Closed captioning is a useful and vital facet of the sports broadcast experience.
The transcription service helps the hearing-impaired (and, in many cases, the booze-impaired) who watch games at bars pumping music through speakers in lieu of the broadcast audio.
Of course, it’s not a perfect system, and occasionally the software tasked with deciphering and relaying the sportscasters’ words botches a phrase here and there.
Most of these miscues can be ignored, except in the cases where closed captioning unwittingly gives a player one of the greatest nicknames in modern sports.
Enter Nik Stauskas, who walked onto the court Wednesday night as a struggling rookie and left it as “Sauce Castillo”—Sacramento sidekick and bench-riding bandolero of the Western Conference.
Andrew Unterberger saw the words "Sauce Castillo" pop up after sportscasters gave the call on a made Stauksas triple in the second quarter.
Andrew Unterberger @AUgetoffmygoldMy closed captioning just referred to Nik Stauskas as "Sauce Castillo" and I will never be able to not call him this again
Shera Starr Oliveria @starr_rakhSauce Castillo? Sounds like the anti-hero of Robert Rodriguez or Tarantino film! Teatro de Los Reyes! @NStauskas11
Clearly, this is one of the best nicknames any ballplayer, salsa brand or quick-drawing pony thief could ever hope for.
Update from Thursday, April 2nd
The Kings have announced that their game versus the Utah Jazz on April 5 will be "Sauce Castillo" night!
All fans in attendance will receive a special "Sauce Castillo" giveaway, and there will also be shirts on sale at the team store.
--End of Update--
The fans quickly began churning out spectacular memes in honor of Sauce:
the good, the brad, and the ugly @therealbradg#SauceCastillo
Jenman Fong @Jenman27.@NStauskas11 I already have a vision when the Kings return home on Friday, April 3rd vs the Pelicans. #SauceCastillo
courtney oates @_monkeybrains@CarmichaelDave Even the Tracy Bear got in on the #SauceCastillo action.
Just Joshin’ @youjoshinme13#SauceCastillo
the good, the brad, and the ugly @therealbradg#SauceCastillo @NStauskas11
We've since given him his own trading card:
The Sacramento Kings' Twitter account even got into the act, uploading a Vine of “Sauce Castillo” putting the Phoenix Suns in the six-shooter spin-dry en route to a 13-point performance.
Sacramen2 Kings @SacramentoKingsSauce Castillo spins and wins! 👌👌
Sacramento Kings president and CEO Chris Granger says “Sauce Castillo” merchandise is in the works.
Chris Granger @chrisgranger313#SauceCastillo merchandise??? Um....definitely. #SacramentoProud
I, for one, hope all the proceeds go to true men who don't kill coyotes.
It’s difficult to overstate how fine this nickname is. It rolls off the tongue like a whispered, Spaghetti Western threat. If you listen close enough, you can almost hear a rattlesnake quiver in its wake—Sauce…Castillo.
Stauskas seems to find the name hilarious—which it most certainly is.
Nik Stauskas @NStauskas11Wait what does "Sauce Castillo" mean? Since when was that my nickname lol!! 😂😂
Wipe “Nik Stauskas” from your memories, people. Nik Stauskas is dead. All that is left is Sauce—breaker of hearts, brigand of the bench and the most wanted desperado this side of Texarkana.
