“Win or lose. Honestly, it does not matter with these Rays. These Rays have shown us, and I hope the world has seen it. These Rays have shown us heart.”
— Colette Nichols-Watson, Rays fan since 1998, the beginning

 

She’s got a passion for helping others.

And a passion for Rays baseball.


What You Need To Know


Colette Nichols-Watson moved to Florida as a baseball fan.

The longtime nurse loved spring training. 

And when the Devil Rays showed up in the late ’90s, she was hooked. 

And she left her old team behind (See ya, Yankees!)

Fast forward to today.

Lo these 22 years, she has waited.

With love.

And dyed blue hair for every home game.

Nichols-Watson tries to rev up the Rays’ Republic around her.

And at the end of Saturday night’s thrilling Game 4 of the World Series, Colette celebrated post-midnight  social-distancing style.

She rode her bike around the neighborhood waving a huge Rays flag.

“Nobody was really up,” Nichols-Watson said, “But I have neighbors who are Rays fans, and I've told them any game like that I will do that again.”

Colette says the Rays have done so much for her this season already, win or lose, they are her champions.

“As a nurse right now, it's been incredibly difficult because what happened does [make] you feel, and you absorb all the pain that's around you,” Nichols-Watson says. “And we hold it, and we hold it. And I'll tell you  the Rays honestly have given me that release, that opportunity, that ability to see hope again.” 

For the past few months, Virginia Johnson has been talking to people throughout the Tampa Bay area about how they are dealing with Life in The Time of Coronavirus — stories of hope for our community. You can find them here.