, that all-powerful condiment covers a multitude of sins. “It wasn’t that terrible with barbecue sauce,” he admits. The video is of a candid, improvised nature and so informal that the fan leaves the TV on in the background the whole time. While he’s chewing on his jerry-rigged “CAVS IN 6” shirt in his kitchen, advertisements for Arby’s and Old Spice can be heard droning on in another room.
