One Shining Moment 2010

The Final Four, Easter Sunday, Baseball's opening day and the national championship game all in the span of 3 days. Not too shabby of an extended weekend.

In a game watered-down by early departures to the NBA, Monday's championship game, a Duke 61-59 victory over Butler, reminded the nation of what an incredible game college hoops can be. Hard fought, expertly played and with possession-by-possession intensity that lasted the entire 40 minutes, we can't recall a better Finals in recent memory.

One of the best NCAA men's basketball tournaments in memory is in the books.

Now for the bad news: CBS ran with a new version of "One Shining Moment" this year and which was sung by Jennifer Hudson. This is the first version (Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross were two other notable singers) where the performer gets any actual air time. We hope this doesn't start a trend where the campy-est, most predictable yet most excellent song/video in American popular culture becomes an annual star vehicle for the flavor-of-the-month. Ms. Hudson didn't help matters, either, with her performance.

Bring back Luther!

(We've been having problems with the embed code from YouTube, lately. Until we get it fixed, link to video is, here. Our apologies)

It just wouldn't be the same without it.

Like great art, great music stands on its own. It doesn’t need any explanation, rationalization or context. That’s why “One Shining Moment” is happy as hell to have the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

We were standing in line at the bank today and they had Romey’s television program on. Rome was absolutely brutalizing the song, saying they needed to put the old nag out to pasture – that the young kids today, particularly the ones playing in the game to which the song honors, weren’t “down” with it.

Sorry, Jim. We remember with crystal clarity Mateen Cleaves, the Michigan St. point guard after their championship win in 2000, telling Jim Nantz that he would sing the song in his head as a kid growing up thinking of this very moment.

The song is a treacly, over-the-top piece of pop fluff but in the context of providing the swan song backdrop to each year’s tournament montage wrap-up, it totally works. Does it, ever.

Ladies and Gentleman, the 2008 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, “One Shining Moment”. Enjoy!

R.I.P., Luther