Sweet Caroline Is Not So Fine.

   I wrote about Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" Monday. Heard it at the Panther-Denver game. Wished I hadn't. If you're going to play a sappy song at a game between two apparent playoff teams,  why not something by John Denver, Abba, the Archies, the Bee Gees, Cher, Kelly Clarkson or Huey Lewis?

   Doug, a lifelong Pittsburgh fan, emailed today to say he heard "Sweet Caroline" at a Pittsburgh-West Virginia football game. He wants it stopped. I'm with you, Doug. But we're too late. Davidson plays the song at basketball games. And somebody told me the Boston Red Sox played the song before Davidson or Pittsburgh did.

   But the guy that told me thinks everything starts in Boston.

   He's right, at least about this. The Red Sox were impressed by the crowd's reaction when they occasionally played the song in 2002 and made it an anthem in 2003.

   Caroline must be stopped. But not today. I can't dislodge the song from my head.

   Hands.

   Touching hands.

   Reaching out.

   Touching me.

   Touching you.

   Thanks, Doug.

Comments

[Derek]

What's WRONG with you? That's a GREAT celebratory song. Everybody (that doesn't have a cold, dead heart, I guess) likes that song and singing along with the "bomp bomp bom" after the word "Caroline," (which resembles the word "Carolina" which is where we just saw the Panthers beat somebody which is why you're hearing the song in the first place. Whew.)

Wait, where was I?

Oh yeah, and it beats all hell out of that 20 year old Guns N Roses song that we have to hear over and over.

[Yeah?]

UNC has played it at basketball games for quite a while, before many of the others.

[Derek]

well, I mean, except that we have to hear WTTJ at every kickoff so I guess it's good that we have to hear it over and over but it'd be better if it were something else.

Anyway, I'd gladly listen to Elizabeth Dole screaming in tongues through a stubborn grumpy if it means a Panthers' win.

[Deuce]

Tom--Nice hair.

[napalminthemorning]

Tom, I totally agree with you. Why not just play the entire greatest hits of Barry Manilow while we are at it. It is quite wussy. I would rather hear na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey hey hey, goodbye than that tripe. Surely something a little more menacing than sweet caroline can be discovered.

[Chris]

Tony Kornheiser announced on MNF that "The crowd is singing 'Sweet Caroline' like they do down here."

That comment along should get the song banned.

[rbielanski]

I've got to agree with Tom on this one--what a dreadful song. Thank God I wasn't at the game to hear it--and the fellow who mentions the Barry Manilow songs--well ya we might as well play those too!!! It's a sad commentary on our football fans when they can "groove" to this tripe!!!

[Reid]

That song at any event other than a girls volleyball game or girl scout meeting is truly pathetic. I heard it at the NCSU/Davidson game and gave every Davidson fan a bunch of crap for it. "Touching Hands" and "Touching Me" should be saved for middle school dances not NFL or NCAA mens games. If NCSU started to play it I would immediately become a tarhole, or something....

[KahasiBlue]

They don't usually play the whole song like they did at the Bronco's game. They usually just play the "sweet caroline, bom, bom, bom good times never seemed so good" several times in a row. That's not so bad, but they whole song is just too much.

[Loungeact]

While the song is cool and peppy, the lyrics written about a young Caroline Kennedy are sort of creepy.

[Wes]

Tom I have ask the Panthers organization several times to please use the Wizard of Oz soldiers march song .... you know ....OOO....EEEE....OOO.....OOOOOO...O.

It has obviously worked well for the New England Patriots, they use it, and I need your help getting them to play it here.

[WRAPPEDinBACON]

Hmm... Well, when I was at the Carolina/Saints game earlier this year, they didn't play that song. They played that "Naa naa naa naa hey hey good bye" song at the end of the game, which in my opinion, was perfect, because all the Saints fans got pissed and left early, so we sang that to them...

[panthervic]

Come on folks. Although it's a little sappy it's played after the game is completely decided. Most of the crowd sings along and it's really kind of fun and relaxing before we get into traffic. Kiss Him Goodbye(Na na hey hey) is great for waving goodbye to the opposition but Sweet Caroline is good for a final celebration.

[annnort1]

Don't you guys have more to do than complain about a little ole song? I think they only play it when they win or are winning. Maybe it makes the opposite team feel like a bunch of dorks.

[Damon]

I have no problem with the song whatsoever. Everyone there seems to like it. We all have so much more to worry about than a perfectly harmless song. THE PANTHERS ARE WINNING!!!! FOCUS ON THAT! THANK GOD WE HAVE A REASON TO PLAY THESE SONGS!!!!I need to stop reading stuff like this. It is such a completely trival complaint with equally trival responses. Anyone that has a problem with any song that they play should stop and rethink their approach on life. Go Panthers!!! I'm moving on to better things now. If anyone would like to respond to my post, save your finger strength. I promise I will not be back to check. What a worthless complaint from a bunch of first class "haters".

[Damon]

PS. Tom... You must be a 12 year old girl trapped in a 50 year old woman's body.

[liverpudding]

Sweet Caroline is an OK song, but it has no place at a sporting event. Period. The Panthers should celebrate wins with Ted Nugent's Cat Scratch Fever or anything from AC/DC

[Frank]

Yo Sorensen, if you don't like it, I love it.

[ibkozi]

I agree Tom. I would rather hear "Oh Carolina" by Shaggy than Niel Diamond. I don't really like either song, but they seem determined to play a song with Carolina in it.

[Spockko]

The good news is the team is doing so well this is the only thing anyone can dredge up to b%^#$ about.

Get a life.
Support your team.

[Subliminal Messages]

Neil Diamond? Please. The man in black jewish Johnny Cash folk hero?

Diamond should have never been a singer much less cult hero. Same for Cash except his only saving grace was as a founding father of rock and roll in the mid 50s. Everything after that sucked.

Same for Bob Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan who put out 2 songs that were worth a crap in his whole lifetime and these were Blowin In The Wind and Rolling Stone. All his other stuff was terrible.

To unstick a song in your head play it backwards. Diamonds Sweet Carolina is translated in reverse as " I am the god of hellfire and will fuck you eternally ..

Another way to unstick the idiot song is to download Love Jones ... or Cheech and Chongs version called Basketball Jones...

[Linda]

I loved it....it was fun..loud!! alot better than the wave (on offense we just can't get it right). However lets just focus on how GREAT THE PANTHERS are doing!!!

[pantherfan89]

agreed. every other sports team plays that song, can't we get something a little more original?? I get that the song says sweet caroline, and we're carolina. a weak connection at best.

[James]

This is football, people. I'll bet the majority of the people who like hearing this song are the same people that make noise on offense. I bet these are the same "football fans" who yell at me to sit down when I'm standing and cheering for our 3rd down defense. I'll bet right after they get done singing Sweet Caroline, these are the people who try to start a wave.

[attackatz]

The lyrics to the "Wizard of Oz" song are actually . . . "All we owe, We oooowe her, All we owe, We oooowe her" as sung by the troops marching into the wicked witchs' castle as the trio of Dorothy saviors looked on. (The "Her" being the wicked witch!)

Just so's ya know!