Earlier in the week, the Indiana Pacers moved within one game of an NBA Finals appearance with a victory over the New York Knicks. Although the series is returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for a sixth game after the Knicks secured a victory on Thursday night, the fourth contest of the best-of-seven series made headlines in part due to how Pat McAfee went about hyping up the crowd. During a break surrounding the fourth quarter of the matchup, McAfee received a microphone and delivered a wrestling-style promo in which he pointed out celebrity Knicks fans in the building and used profanity towards the end of his monologue.
John Mellencamp, an Indiana native and award-winning musician, called out the speech but did not identify McAfee by name. McAfee took to social media and said that he was the “somebody” towards whom Mellencamp was referring. After playing audio of what transpired on Friday morning, SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio host Mike Babchik felt that Mellencamp was a “chump” in this situation and elaborated on his opinion.
“This is so weak because you’re talking to Pacers fans who love Pat McAfee, and so for him to come out and say, ‘Oh, you know, it wasn’t in the Pacers’ plans,’ the Pacers gave Pat the seat and the mic,” Babchik said. “You think he just grabbed the mic and ran off? Did you hear the pop that that got? I think that’s just some good-nature back and forth. We don’t need to be some uptight when it comes to sports, and John Mellencamp was being offended by that and then saying ‘smack down,’ which is a wrestling term, that’s kind of weird too.”
Damon Amendolara, co-host of The D.A. Show with Babchik, mentioned how McAfee has built his success by playing to the crowd and that what occurred should have been expected. Yet he also understands Mellencamp’s point and questioned why McAfee needed to curse in front of a crowd that he estimates contained 5,000 kids. In the end, he felt that the profanity caused McAfee to come off as a bit lowbrow when it was unnecessary altogether.
“The bit is to point out, ‘Oh, here’s the famous people, they’re in our house. Oh, let’s send them back to New York upset.’ Great, that’s a great bit. I’m all for that bit,” Amendolara explained. “You could do that easily on a jumbotron thing by saying lookalikes and you put Ben Stiller up there and you make him look like a sad dog or whatever. That’s a good bit, but do we need to use vulgarity to get us there?”
Babchik proceeded to reference Mellencamp previously attacking a fan on stage and recalled that he was using colorful language at that time. After Amendolara asked how many kids were at the concert versus the playoff basketball game, Babchik spoke about how this all took place after 8 p.m. and has a son at home who curses at him.
“I think we’re at the hours where it’s okay to throw one in there,” Babchik said. “Did he need to? No, of course not, he didn’t need to, but that’s part of his act and he was doing his thing, and the crowd did love it, and so any child who goes to a sporting event anyway – Eastern Conference Finals, you’re going to hear it and it’s everywhere – so I’m sure you’ve heard it before. I don’t think those ears are going to be damaged by that curse.”
Amendolara conveyed how everything seems louder and more aggressive at this moment in time and opined that people should listen more to the elderly, arguing that they have valuable wisdom and life experiences. Although he was not saying that everything used to be idyllic, he illustrated how things used to be simpler, kinder and gentler and that it could prove beneficial for the world today.
“I think Mellencamp has a point here,” Amendolara said. “Not everything has to be over-the-top, vulgar, bombastic in-your-face. There is a way to do things that is just a little bit less in your face.”
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