No contribution towards resolving the question, but this may be my one chance to fess up that when I first heard that tune, lo those many years ago, my ears Mondegreened that line into “That’s when the spokesmen spoke” which of course left me utterly baffled for a couple of months.
Hah, when the only name you can drop is John Mellencamp (who most people still think is called “John Cougar Mellencamp”) you’re not some kind of big shot or anything, just a resident of Bloomington, IN. He’s a part of the “local color” here - his yellow Viper can be seen driving around during the summer and he shows up at restaurants and stuff with his wife and kids a lot. His sons are named “Hud” and “Speck.”
Oh My Og!!!
That’s terrific, I hope he lets you know or signs in here instead (even better).
I kid about his earlier name, but have great respect for his efforts on behalf of Farm-Aid, and loved Scarecrow!
You know?
This whole thread put me in thought about that old saw: “A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke”.
I don’t think the guy who said that “got any” that night, do y’all?
Not unless his SO smoked cigars, I mean!
Oh, and PS:“There’s a bathroom on the right!”, JRD 
(Mis-heard Creedence lyric)
Quasi
“A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke” – R. Kipling.
(And no, I never kippled.)
Hey, lissener, I’d like to invite you to hear me sing along to karaoke music sometime. I have 17 John Mellencamp karaoke tracks, yes, including “Cherry Bomb.”
Cochrane?
Got anything on YouTube?
Just sayin’ that if you’ve got THAT much Mellencamp, then you must be awesome doing’ the K thang!
Bill
No, Q, I don’t have a video camera, so haven’t bothered with the YouTube thing. I’ve tried making some audio recordings of myself, but I’m my own harshest critic. I just sing for my own entertainment, and because I think singing helps keep my mind sharp. I live alone except for two dogs, and they’re either tone deaf or gracious enough not to howl when I sing. Besides, “Cherry Bomb” isn’t the one I sound best on, although I don’t think I sound half bad singing “Check It Out” or “Our Country.”
Besides, I wanted to needle lissener about his “poseur” crack. Anyone who knows the slightest thing about Mellencamp knows how much he hated the “Cougar” monicker and how much he rebelled against his first manager’s trying to package him into another David Bowie.
Not a bad theory, but none of those extreme sports even really existed in 1987.
This is all very interesting, as I never knew there was any controversy about the lyrics to this song. I just always assumed it was smoke.
Until this thread, I had no idea anyone thought it was smoke. Even though he pronounces sport with (this is my non-linguist guess) a glottal t at the end, there’s a definate ‘sp’ at the beginning.
FTR, I always thought it was “smoke.” If anyone’s counting votes…
Count me as another who would not have believed it was anything other than “smoke”( especially not sport) if I hadn’t just seen it with my own eyes on that video. Also, Mr. Mellencamp must have graduated from the Rick Astley school of dance.
This is seriously shaking the foundations of my reality construct. Damn.
And as has been said, that line was the best lyric in the song. It could be interpreted several ways and they were all interesting.
I wouldn’t describe Mellencamp as a waste of carbon. He’s probably more famous than his talent warrants, but seems like a decent guy.
(When the Walls Come) Tumbling Down,
Cherry Bomb,
and the big breakthrough (although bigger for Pat Benatar)…
I Need a Lover Who Won’t Drive Me Crazy.
I’ll listen to those anytime they’re played on the radio.
Oh, and the interpretation involving Smokey Robinson was interesting to read, even if it didn’t hold up… unlike “sport” which holds up but isn’t interesting.
I can see “that’s when a sport was a sport”. A lot of other people have complained about the commercialization of modern professional sports and are nostalgic for what they believe were the purer sports of their youth when athletes played “for the love of the game”.
What’s going on here? No one rewords the bible to say what they want it to say. The line is, as quoted on the original album. God and JC and the rest of you can change the lyric when you are in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.
For the record, I still believe it’s “sport,” but I now agree with Chefguy’s explanation in post #25.
I got a reply from one of John’s acquaintances via his website:
I might just do that. In the mean time I’m going to reply to Tony with a couple-o-questions.
Mellencamp is easily one of the most confusing singers in mainstream pop music. Half of the words in Key West Intermezzo are unintelligible; I Fight Authority is also extremely difficult to understand. I don’t think this is a bad thing; it’s just his style and his accent.
It was nice of him to respond. Please pass along our thanks.
I have to say that I felt the exact same way back in 1987, but the staying power of the tracks and especially the ditty 'bout Jack and Diane have made me come around. Other artists I have learned to appreciate since my teens include Elvis and Frank Sinatra. Fuck me was I smrt in high school!
I thought it was a “spoke was a spoke,” but I have no idea what that could possibly mean. Ignorance fought.