Pistons Turn to Eminem for NBA Introductions

There may not be a better job in all of sports than the guy or gal who gets to plan and produce the pregame introductions for an NBA team.

Whoever is in charge of that for the Detroit Pistons spared no expense apparently for the team's opening night introduction, as the Pistons brought out all the bells and whistles for the first game of the season at the Palace at Auburn Hills.

The Pistons' intro began with a well-cut video depicting scenes across the city of Detroit (granted they play in Auburn Hills), a clear homage to the city's well-represented hard-working reputation. There's also plenty of smog for fans of that type of thing.

The video is set to -- of course -- an Eminem song. The Detroit native's song, "Lose Yourself," was actually performed by a choir at midcourt. The entire thing is awfully reminiscent of this Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler.

Anyway, from there things shift to public address announcer, the over-the-top (and bordering on obnoxious) John Mason. He is his usual loud self, with one forgettable opening night flub. Notice how he intros Rodney "In the Detroit 3" Stuckey as playing his college ball in Eastern Michigan. Nothing out of the ordinary there, except for the fact that Stuckey actually played at Eastern Washington. Oh well, it was opening night for everyone apparently.

Things went south for the Pistons once the game actually started, as the Cleveland Cavaliers ruined the party by waxing Detroit 105-89.

Check out the entire production in the video below (with a hat tip to Sports By Brooks).







http://www.nesn.com/2011/12/pistons-turn-to-eminem-singing-choir-as-part-of-elaborate-opening-night-introductions-video.html