That’s exactly what James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett from Metallica did Monday night ahead of the game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks.
And the band killed it.
The veteran rockers teamed up before Game 4, as Hammett delivered the national anthem’s main melody and Hetfield added reinforcement for a very unique version of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Showing considerable bias to the home team, both musicians wore No. 81 Sharks jerseys with their names on the backs. Hetfield is from Downey, California, and Hammett hails from San Francisco, just 50 miles north of San Jose.
But even the support of the hard rockers couldn’t help the Bay Area team. San Jose lost the game, 3-1.
And while Hetfield is a hell of a guitarist and singer, he’s not very good at predicting the outcome of a game. “We’re gonna win tonight, the Sharks are gonna win tonight, that’s how it is. We’re going to do all we can to help that out and see this team go the distance,” he told the NHL Network before the puck dropped.
At least their presence Monday had one positive impact: The band auctioned off signed guitars for charity.
The Penguins now lead the series 3-1 as they head back to Pittsburgh Thursday for Game 4, which will air on NBC.
15 Biggest Sports Scandals of 2015: From Deflategate to Domestic Violence (Photos)
Gilbert Arenas' Sexist Instagram Rant
Former basketball star Arenas invoked the wrath of the WNBA when he demanded sexier female players and suggested they dress like strippers instead of "cast members from #orangeisthenewblack."
The Sacramento Kings guard was punished by the league after he launched into a homophobic rant against veteran referee Bill Kennedy, who recently announced he is gay.
Not only did Rousey get her ass kicked and her championship taken by Holly Holm, she then got blasted for focusing too much on her TV and movie roles, and not enough on fighting.
Sportscaster Simmons' beef with ESPN went public last year when he called out network bosses over coverage of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The feud reached a boiling point in May and the parties parted ways -- but Simmons, who has since signed with HBO, has continued to criticize his former network, especially since its closure of Grantland in October.
Eighteen months after Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy attacked his ex-girlfriend in a violent assault, police photos of her graphic injuries sent fans into a frenzy, prompting many to demand discipline from the team and the NFL.
Fans feared it was the end for former NBA star Odom when he was found unconscious in a brothel last October. He pulled out of a coma, but his road to recovery has been rocky as the former Laker still struggles to walk.
Colin Cowherd Should Cancel His Dominican Vacation
“I’ve never bought into that ‘baseball is just too complex,'” Cowherd said on his ESPN radio show in July. “A third of the sport is from the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has not been known, in my lifetime, as having world-class academic abilities."
The former MLB star-turned-broadcast analyst was suspended by ESPN for posting racist tweets comparing Muslims to Nazis. “It’s said only 5-10% of Muslims are extremists. In 1940, only 7% of Germans were Nazis. How’d that go?” he wrote.
Most injuries happen on the field, but New York Jets QB Geno Smith got his jaw broken in the locker room by his own teammate following an altercation over money, $600 no less.
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NASCAR Lowers the Confederate Flag
Auto racing is a sport of the South, where many people still consider the Confederate flag to be an appropriate symbol of their culture. When the controversy over the banner hit peak publicity this year, NASCAR made the tough business decision to ban it from official events.
FIFA boss Sepp Blatter finally stepped down after becoming the main figure in an enormous soccer bribery scandal -- but it took a hell of a lot of media backlash to dethrone the futbol king.
A Penn State student tweeted the sports anchor a link to an article about the school’s fundraising efforts to fight pediatric cancer, which included the school rallying cry “We Are…”
Olbermann responded “…pitiful,” which angry tweeters took as a criticism of the school’s philanthropy efforts. As for why he called the charitable cause “pitiful,” the anchor said it was a simple rushed mistake, while saying social media is used as an alternative to “Wild West saloon brawling.”
Warren Sapp was arrested for soliciting a prostitute in 2015, hence his sad mugshot to the left. That frown was most definitely not turned upside-down when the former NFL great was canned by the NFL network.
Yes, Deflategate was 2015 -- even though it feels like years ago by this point. Brady allegedly instructed the New England Patriots' equipment manager to deflate his footballs, allowing for ease of passing and catching. He was initially suspended for four games, but that later was overruled by a federal judge.
During the big College Football Playoff bowl games on New Year’s Day, sportscaster Rome wrote on Twitter: “Is there anyone not in a marching band who thinks those dorks running around with their instruments are cool?” Apparently, there were lots of people who felt “those dorks” were cool, and that Rome’s comment was not.