Posted on 09/28/2017 8:37:08 AM PDT by Kaslin
THEY DON'T sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" when the president delivers his State of the Union message, or when Congress convenes, or when Supreme Court justices assemble for oral arguments. The national anthem isn't played at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree or the awarding of the Pulitzer Prizes. It isn't sung at the opening of Broadway plays, or when the first voters show up on Election Day. Worship services in church don't include the national anthem. Neither do movies or Black Friday sales.
So what is it doing at sporting events?
President Trump ignited a firestorm over the weekend when he lashed out at football players who have been kneeling during the national anthem to protest police violence. At a rally in Alabama, Trump goaded NFL team owners to fire any "son of a bitch" who "disrespects our flag," and urged fans to retaliate against the anthem protests: "Leave the stadium. . . . Just pick up and leave." In the ensuing backlash, many more players took a knee or linked arms in solidarity, team owners expressed support for the players, the topic dominated news coverage, and the nation's rancorous public discourse grew even shriller.
But none of this would be happening if no one performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before football games.
The roots of the ritual go back to World War I, when Major League Baseball encouraged patriotic displays at its games — military drills, for example, and the singing of patriotic songs. During Game 1 of the 1918 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs, as the Chicago crowd was taking its seventh-inning stretch, the band started playing "The Star-Spangled Banner." The reaction in the stands, the New York Times reported in its account of the game, was electric:
"The yawn was checked and heads were bared as the ball players turned quickly about and faced the music. . . . First the song was taken up by a few, then others joined, and when the final notes came, a great volume of melody rolled across the field. . . . [T]he onlookers exploded into thunderous applause and rent the air with a cheer that marked the highest point of the day's enthusiasm."
When the Series moved to Boston, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee hired a band to play the "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Games 4, 5, and 6. It soon became a regular feature of special games, such as those played on Opening Day or the Fourth of July. With the outbreak of World War II, the national anthem started being played before every game, football as well as baseball. Japan's surrender in August 1945 ended the war, but NFL Commissioner Elmer Layden decreedthat the music would continue: "The National Anthem," he announced, "should be as much a part of every game as the kick-off."
Thus was a gesture of spontaneous, heartfelt patriotism transformed into today's enforced display of national loyalty, ripe for exploiting by players or politicians with a disruptive political agenda. Playing the national anthem before every team sport, track meet, and auto race hasn't deepened American unity and love of country. It has tarnished it.
Occasionally, it is true, the performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at an athletic event becomes a genuinely uplifting experience. One unforgettable instance was the emotional renditionbefore the Bruins game at TD Garden after the Marathon bombing in 2013. Another was Whitney Houston's mesmerizing version at the 1991 Super Bowl soon after the start of the Gulf War.
But as a rule, the national anthem before games has no impact at all. Countless fans ignore it or use it as a bathroom break. When the anthem does leave an impression, it is usually because of something negative: a botched performance, an administrative blunder, a divisive protest.
"The Star-Spangled Banner" deserves better. A compelled show of patriotism no more belongs at a ballpark than it does at a restaurant. Reverence for the flag and love of country are admirable. Treating the national anthem as merely a prelude to sports is anything but.
So when does the author think is the right time to play the anthem?
What happens now that the snowflakes in college do not like the 1st Amendment? It is causing controversy. Get rid of it?
Dude is an idiot. National anthem is the only thing that makes sport worth watching. All together, politics at the door, everybody striving at the top of their abilities, the win going to the team that plays the best together.
There is a lot of self-unmasking going on nowadays.
Guarantee if they stopped playing the Anthem, the fans in the stands will start singing it.
Like blaming a rape victim for wearing a tight dress.
First they came and removed the Bible from the schools.
Then they came and removed the Ten Commandments.
Next they came and began removing statues.
Now they can’t even stand and salute Our Patriotism and want to remove our National Anthem?
What! Who is they? They are the ones who need to be removed.
I remember in the days after 9-11, a psychiatrist on the morning radio...for some reason I remember his name - Dr. Will Miller. He was opposed to cancelling the NFL games for more than one weekend...said we needed to do just as you describe - experience the ritual of the games together to regain a sense of normalcy. On 9-12, I never thought we’d end up debating whether or not to sing the national anthem.
BEING SUNG.
Give up no more ground to the left. NO MORE GROUND.
WTH? What kind of a commy ingrate suggests that love of country and patriotism is the reason that "American unity and love of country" has been tarnished?
Somebody check that A$$hat for a concussion.
It is more than obvious, by the anti-Americanism of those imbeciles taking a knee, that we need more displays and encouragement of patriotism not less.
We should implement speeches on “assimilation” and “Principles of Free Government” in the ceremonies at the games.
We MUST appeal to the common principles and mutual understandings that transcend our differences and bind us together as one people. It is painfully apparent it is not happening in our Marxist public schools.
I love it! Let's add God Bless America to that.
If you ever get a chance to go the Indy 500, I recommend you do not miss the live Pre-Race, Memorial Day, ceremonies. All the way up to the dropping of the green flag, it is a VERY patriotic show. I recommend sitting high in Turn #1. ;o)
Right on, my man...giving in is always good.../s
FTA: “”The Star-Spangled Banner” deserves better. A compelled show of patriotism no more belongs at a ballpark than it does at a restaurant. Reverence for the flag and love of country are admirable. Treating the national anthem as merely a prelude to sports is anything but.”
As happens entirely too often these days, it’s clear Mr. Jacoby never served in the US Military where you stand at attention for the National Anthem before every movie shown in the PX theater. I will agree that the anthem deserves better than to be played for a collection of overpaid, overindulged ingrates who should simply be banished to the locker-room until their services are required for our entertainment.
If they remove the flag and anthem, they’ll just find something else to use to make a spectacle of themselves.
psst....Jeff...Congress convenes with a prayer....oh, and so does the Supreme Court.
The NFL has contempt for me and my values.
And I really wish they didn’t, because changing my consumer habits to boycott everything NFL-connected takes time and energy.
For example, getting rid of USAA insurance (USAA has said they will make zero change to their tight relationship with the NFL) requires research into other insurance offerings. Will also need to move (but not sell) some stocks I own through their brokerage.
But it has to be done.
The national anthems of all nations have been played before sporting matches all over the world for at least several decades. The US is no different. If we dropped the anthem before our sporting events, which would give in to the other side, then we would be the only major country who would not be playing our anthem.
Can you imagine the Olympics not playing the Anthem at the Gold Medal ceremony?
Do countries that play professional soccer sing their anthem before a match?
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