On Football Patriotism and The National Anthem

[MineralMan]

Watching the Superbowl pre-game festivities last night, and hearing a couple of patriotic songs badly performed by professional entertainers again, I started wondering why we even engage in this ritual. I'm not sure I've ever understood it. Now, America The Beautiful is a lovely song, and expresses pride in our country, without glorifying war. The National Anthem, on the other hand is a warlike sort of anthem, and always has seemed a bit out of place to me.

I used to sing semi-professionally, and have performed the anthem a few dozen times at gatherings. My rendition was always simple, plain, and without any over-singing and superfluous embellishments. It's a decent tune, but a little tough for people with a short vocal range. The words are somewhat hard to understand, written as they are in a poetic style of long ago. Few people, I suspect, really understand them. They're not hard to memorize, however, and I can't find any excuse for a professional singer failing to sing them without error.

But, I digress. The other night, I had a Minnesota Wild hockey game on at bedtime. They were playing in Canada, so both our anthem and the Canadian anthem were performed before the game. A gentleman with an obviously well-trained voice sang both. Both were sung in a straightforward manner, and sounded as they were written to sound. But, again, I was struck by the contrast between the Canadian anthem, which is non-military in nature, only declaring that Canadians stand "on guard" for their nation. The US anthem, full of rockets and bombs, seemed a harsh contrast.

And yet, I'm still confused about the appropriateness of patriotic, nationalistic anthems being performed before sports events. Why do we relate sports to patriotism? Where's the connection? Hockey, basketball, and baseball often feature players who aren't US citizens. Football usually doesn't, of course. Why do we not sing the anthem of a Central American country to honor the many players on our baseball teams who hail from those places?

Team sports are an analog for warfare, of course, but when both teams are from the same country, who's at war? Why a national anthem? I feel the same way about prayers at public competitions. Is whatever deity that is being addressed supposed to favor one team? It's a little confusing to me. Perhaps we could dispense with the patriotic and religious stuff altogether at these events. That seems reasonable enough to me.

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. Because people appear to need ritual.

Sports are one of the main rituals in this country, and it seems appropriate/unsurprising that the ritual would begin with a tip of the hat to what we have in common.

:shrug:

[MineralMan]

3. Perhaps the team song for both teams would be a better

choice for that ritual. At least they are related to the event. Certainly, they'd stir up the fans in attendance.


Packers Fight Song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FdHWleKJwU&feature=related

Steelers Orginal Fight Song - http://www.philadelphia-eagles.net/fightsongs/afc-steelers.html
Steelers Polka Fight Song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naaU8YHvoGc

[jaxx]

2. Mom, baseball and apple pie.

What could be more patriotic? Tradition is a funny thing, it sticks.

[niyad]

4. I don't watch any sporting events--but, like you, wonder what the national anthem has to do with

anything. being the cynic that I am, think about brainwashing.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

5. The national anthem really gets me jacked up...

I played NCAA college football (defensive line). Nothing pumps you up before a game like The Anthem.
I'm not even sure why. Maybe it was all the rockets and bombs 'n' stuff...
I just knew when the song ended it time to hit some people. :mad:

Perhaps it's a tranquil time where opponents can share some commonality before trying to tear each others' heads off. A little recognition that in the end, despite rivalries and competition, we are all part of the same team.

If nothing else, I say keep The Anthem for the sole purpose of pumping up before kickoff.
That, & some Papa Roach and Rage Against the Machine.

:patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[Fumesucker]

6. Sports is at least to some extent about training people to take sides for no real reason..

You support your school's sports team(s) (mostly football in most places) because it is your school.

Good training for later on when you can take your country's side for equally vacuous, if not nonexistent, reasons.

They Hate Us For Our Freedoms (tm) and all that..

[ejpoeta]

7. singing the national anthem is just a way to say we are number 1

just in case anyone forgot. and yes, god IS supposed to always favor the US. as far as in the states, whoever wins had god on their side i guess. I don't get it either. As for people singing the words wrong, I apparently didn't know them as well as I thought until my daughter corrected me. She asks me to sing it to her from time to time because she forgot the words. I am more concerned with the pledge of allegiance. She says it every time she sees a flag. I cringe at the 'under god' part. Like some kind of indoctrination or something. Even if we are in the wrong??? Is there a time when you get to stand up to the flag???

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. I was there for the game. Not the music.

The music is potty break, kitchen clean up time. Sorry, can't get worked up about this or even really care.

[JoePhilly]

9. If you didn't hear the National Anthem at sporting events, when else would you hear it?

I'm trying to think of other times that I hear it. Its actually pretty rare.

I suspect that your suggestion to "dispense" with these rituals would be met by the general public with scorn ... a new front on the "War against Christianity", and just another example of how the "Left hates America".

One thought on why it happens at all might be as a way to get the home team fans fired up from the very start. As you note, whatever the game being played ... there is an US and a THEM. Hey ... "us", is also US (USA). Big stadium, large sound system, might as well us it.

My favorite anthem like song is a good example. Years ago, the Philadelphia Flyers would occasionally have Kate Smith sing Gold Bless America before selected home games (first as a recording, then later live). Some (many in Philly) credit her for the Flyers winning the Stanley Cup in 1974.

Flyers record with Kate Singing: 87-23-4

http://www.flyershistory.com/cgi-bin/kate.cgi

[MineralMan]

10. I hear it at political events, where it's appropriate.

I hear it at National Holiday events, too. Independence Day, Veterans Day, and so on. I hear it at military events, on the rare occasion I attend one. I hear it at Presidential events. I hear it fairly frequently, really...enough to keep me more than familiar with it.

I'm sure you're right that dropping it at sporting events would raise a big outcry, and I doubt such a thing will ever happen. I'm just musing about it, really.

[JoePhilly]

26. I think my other point (also repeated by some others) is close ...

Its a way to excite the home team fans all at once.

[MineralMan]

27. I suppose so. I still find it troublesome.

I'm not saying it should be eliminated, really. I'm just expressing my doubts about it.

[Javaman]

11. When I was in high school, I ran track...

We never had the national anthem before a meet. I don't think it ever occurred to anyone to play it let alone sing it. This was this was the same for all the other teams with the exception of baseball and football.

Why was it expected at those sports? The only thing I could ever equate it to was money. All the other sports ever rarely lead to a sports "career" while baseball and football, could have that potential. (Granted the percentage of people actually making it to the professional level in either of those two sports is extremely rare, but I guess everyone who plays those sports in high school, thinks they have a shot at stardom. However, that is for another conversation).

So while I still stand for the national anthem at various sporting events, such as, Roller Derby, Cow Patty Bingo and the mud races at our local oval race track, I will never understand why.

[blondeatlast]

18. Good point. It's played before the boy's basketball games at the high school my son

will attend, but not the girls'.

Interesting.

[Javaman]

20. Selective use for the NA...

Baseball for boys makes money. Baseball for girls, sadly does not.

sort of a very very very subtle type of gender inequality.

[madinmaryland]

12. A little history on the playing of the national anthem at sporting events...

The song gained popularity over the course of the nineteenth century and was often played at public events like parades and Independence Day celebrations (and, on occasion, sporting events). In 1889, the Secretary of the Navy ordered it the official tune to be played during the raising of the flag. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered that it be played at all military ceremonies and other appropriate occasions, making it something of an unofficial national anthem.

After America’s entrance into World War I, Major League Baseball games often featured patriotic rituals, such as players marching in formation during pregame military drills and bands playing patriotic songs. During the seventh-inning stretch of game one of the 1918 World Series, the band erupted into “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The Cubs and Red Sox players faced the centerfield flag pole and stood at attention. The crowd, already on their feet, began to sing along and applauded at the end of the song.

Given the positive reaction, the band played the song during the next two games, and when the Series moved to Boston, the Red Sox owner brought in a band and had the song played before the start of each remaining contest. After the war (and after the song was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution in 1931), the song continued to be played, but only on special occasions like opening day, national holidays and World Series games.

During World War II, baseball games again became venues for large-scale displays of patriotism, and technological advances in public address systems allowed songs to be played without a band. “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played before games throughout the course of the war, and by the time the war was over, the pregame singing of the national anthem had become cemented as a baseball ritual, after which it spread to other sports.

..snip

Read more: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/16023

As you can see, the National Anthem has a long history of being played at various public events.

[lukasahero]

33. Never fails to amaze me how little facts matter here

You present here a detailed acct of how/why this came to pass. MilesColtrane further downthread notes the same. Neither post garnered comments (until mine).

Thank. I didn't know the facts and now I do.

Edited to correct spelling.

[madinmaryland]

34. It is interesting...

Though it only took me a couple of minutes to google and find this explanation.

I don't think it was the intention of the OP to discuss the complete history of the playing/singing of the NA, but rather is it even relevant at games. I think though, the history is required to understand why it is done today.

Thanks!

[Zax2me]

13. A lot of people have a problem with this.

I don't. To each his own.

As far as America The Beautiful, I agree.
But with lyrics like 'God shed his grace on thee', don't you think many are still going to bitch, whine and moan?
I know that line alone would get raked over the coals - and yes, right here in this forum.

[MineralMan]

14. I don't really care about the deity references.

I'm a strong atheist, but I recognize that the majority of people in this country express some belief in a deity. It doesn't harm me, so I pay no attention to it, really. I do say the Pledge of Allegiance, though, as I learned it in 1950 - without the "under God" phrase.

[blondeatlast]

19. Yet we have little problem glorifying was (or, more specifically, surviving war, which is

technically the idea behind the SSB).

[immoderate]

38. Agree with MineralMan above. Art gets a pass on religious symbols.

I love a good Ave Maria or Battle Hymn of the Republic, but I don't find them religious in a way different from The Flight of the Valkyries.

The pledge is a bizarre and, to my mind, unAmerican ritual. That students have to say it every day is unbrookable. If you didn't renounce your pledge or misrepresent yourself, why should you have to say it more than once?

Imagine if they had to recite their times tables every morning?:bounce:

--imm

[Democrats_win]

15. War crimals were also present at Super Blow--shows that MIGHT makes Right!

These war criminals should all be in jail. But hey, our national anthem is all about war. We have such good Karma. Vote Republican and add ten million people to those in poverty.

[Ron Green]

16. I recommended your thoughtful post, and it still comes up "0"

[MineralMan]

30. That doesn't matter, really. A lot of people tend to disagree with

me, whether they disagree with the ideas I'm writing or not. It's all part of the process at DU. The reality is that none of that rec/unrec stuff matters. It is the discussion that matters. If a thread is interesting, people post on it, and the more people post on it, the more read it. That's the true function of DU.

The only thing that rec/unrec influences is whether or not a thread gets on the Greatest Page. I suppose that's important to some, but not to me. I post when I have something I want to say. I post it, and people read it or not and comment on it or not. It's a discussion forum, after all, not a popularity contest.

[jp11]

17. I'd say we need to place some rituals on things

but about the content one was written as a patriotic song the other was based off a poem about the defense of a Fort then put to music and over time adopted as the anthem.

One could argue about how one country chose a less 'harsh' song and the other did but I can't speak to people's choices through time. I'd imagine it has something to do with America's history/founding compared to Canada's, not to make light of history but one had to fight for it and many battles over time the other basically got a letter.

[krabigirl]

21. It has always struck me as odd, but then again, I also don't like watching sporting events.

[MilesColtrane]

22. I believe the ritual of singing the national anthem before baseball games was established...

during WWII.

It wasn't without precedent before then, but that's when it really took hold and became a custom before every game.

I can see how it served the purpose of bolstering the collective national spirit during a war in which almost every citizen had a personal stake.

These days? Not so much.

The overkill of singing "America the Beautiful" during games in addition to the anthem came about after 9/11. (If only that post-9/11 overkill was just cultural. *sigh*)

[mcgup]

23. response

God Bless America only started to be sung at sporting events right after 9/11.

[JuniperLea]

24. I like the ritual...

But I believe "America the Beautiful" is a far better song, and I really don't care for the glorification of bombs, etc.

I think the tunes should be sung by local Girl and Boy Scouts... or school choirs. Paid professionals cheapen the entire deal... especially when as a paid professional they screw it up so terribly.

[blondeatlast]

28. That's a really grand idea--and the NFL/NBA/MLB etc. could pat themselves on the

back as "encouraging music study."

It's a pretty good bet that a choir of school kids will know the lyrics backwards and forwards!

[JuniperLea]

36. And they would deliver it as written...

Because when you actually study music, the first thing you're taught is to do it by the book.

Thanks, I think it's a great idea too!

But there's no money in it, so... like so many really, truly good ideas, it will go nowhere.

[MineralMan]

32. It depends on the professional, really. I've heard both songs done

extremely well by professional singers, who use the words and the music, as written, to make their impact. Then, there are the others, who attempt, always futilely to embellish their rendition and display their virtuosity, such as it may be, to render the songs in a style that doesn't suit them.

It's a trend I deplore, frankly.

[JuniperLea]

35. Gilding the Lily

I'm a huge old school R&B fan, which is where this trend began. That said, everything has its place... and I don't think these particular songs lend themselves to that kind of interpretation. The song should really be the "star" here.

I remember hearing the National Anthem at a Dodger game... sung by Eddie Money... it was about as bad as it gets, and he didn't even add any embellishment!

[Xenotime]

25. The national anthem is the reason americia will always be at war..

Anytime you have a song celebrating bombs, war, rockets, etc. it will just incite people to violence.

[NYC Liberal]

29. The anthem actually doesn't glorify war

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

It's saying that the rockets and bombs are lighting up the night sky and "giving proof" that the flag is still flying in the midst of the battle.

"Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light/What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?" - Is the flag they hailed as it got dark at twilight still waving in the morning after the battle?

Of course, there is that line in the never-sung fourth verse: Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just ....

[MineralMan]

31. Yes, that's certainly one way to look at it.

However, it romanticizes warfare, and that's something I'd like to see stop. Wars are sometimes necessary, as was our Revolutionary war. But, it's not romantic. It's not glorious. It's not anything like that. People die, sometimes horribly, in wars, and the romanticizing of warfare is, in my opinion, a very, very negative thing. People will fight, if there is a reason. They will gladly risk their lives for some principle. It is still an ugly business and never romantic.

[tanyev]

37. Because attending or watching sports events is your patriotic duty!

Now stop asking questions. (Also a patriotic duty.)

[mmonk]

39. The anthem never bothered me but since 9/11/2001, ballgames

have turned into Nuremberg rallies. I go to sporting events to forget my cares (and that includes politics, particularly these days). I don't like going any more except to hockey games. I'm beginning to hate football, the sport I spent much of my life adoring. I go now just because my oldest son wants to go. But if it were up to me, I would quit.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AsahinaKimi]

41. I have an idea...

Maybe because sports is a competition. Its a "War" without the blood shed, and ideally one wants to sing a patriotic song before going into battle, even if both sides belong to the same country. Its like College football games. You go to a game not only hearing the National Anthem but you hear the fight songs of the two Universities.

You know like the rousing fight song of Notre Dame, or USC, or the University of Michigan fight song. Each team has their own bands playing this music. I have never been to USC...but I love their fight song, its rousing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uxdysN5iZo&feature=more_related

Only a few teams in pro sports have fight songs, for example the Washington Redskins song. Stuff that sticks in your head when you hear them. That music is designed to instill pride. Maybe thats why we have a National Anthem before each game.

I saw a few Steelers and Packer players tearing up during the National Anthem. Maybe because they made it to the Superbowl, but also because the music made them proud.


This song always got my blood moving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXj7I1RzLSE&feature=related