SI

The Story of Bryce Harper Helping a High School Kid Land a Prom Date Is Simply Amazing

You have to hear how a high school senior secured an assist from Bryce Harper for his big moment.

Jimmy Traina

Harper helped a high school senior secure his date to the prom.
Harper helped a high school senior secure his date to the prom. / Rafael Suanes-USA TODAY Sports
In this story:

1. I’m going to start with the end of the story and work backwards.

Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper joined a high school senior in going to the house of the girl he wanted to ask to prom and helped the kid secure the date.

And Harper wasn’t just a bystander. He was very active in the asking process.

This in and of itself would be super cool, but the details of how this happened take this feel-good story to another level.

Just how, exactly, did Haddonfield Memorial High School senior Jake Portello get Harper to help him out with his prom proposal? Did he work with the Phillies' PR team? Did he win some contest? Was this a charity thing?

No, no and no.

Portello simply went to Harper’s house, knocked on the door and made the request.

"All I did was knock on his door,” Portello told The Phantastic Sports Show on Monday night. “I knocked on his door and he seemed cool with it at first, then he was like, ‘Can I get your email so we can plan this out?’ And as I was leaving he was like, ‘Why don’t we do this right now,’ so I couldn’t turn that down."

Portello then said that Harper got in his car and followed Portello to his friend’s house.

I don’t know what’s crazier: that Harper just has random people coming to his house or that Portello had the guts to just show up to Harper’s house and make the request.


But this entire thing shows you that it never hurts to ask.

2. In yesterday’s Traina Thoughts, I told you about the backlash ESPN was facing over turning Sunday’s Pacers-Knicks Game 7 into a New York infomercial while snubbing Indiana.

Former ESPN star Dan Patrick added to the criticism Monday, saying he was embarrassed for the World Wide Leader.

3. Xander Schauffele’s wife, Maya, shared this delightful video of how her husband celebrated his PGA Championship win, which included drinking right out of the very large trophy.

4. After the Timberwolves eliminated the Nuggets on Sunday night, Anthony Edwards did an interview with TNT’s Inside the NBA crew. Charles Barkley told Edwards that he hasn’t been to Minnesota in 20 years, and Edwards repeatedly told Barkley, “bring ya ass”

Well, someone who works for the Minnesota tourism website worked fast and now BringYaAss.com redirects to ExploreMinnesota.com.

5. Yankees closer Clay Holmes committed one of my biggest sports pet peeves last night.

With New York holding a 4–1 lead over Seattle, Holmes came in to the save the game. He then proceeded to give up four earned runs on four hits and two walks and took the loss in the 5–4 defeat.

However, stinking up the joint was not his biggest transgression. That came after the game when he started his press conference by saying, “Yeah, that was on me.”

No s--- it was on you! Who else would giving up four runs be on? This is along the lines of a football player fumbling and then patting his chest to let everyone now it was his fault. Or a basketball player missing a free throw and then saying “my bad” as if it could be someone else’s bad.

We as sports fans should be demanding this practice stops.

6. I’m highly jealous of anyone who has Comcast as their cable provider because this seems like a great deal.

7.  Immediately after the NFL schedule was released Wednesday night, I taped the latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast with NFL VP of Broadcast Planning, Mike North, who plays a major role in putting together the schedule.

North talks about the challenges in putting together the 2024 schedule, why the league decided to play on Christmas Day (which takes place on a Wednesday), how the Christmas games affected the rest of the schedule, who will produce and broadcast the two Christmas games on Netflix, why the NFL went all-in on the Texans, whether the Chiefs have replaced the Cowboys as America's Team, how flex scheduling will work, why there won't be a national doubleheader in Week 1 and much more.

Following North, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for our weekly "Traina Thoughts" segment. This week's topics include Aaron Rodgers's eye-opening admission, Tom Brady's backpedal on his Netflix roast and a shady move by a restaurant. I also read recent Apple reviews for the SI Media With Jimmy Traina.

You can also listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

8. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Last night, I watched Peacock’s new three-episode series on the 1990 Yankees, Bronx Zoo '90: Crime, Chaos and Baseball. One of the events covered from that season was New York pitcher Andy Hawkins throwing a no-hitter against the White Sox while the Yankees lost the game, 4–0. That’s right. It wasn’t 1–0 or 2–0. New York lost a game in which its pitcher threw a no-hitter, 4–0. The highlights, actually, lowlights, are truly remarkable.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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