So
this is the final game of the tourney, and we've got news for all the
broadcasters hopping on the Michigan State bandwagon and attempting to
ride it into a brighter economic tomorrow: a basketball team can not
save a state's economy, nor even make anyone feel all that much better
about it. Michigan has almost 12% unemployment, and no matter how well
a basketball team plays, people will still be broke and out of work.
They might cheer for the 150 or so minutes the game is on, but the fun
is over as soon as they look at their bank account and/or bills. This
happens a lot in sports announcing - this idea that somehow the Yankees
making it to the World Series in 2001 did a lot for New York after
9/11, or that the Bronx Bombers' title run in 1977 did a lot for a New
York at its crime peak, when Son Of Sam was running wild. It's not
true. Sports is fun; it's a distraction - that's all. Poverty and
murder is serious shit that games can't fix.
That having been said, CBS is doing something positive - breaking the new Green Day single, Know Your Enemy,
in a 90-second opening montage to start the 9:00 coverage of the title
game. From what we understand, it will be clips from the video,
interspersedwith tournament highlights. The video doesn't launch on MTV until April 24th, and the album, 21st Century Breakdown,
doesn't drop until May 15th, so this is a treat for rock fans. (As well
as great pub for Green Day.) And we've got a 30-second audio preview of
the song, which rocks...
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