Chance the Rapper‘s first appearance on Saturday Night Live featured a segment where he had absolutely no idea what was happening during a hockey game. In the time since the phrase “let’s do that hockey” has become a common one for sarcastic hockey fans and also people who still have no idea what hockey is.
The same is sure to happen to the first sketch Chance starred in after his rapping monologue during his second appearance on the show, in which Lazlo Holmes has the ante upped on him considerably. Chance’s character, who is normally a basketball reporter for MSG, is tossed into a League of Legends Esports competition and looks more lost than ever.
The sketch goes heavy on the stereotypes, as Lazlo is brought in to do reporting because their usual field reporter was out “taking the PSATs.” Asked how he was doing, Holmes replied “confused.”
“To be honest when they asked me to cover the League of Legends tournament, I assumed it was a basketball game with NBA legends,” Holmes said. “This is not that. It is a computer game contest.”
Holmes couldn’t give any analysis of what was happening in the competition despite a number of chances, straight up saying “no thanks” when asked to walk the audience through a match that had just ended.
“In a nutshell, there are 10 nerdy dudes sitting down at computers with headsets on while 20,000 people scream like they were watching the Beatles,” Chance says as Holmes. “I did not know this was a thing.
“I guess Esports is what white and Asian kids were doing while black kids invented hip hop,” Chance continued, stumbling and hiding briefly behind his microphone to regain his composure.
The whole segment plays up the bewilderment many have when they discover just how popular watching Esports is, including the huge payouts to tournament winners. And admittedly, it’s very hard to see what’s happening at some Esports events and know what’s actually going on if you’re unfamiliar with the game. In the case of Chance’s basketball-only reporter, it was another tough day at the office.
“You know how they do in Esports,” Holmes says. “Ready. Set. Sit down.”
