I have been thinking for the last three days about how exactly I wanted to write about Chris Vernon and his Masters update. If you are a sports fan and have spent even a second on social media since Thursday, you have heard the phrase “Thass whass goin’ on at Uh Gussah!” followed by the obligatory “brrrip brrrip!”.
The versions we got on Thursday and Friday, recapping rounds one and two, were admittedly way too long, but hear me out. The bit just might be perfect.
Back in ye olden days of radio, what was the only goal of content? It was to be memorable. If what you did was memorable, people would want to hear it again. They would want to make sure their friends heard it. String together enough memorable bits, conversations and interviews and you could create an army of fans that would go out and evangelize for you. Pick out any shock jock from the 80s and 90s. That was the formula for all of them.
Fast forward to 2022, and “be memorable” has morphed a bit. Now, the goal for content is to be shareable. Memorable is just part of the equation, and that is where Chris Vernon got things so right.
My relationship with golf is very similar to my relationship with video games. When people ask if I golf, my answer is always that I will, but I’m probably not the right guy to ask. If they insist, I tell them that the only way they are going to enjoy this is if we treat it as something we do because we’re hanging out. Literally any expectations beyond that, and I am not the guy you want to play with.
It’s not just playing golf either. Just like with video games, while it isn’t my thing, I understand why golf is fun for those that are playing, but I will never get what is fun about watching someone else play.
So to say that my interest in The Masters was low is probably overstating my interest in The Masters.
Chris Vernon and his crew, which included a bumblebee, a dog, and a walrus, put on a show. His rapping and their dancing oozed fun. I don’t care what the leaderboard standings were and I loved it. People that lived and died with Tiger Woods’s place on the leaderboard loved it too. It didn’t matter how you felt about golf, cheap pimento cheese sandwiches or the color green. We were all in on the joke.
Sports radio could use some inherent silliness from time to time, and Vernon delivers on the regular. That’s not to say he is always silly, but there is a reason that so many people in Memphis followed him when he left radio to create exclusively digital content. He can recognize a situation that is ripe for parody and plan out how to make the most of it.
Remember, this is the same guy that, according to SEC Network’s Spencer Hall, brought an accordion to SEC Media Days for years, because Nick Saban told him in an interview that he had taken lessons when he was a kid. My understanding is that Alabama’s sports information staff would routinely steer the coach away from Vernon’s set up after that.
The Masters has its devotees. I don’t get why, but it does. That is undeniable.
What I do understand is why there is a legion of fans that wait for April to hear Chris Vernon drop his latest Masters Update. For so many of us, it is the real “tradition unlike any other”. He has been dropping them since 2017.
Vernon found a clever way to localize a national event. It sounds right. The beat and the delivery is a perfect recreation of Three Six Mafia, 8 Ball and MJG. It sounds like the city that chants “Whoop that trick!” as a rallying cry for its NBA franchise.
He created a style perfect for haters and devotees to enjoy equally. The gold chains under a green jacket are something Augusta National members would recoil at. It’s something the rest of us, even the ones that pine to be members, can laugh along with.
Every second of the videos the group created is absurd. Who is the joke on? Does it matter? It is just funny, and that is why we want to share it. That is why the video gets shared all over the internet and referenced on SportsCenter Sunday morning.
Funny, memorable, shareable. That is the formula for creative content in 2022. Chris Vernon nailed it with his Masters Updates. Smart hosts, producers and programmers can’t recreate it verbatim, but they can study why the bit works so well year after year.
Demetri Ravanos is a columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. He is also the creator of The Sports Podcast Festival, and a previous host on the Chewing Clock and Media Noise podcasts. He occasionally fills in on stations across the Carolinas in addition to hosting Panthers and College Football podcasts. His radio resume includes stops at WAVH and WZEW in Mobile, AL, WBPT in Birmingham, AL and WBBB, WPTK and WDNC in Raleigh, NC.
You can find him on Twitter @DemetriRavanos or reach him by email at DemetriTheGreek@gmail.com.
