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o...NO CANADA again!


NoHoJoe

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What really should happen is the stopping of singing of anthems before every god damned game. Jesus, what a waste of time.

you know, Bill Plaschke had a good point on Around The Horn last week. Yeah, I know, I was shocked too.

his point is this: sports is the only arena where one regularly hears the national anthem in America. While I'm not an uber-patriot, taking a glance up at the flag and remembering the star-spangled banner, all as one small little prayer to be thankful that I'm in the United States, that I have my way of life, freedoms, and that there are people protecting me and those rights, both here and abroad (whether in military uniform, police wear, fireman's gear, weary journalists pouring through stacks of research, lawyers bringing just cases to trial, teachers doing the best work possible, doctors keeping us healthy)...yeah, I think I can take the minute and a half to remember that before a sporting event.

and I don't even mind "O Canada" either.

I get it. But it's still pointless. It becomes rote after awhile. Would you stand and say the pledge of allegiance before a game? Why not? Saying the words of the anthem to music no more guarantees anything that was mentioned than not saying them. Do you really need a song to be a reminder of those things? If one does need a song to be a reminder of those things, perhaps he should sing the anthem when he wakes up as opposed to waiting until he has a ticket to a sporting event. Because if it really means something, you should be hearing it every day.

I guess what it all boils down to, at least for me, is that people do things because they don't like to upset the status quo. Anthems have always been sung therefore they will continue to be sung. And really, that's silly.

The thing that bothers me (having lived in Australia for five months and attending many, many sporting events there) is how this seems to be a uniquely North American thing (plus maybe ultra-nationalists, like the Nazis, I don't know...). In most countries the only time a national anthem is sung before a sporting event is if the match is either a championship game or is between national teams. In this context, the anthems are very appropriate, and I would say necessary. But a regular-season game between professional clubs has no national pride involved, and the trappings of State are at best frivolous there. It's just one of those short term Support the Troops things (in this case from World War I) that has become ingrained, and nobody wants to be the first to skip it, for fear of looking unpatriotic.

All that having been said, both the Star Spangled Banner and O Canada should be played before the All-Star Game, and perhaps the World Series and Opening Day. Maybe the litmus test should be: would it be appropriate for the President/Prime Minister/Governor General to throw out the first pitch before the game or present a trophy afterward? If so, a national anthem would also be appropriate.

On a side note, is there a tradition of throwing out first pitches on Opening Day in Canada? If so, is it the Prime Minister (as Head of Government) who does it, or is it the Governor General (as Head of State, though I suppose the Queen could do it if she wanted...)?

The anthem is so ingrained in our sports psyche, that as i child i thought the last words of the Star Spangled Banner were "Play Ball!"

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Quick note on the national anthem and baseball. The tradition of playing the Star Spangled banner at baseball games started during the 1918 World Series. A band performed it before one of the games and it caused such a buzz that it was repeated at every game of the Series after that. Thirteen years before it was officially declared the national anthem.

1997 | 2003

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