"Touching You, Touching Me" Lyric Puts the Kibosh on Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" at Penn State Football Games. A Blessing in Disguise?

Penn State has reportedly decided to ban the playing of famous karaoke-type favorite "Sweet Caroline" at all school home football games.  The ban will extend for at least this season, if not longer (link below). The obvious reason: The Neil Diamond standard's use of the lyric "touching you, touching me" in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse and molestation scandal.

Now, while Sandusky (and the inactions of former PSU head coach Joe Paterno) have absolutely buried Penn State and its football program, I wonder just how many students and alums will be losing any sleep over this latest piece of fallout (i.e. the "Sweet Caroline" ban)?

They may call Neil Diamond the "Jewish Elvis" (a cool moniker, truth be told), and I may like a number of Diamond songs, but "Sweet Caroline" is the pits -- one of the most positively annoying rock songs in the genre's history.  I cannot stand it! Even hearing its Intro starts to make my blood boil. And it's only made worse by the fact that one can't ever attend a karaoke event without the damn thing playing!

However, and leaving completely aside the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the current news item from Penn State should at least result in one positive by leading to universities and pro teams nationwide taking a fresh look at banning highly annoying rock/pop songs from sporting events...

Start with these five (right after "Sweet Caroline"), why dontcha:  (1) "Start Me Up," The Rolling Stones;  (2) "Hey Baby," Bruce Channel; (3) "Who Let the Dogs Out," Baha Men; (4)"Rock and Roll, Part 2," Gary Glitter; and (5) "Don't Worry Be Happy," Bobby McFerrin. 

I mean, c'mon, college and pro teams: There's plenty rotten in the world right now already.  Make the world a little better place.

http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2012/08/27/penn-state-wont-play-sweet-caroline-during-football-games-this-season/