Bringing back memories…not always a good thing.

Why do they always drag the firefighters into these videos? Don't they go through enough already?

Have you seen the video NESN and the Red Sox released yesterday?  No?  Well, there is no way I’m embedding it here.  What I will do is send you to either John’s or Dan’s blog where they have been good enough to do the deed.  (Before you continue reading know this:  I realize I am way more crabby about this than I should be.  I blame NESN for repeatedly posting this on Facebook and Twitter as well as every human being in Red Sox Nation who reposted it after them.  Now I need to go listen to Neil Diamond to get the damn ear worm out.  Neil Diamond.  I hope you’re all happy.)

I don’t like to pick on something that is supposed to be fun.  Fun should just be out there for everyone to enjoy.  But I didn’t find this video fun, I found it painful.  Did you ever watch a comedian or a film that was billed as a comedy and just cringed until it was over?  Have you ever been embarrassed for someone you didn’t even know?  These are  my feelings toward this new video that is supposed to get the fans psyched for the upcoming season.  It’s embarrassing and it’s painful to watch.  Also, white people who aren’t Eminem should never, ever rap again.  This is not an “Anthem for Red Sox Nation” it’s an anthem for tone deaf wannabe rappers who probably work at NESN.

That reads so mean.  I hate to be mean.  I also hate to be force fed the likes of this “song”.  People might argue that the Sox forced “Tessie” upon us.  (Some have argued that they forced “Sweet Caroline” upon us which I disagree with totally; I’ve written about Sweet Caroline before.)  Tessie was introduced with specific historical significance.  And while we can all argue about it actually being a good song or not, it’s 1000 times better than this thing by NESN.  (And, social media in 2004 wasn’t anything like it is in 2011 and it’s a difficult comparison to make because, really, unless you went to Fenway or sought it out online you weren’t being subjected to it.) Of course, I’m just helping NESN’s cause here by even writing about it but, dammit, I figure if I write about it people will stop sending me the damn link to it.

This is not a song fans will be singing in the stands.  I’m hoping that the folks who have already told me that I’m taking it too seriously and it is supposed to be funny and not seriously an “anthem” for 2011 are right.  I’m tightly wound these days and maybe this is more proof of it.  But good God in heaven just the opening notes of this song make me want to break something.

Back in the day (which, for the purposes of this entry, is the mid 1980s), the local music video channel (V-66, which I watched more than MTV) released a video to get Patriots fans psyched about the Super Bowl.  See, the Chicago Bears, you might remember, released a video that year called “The Super Bowl Shuffle” which even non-Bears fans liked.  It was funny, entertaining and not totally sucky.  The video for the Patriots (called “New England, the Patriots and We“) was the 80s version of this new Red  Sox video.  Bad song, horrible video quality, local television personalities joining in on the “fun”.  My God did we make fun of it back then.  So did everyone else.  The Patriots, in this video, all wore “MTV” baseball caps to get it played nationally…every local news channel, along with V66, aired the thing every freaking day leading up to the Super Bowl and MTV even had a contest where people could vote for which was the better video, this or the Super Bowl Shuffle.  Even people from Boston were voting for the Bears.  It was so very embarrassing.  And shame on Robert Urich. How the hell did they get Robert Urich (playing “Spencer” at the time) to appear in that?  That was a nice get. Wonder if it’s listed on his IMDB page?

A small confession:  I was 17 in January of 1986 when the Patriots lost to the Bears in the Super Bowl.  I watched everything associated with the Patriots (and football, really) that season and to this day I know all the words to both of those damn songs.  (Also, I loved the 80s but re-watching that video all I could think of was “Who let all of those people out of their homes dressed like that?”)

The worst part of that video?  It reminds me that I hated it back then for not only being horrible but for being so damn arrogant.  “We’ll beat the Bears, 100 to three”.  How’d that work out for you?  I’m getting twitchy just remembering all of this.

The last thing I want is the 2011 season of the Boston Red Sox to be defined by some hokey video made in Spring Training.  We all have high hopes for this team.  Extremely high hopes.  This is not what I would call entering the season on a high note.

Good Lord now I’m mad at NESN for reminding me of that Patriots video.  Why do we have to be associated with such hokey music videos??

I need The Standells to cleanse my brain:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5apEctKwiD8&w=480&h=390]