World of Weird Al Yankovic

I was looking at the pic of the Weird Al baseball jersey and it struck me as kind of strange looking. Then I realized why. In all of Al's 20+ years of making music he has rarely ever referenced sports.



He has payed tribute to all major forms of entertainment (music, tv, and movies) countless times, but has virtually ignored an equally influential and significant part of popular culture, sports.



Yes, he has referenced sports briefly throughout his career, such as:

Multiple references to bowling

Brief mention of hockey in YDLMA

One verse in Headline News (which focuses less on the actual sport and more on the controversy)

Probably a few more, but I can't think of any now



But he has NEVER devoted a whole song to any sport. I wonder why this is. Sure he's a self-proclaimed nerd and thus probably isn't too into sports, but as a "pop culture quisenart (sp? - sorry OE!)" you would think he would at least do something sports related.



What do you guys think about this? Discuss.

Because Sports change too often. Unlike TV or Food, which air for a season/sell off into eternity, sports will be mentioned once or twice.



Plus, there are too many american-only sports.

Cuisinart. As homework, write out the lyrics to "Buy Me A Condo" three times in longhand before bed.



Maybe because sports jokes are either 1) topical and thus quickly-passing (imagine a song about Sosa's corked bat three years from now) or 2) in-jokes for a different fan base than Al's. How funny is a joke about somebody else's favorite team or favorite sport, anyway?



I think I saw a mention of Al playing racquetball once, but other than that, I don't know of any reference in his real life to anything exercise-related except long walks, and, of course, performing onstage. Anybody know of anything else?

Well, if Al graduated high school with a 4.0, it means Al got A's in all 4 years of P.E. He must be good at something. He did say he could run fast (so he didn't get beat up much).

RWS album cover is a sports reference, sort of.



Al says he writes about what he thinks is funny. Maybe he just doesn't think sports are funny.



What's even more odd than a baseball shirt being sold, is that fact that there aren't any Hawaiian print shirts available.

Yes, sports is very topical. But still, there are many things in sports (in particular, sports figures) that will never die. For example, any of these topics would make for great Al material:



Michael Jordan

Tiger Woods

Olympics

Babe Ruth (?)

Muhammed Ali

Mike Tyson

O.J. - okay maybe not!



Also, he could easily write a song about any one sport (baseball, basketball, hockey, football...) without specifying real teams, players, or events. Cable TV is very funny without mentioning very many real shows or channels.



Please note: I'm not a big fan of sports myself, so I'm not complaining. Just making an observation.



Yes, Scottidog, I forgot about the RWS cover!

QUOTE Well, if Al graduated high school with a 4.0, it means Al got A's in all 4 years of P.E. He must be good at something. He did say he could run fast  (so he didn't get beat up much).



Well, I can't say how it was at Al's high school, but I only had to take gym one year....and as long as you dressed every day and participated to the best of your ability, your grade would be fine.



~Allison

QUOTE QUOTE Well, if Al graduated high school with a 4.0, it means Al got A's in all 4 years of P.E. He must be good at something. He did say he could run fast  (so he didn't get beat up much).



Well, I can't say how it was at Al's high school, but I only had to take gym one year....and as long as you dressed every day and participated to the best of your ability, your grade would be fine.



~Allison



Yeah, they must have been grading Al on attitude and willingness to put on a dorky pair of shorts. It can't have been a real successful experience: probably growing so fast he outgrew his ability to control his feet, severely myopic and two years behind the rest of his classmates in physical development. Ow! I don't really blame his mother for keeping watch at the window with binoculars.

Yeah, I was surprised with firsting seeing the baseball jersey at OC last year because Al hardly, if ever, refers to sports.



I don't think Al is much of a big sports fan himself.



-CindyBob

Well, wouldn't you have deep emotional and psychilogical scars from your parents looking at you through binoculars during PE? I don't blame him!