Running 2017-18 NBA regular season thread

It is refreshing to see the NBA all star game embrace and promote its African-American heritage at the halftime show with thick thighed dancers.

 

I don't see the big deal about the Fergie anthem. The odd thing of it was the lack of accompaniment. One snare drum? Put some strings behind it and people would have thought it was Natalie Cole.

Always liked this one.

 

Whoever ends it most rapidly.

The problem is not Fergie, nor anyone else who's tried to personalize a "cool" version of the anthem over the years. The problem is that it's just a crappy cumbersome song that's extremely difficult to perform, and not pleasant to listen to even when it's done well. It's true there have been some very good versions over the years (Marvin Gaye comes to mind here), but those are just examples of lipsticking the pig.

The problem is the song more than the performer.

 

Ozzy

 

Jeffrey Osborne always nailed it during Showtime.

 

I agree with all of that, but it remains one of the worst versions I've ever heard.

 

It wasn't as much the lyrics, but the whole torch-song approach.

Has anyone called Roseanne?

 

Even trump would have taken a knee to make her stop singing.

 

I don't know if I have posted this before, but I was at an NLCS game in 1078 in Philly where the anthem singer was James Earl Jones, who was in a play about Paul Robeson having its out of town tryout. Jones knew there was no way he could hit the high notes. So he recited the anthem instead.

 

Dude, I knew you were old, but damn.

 

I still remember this.
Yeah, he messed up the lyrics.
Yeah, it was awesome.