Video: The Maryland halfcourt shot prank
posted at 4:10 pm on March 4, 2009 by Allahpundit
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To cleanse the palate, a sequel to a post only the oldest of old-school Hot Air readers will remember. They’re getting more ambitious in scope: Whereas a packed Yankee Stadium was just a backdrop for the last prank, this time the entire crowd at U of M’s arena is in on the fun.
Exit question: Is “Amir” in on it too? His reaction after the shot seems a tad … theatrical. But then, I thought the baseball prank was faked.
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Hey! I go to Maryland. Pretty cool that they chose to go to our place, but pretty sh*tty that we completely choked against Wake Forest last night.
I was hoping there would be a sequel to the prank war.
jimmy the notable on March 4, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Sweet evil Jesus, I do remember that.
MadisonConservative on March 4, 2009 at 4:18 PM
I dunno. If I had just won a half mil for shooting a basketball I’d be pretty “theatrical” too.
CDeb on March 4, 2009 at 4:21 PM
At least this one was a little more fun. The last few, with the Yankee Stadium prank and the one with the Human Giants (is that right?), and the one at the comedy club…they left you with a horrible pit in your stomach. They were very hard to watch.
jimmy the notable on March 4, 2009 at 4:21 PM
To quote Elaine from Seinfeld: “Fake, fake. Fake. Fake.”
LastRick on March 4, 2009 at 4:22 PM
The Yankee Marriage “Proposal” was a lot funnier. Since it was so cruel.
Lance Murdock on March 4, 2009 at 4:26 PM
I thought that was hilarious. But the best one was the Yankees prank. Now that was funny!
jencab on March 4, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Am I the only one who thinks it’s unreasonably cruel to do “pranks” like these? Convince someone they’ve won a life-changing amount of money? Break up their relationships?
I don’t get it. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything like that to a friend, and I wouldn’t be friends with anyone who would do that to me.
Am I just a killjoy?
Kensington on March 4, 2009 at 4:28 PM
wow, that last prank was a year and a half ago? I can’t believe I’ve been reading this blog that long. I need to find something better to do.
That said, that was our game last night. Wake won. . . it was a good prank.
ThackerAgency on March 4, 2009 at 4:32 PM
I think it was real! His face flushes… And the look on his face when he sees his friend. $500,000 is a great deal of cash, did you expect he would just say “thanks”?
petunia on March 4, 2009 at 4:33 PM
Cool. Guess I’m an oldest of old school HA reader. Time flies when you’re having fun.
txsurveyor on March 4, 2009 at 4:34 PM
The Yankee Stadium prank beats this one because it was fairly simple yet inventive.
(Streeter and his GF were already going to the game, and nearly missed it at that, and all it took on Amir’s part was paying $500 for the announcement and getting tickets for himself and some observer to tape the event.)
By contrast, the halfcourt shot was a massive production that required UMD officials be in it (rig things so that Amir takes the shot) and have Streeter beg the UMD crowd to prank Amir into thinking he sunk the basket.
teke184 on March 4, 2009 at 4:34 PM
No, you’re just not the person to prank. Some people don’t mind and think it’s hilarious (at least after the fact). Those are the people who you prank, so long as you’re prepared to be pranked back.
Esthier on March 4, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Yes, yes you are.
But I hate them too. I can’t pull them off. And long long ago I conceded that my husband would win any contest of this type… He is too competive to take something without stiking back. And if he weren’t I probably wouldn’t like him so much.
But I bet neither of these guys has a girlfriend…
petunia on March 4, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Seconded. While funny, it didn’t beat Amir’s prank.
Matticus Finch on March 4, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Streeter used to have one, but not anymore. Watch the Yankee Stadium prank to see at least one reason why.
teke184 on March 4, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Yes. You don’t understand the elation one feels upon breaking another person’s spirit. Their broken dreams is a potent elixir, granting joy whenever consumed. This is why Obama is always smiling. Can you imagine the heady potency of 300 million shattered souls consumed all at once?
Flyover Country on March 4, 2009 at 4:38 PM
‘Humor’ is sadistic nowadays. It’s easier than ‘wit’ or ‘cleverness.’
snickelfritz on March 4, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Funny, but I liked the sheer brutality of the stadium one better.
Spirit of 1776 on March 4, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Meh, the only video you really need to see from that game is this one:
Jeff Teague dunks on Maryland
(Go Deacs!!)
the_Prez on March 4, 2009 at 4:42 PM
Ha! Well at least we’ve settled it!
Seriously, maybe it’s a matter of scale and effect. Convincing someone that they’ve won a life-altering amount of money, especially nowadays, seems cruel.
Still, I just watched the comedy club one, and the prankee was honestly, clearly humiliated. I felt really bad for him…tempered slightly by some schadenfreude when I saw that he was wearing a Che tee-shirt.
Kensington on March 4, 2009 at 4:42 PM
I doubt that guy would have made the shot from the free-throw line without the blindfold.
V-rod on March 4, 2009 at 4:43 PM
these are fun and all, great entertainment but… guys… be serious. they are reality type skits. no more real or less staged than the bearded Pheonix who thinks he’s a rap star and is suddenly inexplicably awkward and silent on Letterman.
Drunk Report on March 4, 2009 at 4:43 PM
Would’ve been better without all the commentary in the beginning. Same commentary ruined the other one too.
lorien1973 on March 4, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Agreed. A lot of “independent” Obama voters are today or will shortly be feeling the same way. Except THEY are the ones handing the check over and it’s real this time.
SlimyBill on March 4, 2009 at 4:44 PM
I’m not old school, I’m a preschooler.
Speakup on March 4, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Sure, but it seems a little less cruel when you put all of the pranks in context and especially considering the last prank Amir pulled and when you consider that both have jobs they love that are likely paying decent wages.
Now, doing this to someone who hadn’t pulled the Yankee Stadium prank and who had no job, or a job he hated or that barely covered bills, that would seem cruel.
Or maybe I’m just cruel, because I think it’s funny and wish I could come up with pranks like that.
Esthier on March 4, 2009 at 4:54 PM
lorien1973,
Yeah, if you’re funny, just be funny. Don’t start monologuing about how funny you are and how awesome it’s going to be.
Christien on March 4, 2009 at 4:55 PM
I don’t mind it in this instance because both guys have a friendship built upon pranking each other. Each prank more outrageous than the last. And they don’t seem to mind.
I hate, hate, hate the home movies where someone buys a fake lottery ticket and gives it to their grandma or wife or friend who gets super excited and starts crying and thanking the Lord only to be told that it’s all a joke. Perhaps those people have ‘pranking’ agreement as well, but it’s never clear from the videos, so I just end up feeling sorry for them.
JadeNYU on March 4, 2009 at 4:57 PM
I think it’s real. Last week, a guy won $77,777 with a half court shot at the Suns game. He was running around the court like a madman. He even jumped into the gorilla’s arms and Leandro Barbosa’s arms.
And that was just for $77,777! I can’t imagine what he would have done for half a mil.
jennifernaz on March 4, 2009 at 4:57 PM
The only ones pranked here were the Fans. Of course Amir was in on it. You couldn’t actually prank someone like this unless you were a fool or they were in on it. Otherwise it would not be a prank it would be fraud, and actionable.
Rocks on March 4, 2009 at 5:04 PM
Never trust anyone under 40.
Guardian on March 4, 2009 at 5:04 PM
Yeah, you guys make a lot of good points, and I guess if they’ve got an understanding with each other…
On the other hand, the pain that these two numbskulls express at the end of some of these pranks is just dreadful.
It’s just not for me. Life is hard enough. I would never be able to relax around friends if I knew they would do things to deliberately humiliate me.
Kensington on March 4, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Did Amir instantly get that he was being pranked just by seeing the other guy? Probably means they haven’t spoken to each other since the last prank. Not a big surprise.
pedestrian on March 4, 2009 at 5:06 PM
Uh…Glenn Beck has the head of the Community Party USA on his show praising Obama.
amerpundit on March 4, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Yeah I tuned in this morning to hear him read a commentary from the CPUSA. Freaky man.
lorien1973 on March 4, 2009 at 5:11 PM
You know, it was cruel. But he deserved it, after the baseball prank.
Meryl Yourish on March 4, 2009 at 5:14 PM
Beck asked the Communist how much money he donates and to who. He donates a total of $500 to his organization’s newspaper. Beck says he (Beck) donates 20%. Oh, and he’s getting the Communist leader to abandon Stalin and the Soviet Union.
amerpundit on March 4, 2009 at 5:15 PM
Wow. Beck just slammed him around like a rag doll.
amerpundit on March 4, 2009 at 5:18 PM
That was freaking hilarious! You all need to lighten up.
Given the guy’s reaction (hiding behind a curtain) after the fact, it appears to be genuine. There’s a one-upsmanship with their pranks. Don’t want to see the next one.
conservative pilgrim on March 4, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Now that link is just cruel. Like rubbing salt in an open wound. No, I’m not a Terp fan either.
conservative pilgrim on March 4, 2009 at 5:35 PM
Old-school?
I prefer well-aged.
omnipotent on March 4, 2009 at 5:35 PM
Yeah, but you know where these things always end up: in a pool of blood. And tears.
Kensington on March 4, 2009 at 5:39 PM
They’re coworkers.
Esthier on March 4, 2009 at 5:41 PM
Allah, you are on a roll today.
csdeven on March 4, 2009 at 5:58 PM
omg funny funny
vinllo on March 4, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Pranksters this crappy deserve a future where they are abandoned and left pulling pranks on imaginary friends in dusty rest homes as that final prankster pulls that final joke on them.
profitsbeard on March 4, 2009 at 7:10 PM
Weak.
LagunaDave on March 4, 2009 at 9:51 PM
well, I am a TERPs fan and that clip is very painful….much like the past 5 years have been….
Red State State of Mind on March 4, 2009 at 10:06 PM
Karma is a relentless, heartless, beautiful, gorgeous, deadly, biotch.
Just remember that all you politicains out there. ;-)
watson007 on March 4, 2009 at 10:16 PM
I don’t remember the original posted prank, but I am certain I am fairly certain I was a member at the time.
SouthernGent on March 4, 2009 at 10:25 PM
No way, that’s for realz.
Karol on March 4, 2009 at 11:08 PM
Very good.
Found it more funny than Amir’s simply because it appeared to actually be in good fun.
Amazed they’re still friends in the first place, really. But yes, you can walk away from that video smiling.. Instead of smiling whilst thinking ‘damn, that was cold..’
Reaps on March 5, 2009 at 9:42 AM
Could this be a metaphor for the stimulus package. An ideologically blinded Administration cheered by a crowd of complicit economic advisors?
GreenBlade on March 5, 2009 at 8:14 PM
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