Chester, Pennsylvania is about 20 miles west of west Philadelphia but it provided maybe the great form of synergy between an MLS team and a TV show. Well, maybe except for Chicago Fire.
The Philadelphia Union made a shot-for-shot remake of the classic sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. With striker C.J. Sapong playing the Will Smith role, “The Fresh Prince of Chest-Air” incorporated other Union players as they almost painstakingly made every shot as accurate as possible to the real thing.
For reference, here’s the Will Smith version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qHA366oRMs
And here’s the Philadelphia Union version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0ZI2cC5_ko
That’s pretty spot on if you ask me. Sapong can even compete with Will Smith in the rap department. In 2011, Sapong rapped his love for Hope Solo to Solo when he played for Sporting Kansas City and she visited KC with the U.S. Women’s National Team. I was actually there for that and Sapong really did great.
But back to Fresh Prince, maybe since everyone else is bringing back beloved 90s shows, someone could bring back The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and have Will Smith play the rich uncle who takes in Sapong. I’d watch that.
