Posted on 05/15/2019 7:38:40 PM PDT by untenured
Charles Glenn feels it in his joints as he walks through the concrete concourses of Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The staircases make his hips ache in ways they hadn't until a few years ago. But when he steps out in front of more than 18,000 fans at St. Louis Blues home games, those agonies fade to the shadows, displaced by the task at hand.
"You're the person who sets the energy. You're setting the mood and the atmosphere for what's about to happen," said Glenn, 64, who has been singing the national anthems at Blues games for 19 years.
His rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" is soulful. It has moments when Glenn hits a note with such bluster that it threatens to blow the doors off their hinges. When he reaches the word "free" near the end, he stretches it out as the fans roar, giving the song the zenith it demands before the home crowd adds its own twist.
"The players get excited, the fans get excited," Glenn said. "And know you've done your job if you can feel that energy, hear that 'home of the BLUUUUUUUUES' at the end."
When the energy subsides, Glenn feels those aches again. It has been seven years, going on eight, since Glenn was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects the central nervous system by disrupting the connection between the brain and the rest of the body.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
Thank you, well worth the time.
Great to hear him on hnic just before a sharks ot victory.
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