Rece Davis, LaPhonso Ellis, and Brooke Weisbrod were on the call Tuesday evening for ESPN2 when No. 23 NC State hosted No. 3 Virginia in Raleigh. It was a critical ACC contest between two Top 25 teams that was sure to have any college basketball fan excited. The game itself ended up being a back-and-forth overtime affair that finally ended with a 66-65 Virginia victory. The whole thing was enough to really scramble the brain of anyone watching.
Perhaps that’s what happened to Rece during the broadcast because at one point we’re pretty sure he referred to the AC/DC song “Thunderstruck” as being sung by Metallica, who is not AC/DC.
Virgin vs NC State. Announcer just said what? #ncaa pic.twitter.com/2XfdW7sKiS
— Ace White (@ColonelLPW) January 30, 2019
If you’ve been on the internet for at least a short while, you know that this egregious besmirchment did not go unnoticed.
Pretty sure the announcer for the @UVABaseball vs. @NCState just said Thunderstruck was a @Metallica song… 🤦🏻♂️
— 🅂🄴🅅🄴🅁🅃 (@severt__) January 30, 2019
I feel like this game is being overshadowed by Rece Davis thinking that Metallica did Thunderstruck
— Ben Swain (@TheBenSwain) January 30, 2019
And of course, Rece’s flub quickly morphed into meme mode.
Rece Davis: "Metallica should've stuck around and sang 'I can't drive 55' as we go to OT tied at 55!"
— Jameson (@the_Jameson) January 30, 2019
“Overtime here in Raleigh and, just like Metallica, we’re going to Rock ’N Roll all night and party every day” – Rece Davis
— Ben Swain (@TheBenSwain) January 30, 2019
It was a banner night for Rece. He also mentioned the 1983 national championship NC State team, which is required by law of any TV broadcast involving the current NC State basketball team. However, in recalling the final moments of that epic upset victory, he seemed to have misremembered some facts. Davis said that the winning score was the result of Derek Whittenburg passing the ball to Lorenzo Charles, who dunked home the win. However, while Whittenburg might appreciate the moment being remembered that way, it’s not exactly how it happened. That “pass” was more like an airball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICZ8HO8c9bw
Thankfully, a fact-checker was available to correct things.
Heard @ESPN_ReceDavis say Derek Whittenburg “passed” it to Lorenzo Charles for the ‘83 Championship win. Hmmm
— Terry Gannon 🌻 (@terrygannon83) January 30, 2019
Terry would know. He was on that NC State basketball team.
Good job, good effort tonight, Rece. Our advice? Walk it off, put on ZZ Top’s “Hell’s Bells” and rock your cares away.
