Well played Nashville Predators… well played.
Music City’s NHL team might be off to a slow start to the season, but their in-game entertainment is already in mid-season form. Those that attend sporting events know that it is critical to the fan experience to fill the time in between the action, and stadiums and arenas have been getting very creative in that department in recent years.
You’ve still got your traditional “kiss cams” and “shuffle games” up on the big screen. Those probably won’t ever go away (though that one couple that went to the Coldplay concert probably wish they would). However, in the modern age of entertainment, you are seeing places like Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee get as specific as they can to deliver a good, entertaining gag.
During a recent tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Nashville Predators rolled out the “Florida Man Cam.”
Now, if you aren’t familiar with the shenanigans of the Florida man, where have you been? For years (maybe even centuries), the Florida Man has been wreaking havoc, doing crazy things, and generating absurd headlines. To be clear, it’s not just one man that is known as the Florida Man. It’s instead more of an idea, or a culture if you will, that select, deranged Floridians possess.
In case you still aren’t following, allow me to direct you to some examples that we’ve covered here at Whiskey Riff of “Sunshine State” residents doing things that only seem to happen in the state that’s become known as America’s appendage:
-Florida Man Jumping Out of the Water To Scare A Resting Alligator
-Florida Man Arrested For Shooting Down Walmart Delivery Drone
-Florida Man Uses Python To Play Tug-Of-War With Crocodile
-Florida Man Plans To Ride Out Category 5 Hurricane In 20-Foot Sailboat
Understand now? The Florida man (and sometimes even the Florida woman) get into all kinds of crazy stuff. And the stories that revolve around the males of the Sunshine State are a dime a dozen.
That’s why it was so perfect of the Nashville Predators in-game entertainment team to take advantage of Tampa Bay fans being in attendance in Music City. What they did was simple, yet very effective. They created a frame to go up on the jumbotron that depicted a wild Florida man headline, then found Tampa Bay fans in the crowd to make the subjects of the zany stories.
It all worked out wonderfully, and the internet loved the idea. And credit to whoever came up with these fake-but-believable headlines to go with the shots of the “Florida Men” in attendance:
-Florida Man Actually Finds The Pink Pony Club, Causes A Scene
-Florida Man Scales Batman Building
-Florida Man Throws Catfish Through Drive-Thru Window
-Florida Man Steals Zamboni, Crashes Into Pedal Tavern
Okay… that last one is the most believable one of the bunch. If that doesn’t happen in real life, you can bet it’s going to happen on this season of 9-1-1 Nashville. You can check out the beautifully done jumbotron gimmick in the series of pictures below:
