Not exactly an all-star reaction to choice of Kid Rock
The NHL proudly announced Tuesday its headlining entertainer for the league’s all-star game in Tampa on Jan. 28. Apparently, more than a few fans felt Only God Knows Why the league went with Kid Rock.
In other words, plenty of folks were willing to give the NHL All Summer Long to come up with a more relevant, less polarizing act.
Those have been references to Kid Rock’s hit songs, by the way. Bawitdaba, anyone?
One way to measure the reception the announcement received is via the “ratio” earned by a pair of tweets the NHL posted. In both cases, the number of comments far outweighed the number of retweets, which is bad, and not in an “American Bad Ass” way.
In fairness, the tweets got a notable number of likes, as well. One person who definitely liked the choice was former NHL star Jeremy Roenick, now an analyst who expressed great enthusiasm while helping interview Kid Rock (real name: Robert James Ritchie) Tuesday on NBC Sports Network.
“When I talk to people about you, I say, ‘Kid Rock is the most talented musician, I think, ever on the planet,’” Roenick said, “because you can put any instrument in your hand or in your mouth, and you can play anything and rock a house, and sing any kind of genre.”
Kid Rock alluded to some of the backlash he has experienced for his expression of conservative political views, including support for U.S. President Donald Trump, opposition to Colin Kaepernick’s protests during the national anthem and a penchant for displaying the Confederate flag during concerts after he switched to more of a country-rock music style.
Last year, the Detroit-area native, who has also been accused of homophobia, teased the possibility of running for a Senate seat against Sen. Debbie Stabenow, DMich., before acknowledging it was a publicity stunt to promote a new album and concert tour.
“I haven’t done TV in quite some time — no pun intended, but it’s been kind of a turnoff, with all the politics that go into it, what you can and can’t do, and blah, blah, blah,” Kid Rock told NBCSN, which will televise his show during the second intermission of the all-star game.
He praised the network for “really trying to make this a musical moment inside of a great weekend and a great event.”
Not everyone was of the opinion that adding Kid Rock to the all-star festivities was such a great idea.
“Nobody chooses #KidRock for their event; they settle for Kid Rock when they can’t get anyone else for the money they’re offering,” one tweet read.
Nevertheless, the NHL is likely to forge ahead with Kid Rock, even though he was booed at another recent sporting event, the Pistons’ first game at their new arena.
It’s worth noting the Pistons play in Detroit, where the locally produced, five-time Grammy Award nominee might reasonably have been expected to get a warmer welcome than in, say, Tampa.
Then again, given Tampa’s location, it may fit better with an artist whose most recent album was titled Sweet Southern Sugar and spawned singles such as Po-Dunk and Tennessee Mountain Top.
That said, many NHL fans are wondering why the league thinks Kid Rock is a good fit.