Great sports moments in 80’s music videos: The Boss

Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” album spawned seven Top 10 hits back in the mid-80’s, some of which have staying power (like the title cut) and some of which have basically been forgotten (I can’t remember the last time I heard “I’m Goin’ Down”).

The tune “Glory Days” falls somewhere between the two poles, having peaked at #5 in the summer of 1985.  Although the song has a semi-serious subject matter (a guy lamenting past glories he can never recapture), the tone is pretty lighthearted, unlike other depressing Springsteen fare that makes you want to slit your wrists (”The River” comes to mind).

I never had a real life frame of reference for this particular song until I was older and in college.  That’s when I started getting exposed to the “I was a great high school athlete” types, the dudes who loved to regale me with fantastic tales about their sporting exploits.  I would always question the greatness of these guys because of something they lacked: a scholarship to college to play a sport, ANY sport.

Years later, I came across another interesting phenomenon along these lines: I had friends who regularly watched VHS tapes of basketball games we’d played in…back in HIGH SCHOOL.  Hey, forget getting on with your life and making a mark in the world, you’ve got to see that jump shot you made from the top of the key against E.E. Smith!

In the video for “Glory Days,” the Boss plays the role of just the kind of person I’m describing.  He’s a middle aged, blue collar dude who can’t get his failed baseball career off his mind.  He’s so consumed that he heads down to the local ballfield, sets up a board behind home plate and starts flinging pitches at it like it’s Game 7 of the World Series.

And how about those pitches that Bruce uncorks?  His 57 mph fastball is about what I’d expect out of any rock legend not named John Fogerty.  But bad pitching aside, in “Glory Days” the Boss manages to pull off one of the biggest asshole stunts in the history of music videos.

If you pay attention, you’ll see BOTH of the women Bruce has been married to.  Throughout the video you see his bandmate and future wife Patti Scialfa on stage with him.  Then at the end, there’s a cameo from the woman he was married to when “Glory Days” was filmed, actress Julianne Phillips.

Damn, how big of a douchenozzle do you have to be to pull a stunt like that? Putting your wife and the chick you dumped her for in the same project = dick move.

Something else that jumped out at me after watching this video for the first time in years was just how crazy the E Street Band looked:

Black berets, Little Steven’s do rag…this looks like a friggin’ rebel army in Central America. And I dare you to find a dude with a loopier stage presence than Little Steven:

Great sports moments in 80’s music videos: Menudo

Great sports moments in 80’s music videos: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts