Posted on 11/12/2012 10:07:25 AM PST by massmike
Nearly 200 high school hockey teams in Pennsylvania have been advised to eliminate the national anthem because it takes too much time to perform and costs too much money.
We are recommending the national anthem not be played or sung or whatever it is, Ed Sam, commissioner of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League told Fox News. It has absolutely nothing to do with patriotism at all. Thats the furthest thing from the truth.
Schools were notified of the directive in an email from the PIHL. He said teams are only allotted a certain amount of time to play matches.
Sam also said it had to do with economics. He said ice time is quite expense and the national anthem eats into the clock.
(Excerpt) Read more at radio.foxnews.com ...
Why do we play the national Anthem at High School sports? Are these games in any way patriotic? No, we do them because this is an opportunity to teach our children how to show proper respect to our flag, and our nation - when in public. Under “normal” situations (basketball games, football games, track meets, etc) there is not a substantial cost associated with this activity. The school owns the property, and there is no immediate reservation set up following the event. Thus, in ‘normal’ situations - playing the national anthem is a good and honorable idea.
However, when the even it held at a private property, and there is a charge given to the school for each hour - playing the national anthem can take 5-10 minutes; and when you have 3-4 different tournaments being held at the same place, playing the national anthem at each event can take up a lot of time - thus costing the taxpayers more money.
Perhaps, instead of the schools declaring that the national anthem is too expensive, how about giving the parents a voice? Say, increase ticket prices by $0.50 to accommodate the cost of the time required to play the national anthem at these events. Call it a flag tax. Thus, the involved parents who feel that this lesson is a good idea- can pay a little bit more, rather than hitting every taxpayer. Again, under “normal” conditions (football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, track meets) - these activities are generally held on school grounds, where time is not as valuable as when held at a skating rink.
Why not keep the National Anthem and do away with the useless ritual of both teams skating past one another while pantomiming handshakes at the end of the game? That takes about as much ice time as the playing of the National Anthem.
Why not eliminate overtime and give one point for a tie...like they used to?
That’s right. Cut the national anthem to save money so they can keep three or four overpaid, benefits-for-life administrators on the payroll to push paper. While we’re at it, let’s get rid of the American Flag too. That should save even more money.
A two hour event can’t wait for an anthem that lasts about two minutes?? If the issue is live performances, then just play a recording of the anthem. High Schools and colleges do that for non-revenue games.
Yea, why waste time with all that outmoded stuff when you can just do a snappy “Heil Øboma!”
This Obama commie needs to go back to school. Our national Anthem is NOT "Deutschland Uber Alles", it is the Star-Spangled Banner and it HONORS the patriots who created and died to protect this great nation!!
How much did it cost(in blood alone), so these kids could play hockey? Sad, very sad.
"I'M LISTENIN' TO THE #$#@ING SONG!!!"
Five-ten minutes? Do they play all four verses?
FMCDH(BITS)
Someone please investigate who these clowns are. Willing to bet that they are affiliated with some America hating party, such as the Democrats.
Yep, that sure is a lot of money ya got there.
Play it between periods, lotsa dead time there. That way you do it twice!
1 minute to honor the Country is too much time in this day and age. Wow! I’m greiving on thei nside and boiling over on the outside.
They could save a lot by pink slipping Ed.
The anthem takes 5-10 minute of ice time? Not so.
The national anthem can be sung, respectfully, in a very short time. Joe Duerr, who used to sing the anthem for the New York Islanders, used to practice the anthem over and over until he could sing it in a minute without sounding rushed.
For the next 4 years, why not?
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