ESPN broadcaster and noted Atlanta native Elle Duncan turned a harmless gag with local flare into brutality on Thursday night.
During the pregame show in Baton Rouge before a huge women’s basketball matchup between South Carolina and Louisiana State, sideline reporter Holly Rowe brought out a king cake for the panel to sample in an ode to the area’s culture.
The colorful cakes are usually cut into pieces, and whichever diner ends up with a tiny, bean-sized baby in their slice wins some kind of prize.
Duncan tore into the cake on a mission to find the baby. After she was done, there was hardly any cake left at all.
After Holly Rowe brought a king cake to the ESPN pregame set ahead of South Carolina-LSU, Elle Duncan destroyed the cake in search of the baby. (H/T @HellOrBywater.) pic.twitter.com/QE0RBoNMNk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 26, 2024
King cakes date back to ancient Rome, where they were popularized in celebration of the Three Kings of the Christmas Bible story. They are eaten from after Christmas through Ash Wednesday.
Louisianan viewers were not pleased with the wrath Duncan brought upon the cake. These are festive treats, often enjoyed with family and occasionally during religious celebrations.
To see anyone — let alone a native of rival Atlanta — go on a blitzkrieg against the honorable dessert verges on sacrilege.
The rest of the night will tell whether No. 1-ranked South Carolina does the same thing to the Tigers on their home court.
If there’s anything positive to say about what Duncan brought upon that cake, it’s that her energy matched that of one of college basketball’s most anticipated games of the season.
Duncan had to have known what she was doing, but you have to pardon it in the spirit of such an awesome clash.
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
