This story appears in ESPN The Magazines October 17 Great Debates Issue. Subscribe today!IF YOU WATCH sports, you cant escape Pitbull.There he was during last seasons NBA playoffs, his Bad Man carrying viewers to nearly every TNT commercial break. All June long, Pitbull occupied the Copa América after recording the official song of the tournament, Superstar, this coming after he recorded We Are One, the official song of the 2014 World Cup. And there he was at the Final Four, doing his signature rapid-fire fist-pumping while shouting the occasional word at the crowd during the Capital One JamFest.The world, as it is right now, is often overwhelming in the worst ways. Sports are an escape. And sometimes that escape is a bald rapper from Miami, sweating through a soft linen shirt while breathing heavily, pumping his fist and, along with it, pumping up the hopes of the crowd. It seems like an easy thing to show up sweaty, loud and overexcited to a roomful of eager fans. Yet if you or I did this, the room wouldnt shift for us, beyond perhaps an incredulous side-eye.Theres no debate: Pitbull is the new king of the stadium-shaking anthem despite being, for all intents and purposes, not particularly skilled as a musician. He is, in many ways, the musical equivalent of a bucket of popcorn: unsurprising and unexciting but somehow essential to an otherwise thrilling night. Because of his ability to latch on to any sporting event with 15,000 people and a budget, Pitbull comes off less as a fan of the games and more as an opportunist gaming the fans.What Pitbull lacks in musical skill, he makes up for with marketing savvy, in making a song so overwhelmingly infectious that it ends up being the sports anthem of the moment. But there is, perhaps, even greater skill in making the moment last. Most bands and artists can do this only once. Macklemores Cant Hold Us had its time in 2013, then it faded. If artists are lucky, like the White Stripes with Seven Nation Army, your sole anthem might have a life in arenas that spans decades. But Pitbull takes it further. He channels the energy of the experience, becoming the living embodiment of the moment before the moment. Hes transcendent: a performance artist who becomes the sports anthem himself.Despite his hypervisibility, Pitbull hasnt had a gold album in his past four outings, the closest being 2012s Global Warming, which peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200. In October, Pitbull is slated to release a new album, Climate Change. Its teeming with big-name guests: Drake, Meghan Trainor, Bruno Mars, Jennifer Lopez. Even with all of this, the buzz is still hushed. It seems, then, that Pitbull, at only 35, has made his bed. The anthem artist, not the album artist. We look to him when we need a reason to get pumped up and for little else.When the Cavs were down 3-1 to the Warriors in last seasons NBA Finals, it was hard to remember that LeBron James had a face other than the crying Jordan, endlessly affixed as his internet avatar. And then LeBron did what we knew he could do, because LeBron knew who he was: a player capable of leading a team to an NBA title.Pitbull is not LeBron James. One is a world-class athlete, and one is a somewhat failed rapper-turned-endless-party-starter. On top of their shared meme-ability, though, the lessons of LeBron and Pitbull are chapters of the same book. At his core, Pitbull knows who he is too. He takes the punches and the punchlines and hes still there, his comically large aviator sunglasses catching the stadium lights and shining.I dont know if Pitbull even likes sports. But in his own way, Pitbull is perfect for the world of sports. Hes everything we encourage our heroes to be. Thick-skinned, resilient, self-aware but not so self-aware that it becomes self-pitying. Despite enough of us throwing up our hands, exasperated, sighing, How did this guy get here again? Pitbull gets the last laugh. Your friends probably cant name more than two Pitbull songs, if any. But hes found a way in, playing his own brand of frantic, repetitive pop-rap to stadiums full of screaming fans. Are they his fans? Not entirely, but when the screams are that loud, does it matter?Emotions dont always simply surface from within us; sometimes someone has to carry us to them. Pitbull has it figured out. In his world, the quality of the music is a footnote to what the music can do. Its a place where people are already at the brink of excitement, just looking for someone to push them off the cliff.Like your friends, I could not sing a verse from a Pitbull song either. But Ive been in a stadium when the lights go down and a Pitbull song comes on, and I knew something good was coming, and I threw up my hands along with my neighbors.Pitbulls most notable ad lib is ?Dale! -- a Spanish word with multiple translations that all reach for the same sentiment: Lets?go ... Lets do this ... Go ahead! Its a word that, more than anything, gives permission to exhale and be free. We need more of that in sports. We need more of that everywhere. Charles Barkley Jersey . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Philadelphia 76ers Jerseys .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. http://www.official76ersproshop.com/kids-moses-malone-76ers-jersey/ .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Dario Saric Jersey . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Markelle Fultz Jersey . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. PARIS -- Paris Saint-Germain moved level on points with French league leader Monaco with a 2-0 win over Nantes but at a cost on Saturday.Ahead of next weeks Champions League match at Arsenal, Angel Di Maria opened the scoring but left the pitch in the 35th minute with an apparent right thigh injury.We took him off as a precaution, I hope he will be fine for Wednesday, PSG coach Unai Emery said.Di Marias fellow Argentine teammate, Javier Pastore, came in in the 82nd but was substituted in added time after a knock on his right ankle. The midfielder is also doubtful for the trip to London.PSG struggled to create chances at Parc des Princes and Kevin Trapp made good saves to keep his team afloat before striker Jese added a late penalty, his first goal for the defending champions since joining from Real Madrid last summer.Trapp was decisive in the 25th when he kept out an acrobatic volley from Guillaume Gillet, then parried away a miscued header from Thiago Silva. Thee German goalkeeper then stopped a shot from Yacine Bammou just before the interval.ddddddddddddMonaco moved level on points with Nice with a 3-0 win at Lorient on Friday and top of the standings thanks to a better goal difference. Nice travels to Saint-Etienne on Sunday.Di Maria scored his first league goal this season with a neat finish from Jean-Kevin Augustins assist in the 13th. PSG had a good chance to double its lead in the second half but Blaise Matuidis shot hit the post.Jese then sent Nantes keeper Remy Riou the wrong way to make it 2-0 in added time after Pastore was brought down inside the box.Hopefully its is a minor injury for Pastore, Emery said. We will know more when he has seen the doctor.It was PSGs sixth consecutive clean sheet at its home ground while Nantes slipped to a third defeat in a four-game winless streak. Discount Jerseys NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL T-shirts Cheap NFL Womens Jerseys Black China NFL Jerseys Disocunt Football Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Throwback Wholesale Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Womens Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys Discount NFL Jerseys Black China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Store Stitched Jerseys ' ' '