The 55-year-old tournament adopted as its theme song this year “Shawty Get Loose” by Lil Mama, a booty-shaking singer of barely discernible talent in tight leather pants.
Why, oh why would the tradition-bound, staid ACC adopt a hootchy song as its theme song?
Mark the calendars, lock up the kids, and throw away conventional wisdom…because StateFansNation is going to quote the insufferable Barry Saunders today without criticizing him despite the manner at which criticism so easily flows.
Saunders surprised even his own family today when he actually got one right today with his article regarding the Raycom’s use of Lil Mama’s “Shawty get loose”.
If you don’t live in the region and therefore had the pleasure of watching the ACC Tournament on ESPN as opposed to Raycom, then you didn’t see the jaw-dropping integration of ‘Shawty get loose’ in Raycom’s television coverage. I attended most of the tournament in person, but during a game that I chose to watch at home in High Definition – see, Raycom, ACC Basketball CAN be televised in HD without breaking some law or breaking your bank account – my wife was walking through the room and asked me what I was watching/listening? Honestly, I couldn’t answer.
But, as the game progressed I had the exact same feeling that Saunders described the next time I heard Mike Hogewood open his mouth:
Few things are funnier or more disturbing, though, than hearing ACC frontman Mike Hogewood say “Shawty Get Loose” when urging fans to buy the song’s ring tones “as heard on BET.”
Lastly, I give Saunders credit for connecting the obvious points to the origin of this misfit marriage – Bob Johnson. Well, that’s at least how I explained this trash to my wife this weekend when she asked what was going on.
An ACC employee said Raycom, not the ACC, was responsible for the telecasts’ music. I was unable to reach anyone at Raycom’s Charlotte office.
Here’s all you need to know, though. The tournament was held at Bobcats Arena, named for and owned by Robert “Bobcat” Johnson. Johnson, you recall, made billions from BET, glorifying the most despicable images of black people.
Under Bobcat, BET reportedly stood for Booties Every Time, and programming consisted mainly of hootchy mamas in thongs and high heels.
Lord have mercy, how could I have forgotten how Fox Sports has chosen to market Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball to the masses? Oh, forgive me….it is not ACC Basketball on Fox…..it is Sunday Night “Hoops†– an appropriate shortcut and slang for the product that Fox tries to package to the rest of the country — “Hoops†as opposed to the artful, tradition-rich game of “Basketball.†At least it is accurate.
If you missed the opening of the 30-minute pregame show, then you missed an “artist†whose mother lost her dictionary and forgot the last name of her baby’s daddy when “Fabolus†performed a rap titled, “Tit 4 Tat.â€
“Tit 4 Tat†What the hell is that? and what does it “movin like dis and movin like dat†have to do with Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball?
For the record….I am 33 years old, speak what I consider acceptable English, and can’t friggin stand the continued “thugadization†of ACC Basketball by Fox Sports. I also am employed, don’t have attention deficit disorder and actually have the ability to remember what is marketed to me on television. I can’t imagine that I am that much in the minority of the demographic that both watches ACC Basketball and whom marketers want to reach. Have I gotten so far out of the mainstream that other people of my age and my background like this junk?
My opinion of this kind of crap hasn’t changed over the years. The ‘logic’ of the ACC promoting its product to a market of people that Saunders describes as, “hip-hoppers with pants hanging off their butts and Goths with black fingernails and colored mohawks” is beyond me. I think someone needs to do a little research to figure out their market and to figure out who can afford to pay for the products that are advertised during the games.
