(Editor’s note: in honor of the national championship game last night, we are re-running this piece which originally ran in 2013.)
At first I thought this portion of “One Shining Moment” was only an oversight. Then I hit rewind on DVR again to make sure I saw what I thought I did. Then I thought “well, it’s just an oversight, but I definitely understand, if you were rushed to get it out on deadline, how this could happen.”
When you replay this crucial sequence of the 2013 edition of One Shining Moment, notice the specific lyrics of Luther Vandross synced up to the image that appears at the 0:58 mark.
That image is former Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach Tubby Smith shaking hands with former UCLA head coach Ben Howland just after their meeting in the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend. Just a few days after this handshake, bot of these men were sacked.
The Vandross lyric heard at this moment is: “the time is short.” Given how both men were long fired by the time this originally aired, all I can say is wow. That’s cold.
They might as well just have replaced the One Shining Moment lyrics with…..”in one pink slip moment, you lose health insurance?”
Obviously, One Shining Moment is all about positivity, and showing what’s uplifting about college basketball and March Madness. It’s almost always glorifying highlights; not making calling specific attention to two men who already lost their livelihood.
Certainly one of the most unique and memorable clips from any edition of One Shining Moment that we’ve eve seen and heard. Today, Smith is the head coach at High Point while Howland leads the Mississippi State program.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.