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John Sterling can’t be anything but himself as he turns 80

There was real fear on the Yankees’ team flight. The turbulence made it feel like the plane was bouncing around the sky like a knuckleball. Then, the oxygen masks dropped down from overhead.

“Everyone was freaking out, yelling, getting really nervous,” YES’ Michael Kay said.

John Sterling read a book.

On the flight to Minnesota about a decade ago, when the masks fell, Sterling belted out a laugh and pushed it away.

“I shoved it because it was bothering me,” Sterling said.

As he turns 80 years old on July 4, John Sterling continues to live in his own world, where he makes the rules and he doesn’t spend a lot of time focusing on turbulence or anything else that he finds a nuisance.