OUR FANHOUSE TOOLBAR INTEGRATES THE LATEST SPORTS NEWS INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER AND INSTALLS IN SECONDS.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE TOOLBAR HERE.

Back Porch

Please, No More National Anthem

Posted Jul 04, 2009 10:00AM By Terence Moore (RSS feed)

Text SizeAAA
We're in the Jeffersonian spirit of July, fireworks and the founding of our country, but something needs to be said: The playing of our National Anthem before every sporting event has gotten out of control.

If nothing else, the practice has gotten old. And get this: There isn't anything in the United States Constitution declaring that we must do such a thing. Neither is it ordered by a higher power than even Roger Goodell, Bud Selig, David Stern and Gary Bettman. Nor is it mandated in the bylaws of any pro sports league.

The Star Spangled Banner is sung prior to games out of tradition, with no regard as to whether it makes sense or not.

It doesn't.

So here's an idea: Let's stop doing it.

There is a better alternative called God Bless America, which has a timeless message about the glory and essence of this nation, as opposed to the Star Spangled Banner, which was written about the obscure War of 1812. In other words, let's stop fooling ourselves. Actually, let's stop torturing ourselves before the first pitch, opening tip, kickoff or faceoff of games with a song whose words are only known by 67 percent of Americans, according to a Harris Poll last year.

Let's also stop providing a platform for a whole bunch of folks to embarrass themselves more often than not. When picked to sing the Star Spangled Banner, many are so overwhelmed by their thousands of listeners (or millions if we're talking about national television) that they drag it out. Others jazz it up to the extreme. Some are just bad, ranging from Carl Lewis, who made eardrums explode on "rockets red glare," to whatever Roseanne Barr was trying to do.



Once, I was at an exhibition game in Scottsdale, Ariz., home of the San Francisco Giants, and a woman got through "Oh say can you see," and then she stumbled over the next few words, and then she began to giggle.

She didn't finish the song. I'm sure you wanted others to do the same, especially when you came to see a Kobe, a T.O. or an A-Rod instead of somebody trying to catch the eye of a Randy, a Paula or a Simon.

Now don't get me wrong. You can't get more red, white and blue than the Star Spangled Banner -- as awkward as it may be as a musical piece (it is sung to the tune of an old British drinking number). Even so, it works for parades on Memorial, Independence and Labor days, along with the swearing in of politicians and other such things. But for sporting events? Not so much. Not when there is a viable alternative that the Philadelphia Flyers discovered decades ago.

Before key home games in the early and mid-1970s, the Flyers replaced the Star Spangled Banner with God Bless America. The response was huge, on the ice for the Flyers -- who usually won during such occasions -- and in the stands from the spectators who discovered the truth about the song.

It's easier to sing. It's also snappier. Even Carl Lewis can hit all of its notes, and the likelihood of a giggler blowing the words is slim.

The Flyers went a step further. They often had the late Kate Smith sing God Bless America, and she was the song's eternal master. In fact, the Flyers played a video of Smith belting it out before a couple of their playoff games this season.

Those among the enlightened in sports have played video of Ray Charles singing his incomparable rendition of America The Beautiful, because that's another song that flows better than the Star Spangled Banner. It's just that America The Beautiful is too long when done correctly. My Country Tis Of Three also works, but it has the same melody as Britain's God Save The Queen, which brings us back to God Bless America, which is purely our song and an inspirational one.

Since 911, several baseball teams play God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch. Most notably, the Yankees use their Kate Smith and Ray Charles in Irish tenor Dr. Ronan Tynan, whose a capella version stirs the soul.

To be fair, the Star Spangled Banner has triggered similar emotions, even at sporting events, and Marvin Gaye's rhythm-and-blues classic before the 1983 NBA All-Star game leads the way. As for a close second, the National Anthem by Whitney Houston was so spectacular prior to the 1991 Super Bowl that it became a best-selling single.

That's about it, though. For every one who praised Jose Feliciano for doing the unprecedented by playing the National Anthem on his guitar with a strikingly deliberate and mournful style before a 1968 World Series game, there were hundreds who thought he unleashed a monster for posterity.

Feliciano actually did, but God Bless America can slay the beast. After all, there aren't many ways for Irving Berlin's brilliant song to have a brutal delivery -- at least compared to the Star Spangled Banner, which regularly spends games becoming the Star Mangled Banner, which is why it has to go.

Related Articles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

| 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments
WHAT IS
BACK PORCH?
The easy answer:
Back Porch exists because FanHouse doesn't have a basement for its bloggers. The bigger picture? BP covers sports news that's funny, off-beat and controversial. In short, it's the other side of sports, covered with an edge. Enjoy.