Last night Neil Diamond appeared on the field at Citi Field to perform one of his iconic songs, Sweet Caroline, during a break in the MLB All-Star Game. Quite frankly, it was an abysmal live performance but it was a nod to the victims of the terror attacks up in Boston earlier this year so we will let it slide a little bit. The song has been a staple of the Fenway Park experience for a while now and somehow it became one of the regular tunes played at Beaver Stadium. Until November 2011, that is.
We don't need to dive back in to the history of why or how the song stopped being a part of the game day mix inside Beaver Stadium. A quick look at the lyrics for the game and the timing pretty much puts two and two together to get four. The official statement may want to suggest otherwise but we'll be real here and just move along.
Cory Giger, who covers Penn State for The Altoona Mirror, said today in a quick post that it is time to bring Sweet Caroline back to Beaver Stadium.
Watching Neil Diamond sing his classic song during Tuesday's MLB All-Star Game reinforced the notion that not playing "Sweet Caroline" during PSU games is just downright silly.
Giger also had this to say…
Hopefully the people in charge of game day entertainment at PSU realize there's nothing incendiary or insensitive about playing the song for 100,000 fans at Beaver Stadium.
It's a fun song, and fans want to have fun at the games. Bringing it back would be a welcomed – and sweet – decision by Penn State.
I could not be happier to never hear the song again in a football stadium, and this has nothing to do with the lyrics. I just don't think Neil Diamond offers the kind of music I prefer to hear in a football venue. Hey, if the Blue Band wants to play it, by all means go for it. But perhaps this dives back in to the old, perhaps stale argument about marching bands vs. sound system.
What do you think Penn State fans. Do you agree with Giger and want to hear Sweet Caroline this fall? Or are you with me in hoping the song is retired from the regular rotation? Sound off in the comments.
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