I was 12 years old and sat in the bleachers at Cleveland municipal stadium. It was a precarious balancing act with hotdog, popcorn and soda in hands that was interrupted when my dad motioned that I should stand with all the other bleacher creatures. I looked at him like oh wow ok and why are we doing this. It was the playing of the Star Spangled banner by a local Cleveland celebrity. We all stood and the anthem was spit out then we all sat down, this was weird and I’ve always thought plating the national anthem at sporting events was odd.
I am a huge sports fan. If you can take a physical feat and put some teams and a point system to it I am in I will watch it. Being a sports fan in the United States gets you used to hearing and standing for the national anthem at every single game, but it is still really really weird.
In the United States the anthem has been played at sports games since World War I. Prior to world war 1. Patriotism was needed badly to build up the United States armed forces and fight a war. The draft was in full swing but not everyone was eager to fight and die overseas.
Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.
Oscar Wilde
Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.
Adlai Stevenson
In a pre season game on Sept 1, 2016 a nfl quarterback refused to stand for the national anthem played before the game. When asked why the quarterback let the press know that he was not satisfied with the United States government and the racism that was and still is rampant throughout the country. Instead of embracing the quarterback the league and fans turned on him and their patriotism was violent and career ending for the quarterback. I have to say I was ashamed to be a football fan and an American right about when the turn was happening on the quarterback.
I guess for me patriotism has nothing to do with a song and when it is sung. Patriotism is holding fast to the values that I beleive make the United States great like, Democracy, inclusion, exploration, respect, love, Liberty, equality, and compassion, are the values I can think of off the top of my head. These are values worth fighting for. I am passionate about sports and music but I will never let a my love for a song trump my love for these values.
Its weird to sing the national anthem at sporting events and it seems to invoke the wrong values so I for one would not loose any sleep if the song was dropped from sporting events.
The Corrigan Encore 