National Anthem?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Another national-anthem flub has us asking: Why do we play them before sporting events?



https://theathletic.com/5133125/2023/12/15/national-anthems-sporting-events-hockey-o-canada/https://theathletic.com/5133125/2023/12/15/national-anthems-sporting-events-hockey-o-canada/





Didn't read the article and have no idea what the hell happened during the incident that underlies this story.



But I can relate to the headline like a zillion percent. Mandatory singings of the National Anthem at every fucking sporting event? It's even dumber than in-season Tournaments (Tournaments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) What a stupid fucking waste of my time. And I have to stand up, too. Just so the rube redneck hayseeds can brag about how much more patriotic they are than everybody else even though they probably couldn't tell you what a single constitutional amendment is or means.

[whippoorwill]

Are you still yapping about tournaments?

Lol

[cal sharpie]

Totally agree about the National Anthem. Article makes a good point that if it happens only before important games (the World Series, etc) it is meaningful but becomes meaningless when played before every game.



At least we don't have to sit (stand) for God Bless America every game anymore.

[Frayed Knot]

cal sharpie wrote: At least we don't have to sit (stand) for God Bless America every game anymore.

Unless you go to games in the Bronx.

[cal sharpie]

I said "we."

[kcmets]

It's a dumb song, should be replaced with something better. This comes up

every three years or so since we were posting on MOFO and Ambler used

to get everyone all riled up with his amblerness...



I'd be fine if it's only used:



Opening Day

Memorial Day

Joey Ramone's Birthday

Mother's Day

Fourth of July

All-Star Game

Labor Day

League Championships

World Series



Hey, stunad...



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Edited December 15, 2023 by Guest

[metirish]

It's nonsense and even worse at NHL games because you have to listen to both of them

[Benjamin Grimm]

That was nice. Seeing a packed Shea Stadium, from an area of the stadium where I might very well have been sitting in those later years.

[Bob Alpacadaca]

I like the anthem. I go to a lot of games at the Major League and Minor League levels and it's always nice to see who is singing and how they are singing it. Occasionally someone flubs it. That's OK. I also don't get offended if someone wants to sit and listen. That's their call.



And, yes, "America, the Beautiful" is a better song, at least the first verse.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Especially the way Ray Charles sang it.

[Bob Alpacadaca]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Especially the way Ray Charles sang it.

Stirring.



[media=youtube]TRUjr8EVgBg?feature=shared[/media]

[batmagadanleadoff]

Oh, great. We should have to endure national anthems at every fucking game because some people sing it nicely. By that logic, let's have In-a-Gadda-da-Vida and Free Bird sung before every baseball game, too.



Save it for Rosalynn Carter's funeral.

[metsmarathon]

we'll only play 'em at the tournaments.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Let's have an in-season tournament to see who sings the national anthem the best. The team that hosts the winner gets to wear commemorative tournament patches.

[Edgy MD]

Fun irony is that the Union and the Confederacy initially had debate over who really should have ownership of the song during the Civil War. As the song is set during a battle in Maryland, a border state, historical dibs were unclear but the North's claim on the song held.



But deeper irony came from the reality that the South's anthem, "Dixie," was written Daniel Decatur Emmett, by an anti-slavery Northerner. "The Star-Spangled Banner," was written by slave-owning Southerner Francis Scott Key, whose Civil War-era family supported the Confederacy.



In the end, it's culture warring, and not worth the energy. Stand if you want to stand. Sit if you want to sit. Kneel if you want to kneel. If you own your own team or venue, you can decide whether or not to play it at all. Culture spreads by living it.

[ashie62]

I'd prefer to hear Fman sing and play Squeeze Box before the game

[stevejrogers]

=ashie62 post_id=143030 time=1702727972 user_id=90]
I'd prefer to hear Fman sing and play Squeeze Box before the game

[kcmets]

=ashie62 post_id=143030 time=1702727972 user_id=90]I'd prefer to hear Fman sing and play Squeeze Box before the game

[Lefty Specialist]

Well, forget about getting rid of the anthem- it'll never happen. It's too ingrained.



I just think it should be played by the organist (or tape of the organist) and let the fans sing if they want to. You don't need a different minor celebrity/amateur opera singer/local barbershop quartet to sing it every game, which is where the bloopers come in.



I also think military flyovers of sporting events should be banned, but that's just me.

[stevejrogers]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Well, forget about getting rid of the anthem- it'll never happen. It's too ingrained. I just think it should be played by the organist (or tape of the organist) and let the fans sing if they want to. You don't need a different minor celebrity/amateur opera singer/local barbershop quartet to sing it every game, which is where the bloopers come in. I also think military flyovers of sporting events should be banned, but that's just me.

I know the MFY are hated for their traditions, but they do have it right with frequently trotting out a recording and a video montage of MFY Fan Robert Merrill for anthem performing duties.

[Benjamin Grimm]

To me, the National Anthem is a song about baseball. The lyrics don't make any sense anyway, so it can easily be interpreted as a baseball song, especially since the last two words are "play ball" so I have no objection to it being played before the start of a game. And having different people get a chance to sing it, especially when they're local unknowns or groups of kids is nice. It's unfortunate that it's been politicized, but that's the world we live in. If we got rid of everything that was exploited for politics we'd have very little left.

[Edgy MD]

I know the MFY are hated for their traditions, but they do have it right with frequently trotting out a recording and a video montage of MFY Fan Robert Merrill for anthem performing duties.

I don't know if that's right or wrong. It's probably neither.



There's a perfectly legitimate argument that the idea, such as it is, is not for the anthem to be "performed" at all, but for it to be sung by assembly. To the extent that a person is introduced to present the song, their role is not meant to be as a performer, but as a leader for the assembly to follow, as they choose.



To the extent that they just cue up a zombie recording, I guess you can say that he's "leading" more than performing, but it's certainly phoned-in leadership. But maybe it's very phoned-in-ish-ness is what makes it right for you. How can it be much of a performance when it's the same old same old, nacht after nacht?

[Fman99]

=ashie62 post_id=143030 time=1702727972 user_id=90]
I'd prefer to hear Fman sing and play Squeeze Box before the game

[Bob Alpacadaca]

Lefty Specialist wrote: Well, forget about getting rid of the anthem- it'll never happen. It's too ingrained. I just think it should be played by the organist (or tape of the organist) and let the fans sing if they want to. You don't need a different minor celebrity/amateur opera singer/local barbershop quartet to sing it every game, which is where the bloopers come in.

Not sure I understand this one. You don't need to have people singing it, but I think it brings a nice element to the experience. I'd rather have the Hawthorn Elementary kids choir out there having a glorious moment on the field performing at a Major League Baseball game than some recording. That whole experience is something the kids will always remember. Will some live performer flub the lyrics once in a while? Sure. Is that a big deal? Nope. I like things that engage the community and build fandom.



Baseball celebrates tradition. We like it when players where stirrup socks even though they stopped having problems with sock dyes causing blood poisoning about a century ago. But it's part of what we think a baseball uniform should look like, at least old-timers like me.



We don't need a lot of things at a baseball game. I don't need to buy a program and keep score. But I do, every time. Like the anthem, it is part of the overall experience of going to a game.



I realize your mileage will vary and I respect the opinions. I just like it.