Meet Don Martini, The Totally Sane, Awesome Retiree Who Built His Own Giants Stadium

He’s been referred to as “Crazed” and his amazing recent effort has been called “Insane”, but the truth is that Don Martini is the kind of sports fan that most of us want to become some day. The 75-year old retiree lives in Blairstown, New Jersey with his wife, and he’s a lifelong fan of the New York Football Giants. So what does a 75-year old superfan do when he’s got $20,000 burning a hole in his pocket and a heart full of memories of Giants Stadium? He rebuilds it in his garage like a total badass.
Martini’s life is an inspiration to those who still believe in the American dream, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger, as he was able to retire in his 50s after inventing some thingamajig for cabinets. So for the past 25 years he has just done whatever the hell he’s felt like doing, including building a 20-ft. x 17-ft. scale model replica of his favorite sports stadium that was torn down in 2010. His wife called him crazy, our blogging peers have called him insane, but his reasoning behind the project is just so damned poetic.

“Have you seen the movie Mozart’s Amadeus?” Martini said. “Well, in the movie, the emperor commissions him to write an opera. In the process of writing it, the emperor would say, ‘I want to see the first scene.’ Mozart told him, ‘I don’t have anything to show you. It’s all right here in my noodle.’ ”
He points to his head — which, of course, is covered with a Giants cap.
“That’s the same way it was with this.” (Via NJ.com)

Hell yeah, Don. Double hell yeah. And his son wants him to give the replica to the Giants in exchange for season tickets or something like that, but if the team’s reps haven’t reached out already (the article’s author spoke with a team rep, but he was all “We’ll think about it”), they won’t do it. Nobody appreciates true art like the artist, and Don should be able to do whatever the hell he wants with this beautiful masterpiece.
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