Beer and fishing go hand in hand, but this weekend, we saw those worlds collide in particularly gnarly fashion.
On Sunday, country music singer Alli Walker performed during intermission of a Stanley Cup playoff match between the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. For her grand finale, Walker poured a tallboy of Budweiser into the mouth of a dead catfish and…chugged.
CATFISH BEER CHUG DURING INTERMISSION IN NASHVILLE 😳 pic.twitter.com/HoQfb3LwgF
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 28, 2024
If Walker’s stunt seems crazy, know that bringing dead catfish to Predators playoff games has actually been a ritual for decades. It allegedly all started in 1999 when restaurant owner Bob Wolf threw a catfish on the ice during a Predators game against the Detroit Red Wings. The reason? A snarky response to the Red Wings’ 70-year tradition of throwing octopus on the ice to signify the eight wins necessary for the team to win the Stanley Cup in the midst of the 1952 playoffs. Since Wolf’s shenanigans, the practice has reoccurred a number of times. And back in 2018, Tennessee Titans lineman Taylor Lewan made headlines when he chugged a beer out of a catfish in the stands at a Predators game.
Health and risk of botulism aside, Walker’s antics undoubtedly boosted the morale of the Game 4 crowd. Still, the catfish chug didn’t provide enough good luck for the Predators to secure the win. According to Sports Illustrated, the Nashville team lost to the Canucks during overtime. Will this stop fans from sneaking catfish into Bridgestone Arena in the future? Time will tell, but knowing die-hard hockey fans and their admiration of quirky traditions, probably not.
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