Monday Night Fiesta

As I sat down to watch the game last night between the Jets and Fins, it figured to be just like any other NFL Monday – couch, food, football, and beers.  But right from the beginning of the telecast, I could tell that this game was going to be different – with some help from our amigos to the South.  Since October is Hispanic Heritage month, the NFL is currently flogging a campaign that is intended to spread/promote their brand of fútbol americano in places where it is not as popular.  The game also just happened to be in Miami (pronounced Mee-ah-mee), and featured celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Gloria & Emilio Estefan – who now have small stakes in the Dolphin’s ownership.  In other words, it had all the makings for a perfect latino media storm – the El Niño de Perfecto if you will.  I wasn’t surprised or bothered by this type of cultural celebration, or the NFL’s attempt to increase their market share.  As a matter of fact, when it was all said and done, I would say the broadcast was one of the most (unintentionally) entertaining editions of MNF ever.        

The night kicked off with two things that I was pretty sure I’d never see in my lifetime.  Like every Monday night game over the past few years, Hank Williams Jr. kicked off the festivities with his rendition of “Are You Ready for Some Football?”; but on this particular night, the performance would be a duet with a spare part from Miami’s old sound machine, Gloria Estefan.  I realize there have been many strange pairings in musical history, but I’d have to say this one ranked right on up there with Puffy & Page, or Bowie & Bing.  And just when I thought things could get any stranger, or more terrible (Gloria Estefan’s voice would have sounded better in Auto-Tune), the man who once proclaimed “a country boy can survive” belted out the chorus in Spanish - ”Estás listos para fútbol?”  He and Gloria then ended the number with something Spanglish like ”todos mis amigos aquí on Monday night” -not exactly what you would expect from a right-wing good ole’ boy who once sang the patriotic praises of a McCain/Palin administration.

After the Bocephus/Gloria collaboration, the viewing audience was treated to more Hispanic-themed events throughout the night.  There was Marc Anthony’s stirring take on The National Anthem, which also included a few firsts for me: (1) The first time I’d ever heard J. Lo’s husband sing, (2) the first time I’d heard the lyrics ”Oh say can jew see” (which I think he did on purpose), and (3) the first time I had ever seen someone sing and pose like Captain Latin America at the same time.  The first penalty of the football game was relayed in Spanish by the referee.  The first commercial was an ad for GMC that was entirely in Spanish, and so on.  I actually wish I could see some of the Nielsen statistics from last night’s contest.  I would be willing to bet there were more than a few “rural” Americans who kept changing stations, frantically looking for the English version of the game, and wondering why their cable provider changed what was once ESPN to Telemundo. 

Just in case you missed it, here is a shortened video of last night’s multi-cultural opening number:

Buenos días y nos vemos mañana muchachos…