Cheap Seats Daily has learned…that new Washington Nationals manager Jim Riggleman’s boyhood fight song was STOLEN!
From GIRLS!
As reported in this space the other day, Riggleman’s baseball team at Richard Montgomery High School used a special cheer to get fired up before games:
Thunder, Thunder, Thunderation
We’re the Rockets Delegation
When we fight with determination
We create a soul sensation!
Well, I’m saddened to report that the schoolboy jocks filched the tune from…the Girl Scouts?
(AFTER THE JUMP: Original lyrics to the tune Riggleman et al stole? Should the Nats steal the same fight song? Snyder’s own cheerleaders used against him? RIP, Six Flags Cheerleaders? Don MacLean used steroids? Slow news day?)
Here’s the lyrics to the traditional Girl Scout anthem, “Thunderation.“
Thunder, Thunderation,
We are the Girl Scouts across the nation.
When we work with determination,
We create a real sensation!
Thunder, Thunderation,
We are the future of our nation.
When we work with determination,
We create a real sensation!
The Girl Scouts song is in the public domain. So no money has to change hands because of RMHS’s thievery.
But it just seems wrong. And, this was 1970, after all. Couldn’t Riggleman or any of his teammates have called “Cooties!“?
In defense of Riggleman’s RMHS: theft of the Girl Scouts song is rampant and ongoing. The tune was even bastardized by the Obama’s flock during the 2008 presidential campaign.
So why don’t the Nats steal the fight song and make it their own? Something like:
Thunder, Thunder, Thunderation
We’re the worst team in the nation
But when we’re more than an abomination
We’ll create a soul sensation!
No matter what, “Soul Sensation!” has to stay. Look at that team photo above. Title of the bio of the 1970 Richard Montgomery baseball squad: “Not Only the Ball Was White!”
***
We all know Dan Snyder loves cheerleaders. But it now looks like a dandy brouhaha is brewing between Snyder and WJFK, and it centers on the First Ladies of Football.
According to DCRTV, for WJFK’s press conference at the Verizon Center on Tuesday, where the talent lineup for D.C.’s new sports station (discussed in this week’s Cheap Seats column) was unveiled, Snyder’s CBS-owned rival hired Redskins cheerleaders to fire up the crowd.
When Snyder learned that his own girls were being used to pump up the competition, DCRTV Dave reports, he was “pretty pissed.”
Genius idea on WJFK’s part, I gotta say. Straight out of the Art of War or one of those Eastern battle philosophy tomes: “Those who understood the true nature of power could easily defeat these larger foes by leveraging their supposed strengths against them.”
Snyder was already mad at WJFK for snagging the Westwood One NFL package from his WTEM for the 2009 season. So if the Skins make the playoffs, the games could be heard on Snyder’s foe’s frequency!
Snyder, remember, hired former Westwood One honcho Larry Michael a few years ago to strengthen his media holdings. Hasn’t really worked out so far.
But radio feuds are good for all concerned.
***
Speaking of Snyder and cheerleaders: His fetish for gals and pom-pons was clearest last year when he founded the Thrilleaders for his malnourished Six Flags chain. The Thrilleaders were billed as the first cheerleading squad ever dedicated to a theme park. Somebody probably should have told Snyder there’s a reason it was the first cheerleading squad dedicated to a theme park. Though no official announcement has been made that the Thrilleaders are defunct after just one season, there’s no record of appearances since their inaugural rollout last summer, and no scheduled appearances are listed on their home page.
RIP, Thrilleaders. We hardly knew you.
***
The Thrilleaders was surely a dumbass idea, but not the dumbest-ass idea Snyder foisted on Six Flags.
As the company is getting its bankruptcy papers in order, Six Flags has just opened a second outlet of RollerCoaster Cuts, what is designed to be a chain of hair cutteries for rich kids. The new point, in King of Prussia, Pa., will offer the same service menu as the original RollerCoaster Cuts in Hartford, Ct: kiddie manicures and haircuts named The Glammy, Zoink, Big Kapow and Blama Jama for upwards of $50.
The more I write this stuff, the more I wonder if Snyder’s really rich.
***
Ryan O’Halloran of the Washington Times pummels Snyder and his pals the Lerners in his “First Down” column this morning. O’Halloran names both the Nationals and the Redskins on his list: “TWT FIVE MOST DYSFUNCTIONAL PRO SPORTS TEAMS”
“Even before training camp, speculation as to whom The Danny hires as coach in 2010 is running wild,” he writes. True and amazing.
***
Bleacherreport.com profiles Don MacLean, one of the surliest Washington Bullets of all-time. He was Jay Schroeder in shorts, a West Coast guy with great talent who folks here wanted to love but just couldn’t. This piece doesn’t have enough info for local fans about his sad stay in DC — not even a mention of his breaking a thumb in a Baltimore bar fight in 1995 while already on the Bullets injury list for bad knees, adding six weeks to his down time.
But the story more than makes up for it by including some awesome trivia about MacLean. First, he is UCLA’s all time leading scorer, over “Kareem, Walton, and Reggie.” Who knew? And, best and worst of all, MacLean was the very first NBA player ever popped for steroids.
After the bust, Charles Barkley went public with his defense of MacLean: “I’ve seen Don MacLean naked, and he doesn’t use steroids.”
***
The day after the All-Star game was always known as the slowest sports day year. It’s a little different now. There’s no baseball, obviously, and golf tournaments or auto races never took place on Wednesdays. But we now have the WNBA scheduling events during these doldrums, knowing they’ll get coverage.
So: Mystics lose in San Antonio, 79-78.
It’s still a slow sports day, is what I’m sayin’. But if you’ve read this far, you knew that.
***
Story tips? Wanna Play the Feud? Tube amps for sale? Send to: cheapseats@washingtoncitypaper.com