Tag: Prince

Minnesota Timberwolves Unveil Prince City Edition Jersey

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ESPN – When Prince died in April 2016, Nike pitched the Wolves an alternate “city edition” jersey for the 2017-18 season that would honor him. The Wolves concluded it was too soon. They were already finalizing their 2017-18 jerseys, which would kick off a full-on rebrand — new jerseys, new logo, new court, tweaked color scheme.

But they decided then to prioritize a Prince jersey for this season. They set aside some of Nike’s other proposed Minnesota-centric motifs: jerseys paying homage to Bob Dylan, the Mississippi River (which runs through Minneapolis), and the original Minneapolis Lakers, Johnson says. (You might see some of those ideas down the road.)

In case you haven’t heard, Prince is a big deal in Minnesota. A really big deal. When I lived in Boston, I hardly ever heard Prince on the radio. Living in Minneapolis, though, I can’t go a day without hearing him on the radio. And that’s not a bad thing. As I wrote on Prince Day last year, I was wrong about Prince. Prince is definitely an acquired taste, but he had an incredible list of hits and I wish I had paid more attention to him and his work while he was alive. He was an incredible musician and performer.

It can be nauseating to see some of the half-assed Prince promotions the teams in Minnesota run. Giving out purple hats and playing Purple Rain during the 7th inning stretch is the definition of a half-assed promotion. Thankfully, it looks like the Timberwolves are going above and beyond.

First, they made the right choice of which direction to go in for their city edition jersey. Minneapolis Lakers inspired jerseys? Really? Can you imagine the Baltimore Ravens wearing Baltimore Colts throwbacks? There’d be a revolt in the stands, and understandably so. Second, the jersey itself looks very well done.

If the script font looks familiar, here’s why:

Image result for purple rain

A very nice touch.

And third, the Timberwolves will do much, much more than most teams to actually make their Prince nights a special experience. From Zach Lowe on ESPN:

The Wolves will wear the jerseys eight times this season, five at home. The in-arena trappings at those home games — giveaway shirts, signage, lighting — will turn purple. Tom Thibodeau, the team’s coach and general manager, even let team officials take the players for a separate day of shooting to prepare a special Prince- and purple-themed pregame video that will run on the scoreboard — not a small concession if you know Thibodeau. The team thought about producing a purple court, but opted against it, officials say.

As yet unannounced halftime performers will pay tribute to Prince, and the broader Minneapolis music scene, team officials say. The team will present donations to some of Prince’s favorite charities.

The Timberwolves Twitter feed offers a good look at the special photo day Lowe mentions:

Also, it’s nice to see some restraint from a Nike production like this. No clutter on the jersey and a wise move to skip the purple court. Overall, this looks to be some A+ promotional work from a team that could use some good press. Maybe now the classic rock stations in Minnesota can stop cutting out the best part of Purple Rain on the radio.

Happy Prince Day

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KARE 11 – Gov. Mark Dayton has declared Friday as “Prince Day” across Minnesota to honor the legacy of the homegrown music legend, who died April 21st of last year of an accidental painkiller overdose.

I won’t lie, I was never a big Prince fan. In fact, I remember deliberately avoiding his halftime show at Super Bowl XLI. I was still a little upset over the Patriots’ choke job in the AFC Championship game I guess. And that was my loss.

Prince sold more albums than any other artist in 2016, and that includes the one that I bought. Prince is definitely an acquired taste, but the man has an impressive list of hits. It definitely surprised me, and I wish I had paid more attention while he was alive. Just an incredible musician and performer.

I have always firmly believed that U2’s halftime show at Super Bowl XXXVI was the best of all time. After watching Prince, though, it’s close. That should mean a lot coming from a Patriots fan.

So pour one out for Prince tonight, and enjoy the Purple Rain.

RIP Charlie Murphy

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Complex – Comedian and legendary storyteller Charlie Murphy has reportedly passed away at age 57 following a battle with leukemia. According to TMZ, Murphy’s manager has confirmed he passed away in a New York City hospital due to complications from the deadly cancer. He had previously been undergoing chemo treatment to fight the illness.

Unreal. Always sucks to see one of your favorite celebrities go, especially ones that make you laugh as hard as Charlie Murphy did. Guy flew under the radar for years as his brother tore up Hollywood before exploding onto the scene in Chappelle’s Show.

Charlie Murphy stole the show every single time he was featured in a skit. Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories of Prince and Rick James are all-time classics. Nothing will ever top these two skits. They were a look into how wild the 80s were in Hollywood and just how crazy some of our most beloved celebrities were. With a little comedic flair of course, but Charlie had the benefit of not being a huge star so these stories, as hilarious as they were, seemed pretty genuine.

Player Haters Ball. “CLAP FOR ME BITCH!” Classic.

The Mad Real World. “CORRECTION” Classic.

Charlie Murphy coined some all time phrases too like “Habitual Line Stepper.”

And I still laugh every time I see him Bruce Lee kick Rick James in the chest.

Pour one out for my guy Charlie Murphy or as Rick James called him, “Darkness.”