For those of you who are not familiar with the song, here is last years NCAA montage. Don't feel like less of a man if you are moved to tears, apparently that happens to most individuals who watch the montage religiously every year. Keep in mind while listening that Barrett was inspired to write "One Shining Moment" while watching Larry Bird run up and down the court one magical night. Yes, friends, here now for your listening and viewing pleasure is the only song ever inspired by Larry Bird.
Yep. That just happened.
Listen, maybe I'm being unfair. I don't care for college basketball, in fact, I tend to agree with The Best Show's Tom Scharpling who refers to it as "play time." What's so great about college athletics in general? They don't mean anything. They're a distraction; a waste of time that could be better spent, I don't know, pressing leaves into a photo album or organizing one's porn DVDs.
But, OK, some people dig it. They get the March Madness something fierce. If I'm being honest, I get it. When football season rolls around I get pretty stoked. I'm there in front of my TV every Sunday afternoon with an open bag of something greasy and a 2-liter of Sierra Mist in my lap, screaming obscenities at the screen, and calling for Jake Delhomme's head. Though that won't be an issue this year. Oh, yeah!
Sorry. I digress.
If your alma mater is in the Final Four (That's a thing, right?) or something, that's great. I think a lot of college basketball fans though never went to the colleges whose t-shirts adorn their lumpy, pretzel-dusted bodies. That's weird to me.
What's even weirder--and more on point--is the flack over this year's version of "One Shining Moment." For the past several years, it's been the late Luther Vandross's voice singing "One Shining Moment," but this year viewers are going to get a new version sung by American Idol failure/Oscar-winning actress, Jennifer Hudson. Big deal, right? What college kid even knows who Luther Vandross is anyway? I'm not even sure I know who Luther Vandross is. He's the guy who used to go to restaurants and order three meals at at time, right? That's what I heard anyway.
Some people aren't happy with this change, like this young man:
From NPR.org
Chris Chase writes for the college basketball blog The Dagger. "If you saw her perform at the Super Bowl a couple years ago, [Hudson] stretches out the songs, and it's just very, very sappy," he says.
"The song 'One Shining Moment' is sappy in and of itself," says Chase. "Teddy Pendergrass [one of the three previous singers to perform the song] brought a machismo to it. Now with Jennifer Hudson, it's almost as if CBS has surrendered to the schmaltz."
"The song 'One Shining Moment' is sappy in and of itself," says Chase. "Teddy Pendergrass [one of the three previous singers to perform the song] brought a machismo to it. Now with Jennifer Hudson, it's almost as if CBS has surrendered to the schmaltz."
I don't think Jennifer Hudson's tendency to "stretch out songs"--whatever that means--will make "One Shining Moment" any sappier than it already is. Have you listened to the lyrics, Mr. Chase?
and there you are
you're running for your life
you're a shooting star
And all the years
no one knows
just how hard you worked
but now it shows...
(in) ONE SHINING MOMENT, IT'S ALL ON THE LINE
ONE SHINING MOMENT, THERE FROZEN IN TIME
"Running for your life?" Is this the NCAA Championship game or some kind of death race?
If anything, I feel sorry for Jennifer Hudson. She has to sing this awful song and keep herself from cracking up. Why don't you get over it, Mr. Chase. Or, here you go, when CBS fires the montage up tonight, mute your TV, push play on your Discman, and let the smooth, dulcet tones of Luther Vandross give you the NCAA boner you feel you so richly deserve. Freak.
