The Islamic call to prayer in Arabic, in the evening, is the prettiest sound on Earth.
Reminds me of a story I once heard about a couple of hundred people on an international flight whose plane was stranded on the tarmac during a long delay. To pass the time the passengers, who comprised a number of different nationalities, took turns singing their respective national anthems. When the Americans’ turn came around, they sang “the Ballad of Gilligan’s Island.”
This is part and parcel a result of what goes on in our schools. People of a certain age know the words to the Star Spangled Banner, younger people don’t. It is not written in swahili. There is no reason people can’t be taught to sing that song, or at least mouth the words.
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I haven’t watched any of it so far.
Is there anything worth looking at?
And Shani Davis couldn’t bring himself to put his hand on his heart during our national anthem.
Well he is from Chicago.........
Since when are the athletes supposed to sing the National Anthem?
It’s an octave an four. What do you expect in a country where band and choir are totally optional and classical music training is ridiculed. For me, a classically trained singer, the song goes through four registers and it splits between chest and head registers. We don’t teach kids how to sing through this anymore. The phrasing of the Star Spangled Banner isn’t the easiest, either. Not knowing all the words - now that’s pathetic.
Maybe writer has a point, but maybe not. If he contends that younger Americans don’t know the words, he has a point (if that is a fact). If he’s complaining because they don’t sing the anthem, he doesn’t have a point. I recall few gold medal winners who actually sang along during a medal presentation. Most don’t, and didn’t in the past. - Most people don’t sing anything in public unless somehow required to do so.
I turned to her in astonishment, she said she was helping her Chinese next door neighbor practice her cultural school homework.
Having not watched the games at all, I thought Shaun White was a girl, “What’s a girl doing getting a medal with guys?”
I used to stand at attention or in military formation all the time for the National Anthem. I was never expected to sing it.
I can sing it, so that’s a different issue.
However, singing it when it’s being played has never been a requirement anyplace I’ve been.
I have seen many, many fine American athletes—as I am sure many on this thread have—standing at attention with quiet dignity, with tears rolling down their faces (the telephoto lenses obviously dismiss privacy) at this time.
Knowing who some of these athletes are, I know they are patriots indeed—
When you have winners on that platform who are clowning or fidgeting at the time a national anthem is played—whatever the nation—then that is bad and usually disgusting behavior.
The Islamic call to prayer in Arabic, in the evening, is the prettiest sound on Earth.
Some actually DID cover their hearts, some actually kept their eyes on the Grand Old Flag during the playing, some actually kept a respectful countenance and some DID try not to look completely bored with the whole minute or so extracted from their busy lives.
It's NOT a generational thing......their instructors, coaches and parents should have (and may have) educated them long, long ago on Anthem protocol and good manners. These athletes have been on podiums before.....and not ALL of them are teen-age yutes.
Leni
When we go to an athletic event and the band plays the Star Spangled Banner, I sing. Yes, really. And next time, I will sing even louder. It is a sad day when people who live in the greatest country on earth cannot even open their mouths to sing in celebration.
Let’s reestablish the tradition!
How many are brainwashed by schools/media to haate their own country?
Much ado about nothing. Been watching, and most of these kids show proper respect, even if they aren’t sure of all the words. Plus, as others have pointed out, the school systems do a rot, rot, rotten job of teaching patriotic stuff these days.
Beats the heck out of all the NASCAR drivers and NFL players who stand there without even putting their hand over their heart when the anthem is sung.
Who cares whether they sing it or not? I know that if I won a Gold medal, I would be crying on the podium if I attempted to sing it. I tear up in my living room during the anthem of dumb ol’ baseball and football games.
Borders, language, culture. . . and products of two generations of communist infiltration of everything, especially our schools. .
Well, they probably don’t teach it in school any more, and when it is sung in public the so-called singers jazz it up so much it is unrecognizable.
