If I were to make a list of favorite sports to play and/or watch, basketball wouldn’t be anywhere near the top. Well, that isn’t 100% accurate as I do fancy a bit of the college round ball, specifically my beloved Michigan State Spartans. And time travel? Yeah, that’s not too high on my fantasy world wish list, except if I could somehow drop into some key musical moments from the past 50 years (The Last Waltz concert in 1976, for example.)
You’d think then that an app combining these two distinct ideas — basketball and time travel — wouldn’t much appeal to a fella like me. Incorrect! The new Basketball Time Machine app is a sporting and cultural anthropology tool that I have loved spending time with, watching old footage of both the pro and collegiate game, and laughing at vintage commercials featuring basketball stars like Michael Jordan and Kevin Garnett. In fact, I forgot just how hilarious Garnett is. Remember those Upper Deck and Gatorade spots with him? Brilliant stuff. He is going to slay as a studio host someday. My 9-year-old and I had a blast flipping through the years and watching commercials, top plays, and even funny scenes from movies like Airplane! (“We have clearance, Clarence”).
Here are screenshots of some of our favorite clips we discovered through the Basketball Time Machine app (including Magic and the ’79 Spartans championship!)
The Basketball Time Machine App from Shout Factory is a must own for any b-ball lover looking to fall happily into a YouTube wormhole without scouring through a YouTube maze. The app’s interface is super easy to navigate and sharing favorite clips with your Twitter followers is a snap. My only wish is that it was possible to earmark or store away favorite videos for easy repeat viewing, like a time capsule of sorts to stash must-remember clips. Because while I might never sit through an entire NBA game or even a single commercial these days, I could watch that Monty Python-parody Kevin Garnett Gatorade dance-off video (the one with the absurdly funny Usain Bolt ego head with feet!) a hundred times!
This app has Bill Simmons ‘ The Sports Guy’ written all over it!
Download Basketball Time Machine for iPad/iPhone now for just $.99.
