The "Star-Spangled Banner" is as much a part of sports in America as tailgating, "Fenway Franks," and overpriced ballpark beer. It has consistently been played or sung before sporting events since the days of Babe Ruth and World War I. When sung correctly (Whitney Houston), it can bring people to tears of joy and national pride. When sung in mockery (Roseanne), everyone is horrified and Francis Scott Key rolls in his grave (which is just a few blocks from where I'm typing this). Sports sociologists (yes - that's a thing!) defend this practice by saying that our National Anthem is a battle song (there's that line about rockets glaring and bombs bursting and what-not), and it should motivate athletes to perform their best while in "battle." It's supposed to get them pumped up and basically ready to kick some ass, and since sports are a microcosm of society and all we want to do in life is kick ass, then it's OK. But not everyone agrees.
From Colin Kaepernick and Jeremy Lane in the NFL to several members of the Virginia Tech women's volleyball team and even some football players from nearby Watkins Mill High School, many athletes at all levels have decided to "take a knee," give their backs to the American flag, or not stand up at all while the National Anthem is being played. The first Major League Baseball player to express public opposition to the National Anthem was Oakland A's Bruce Maxwell, who this past weekend decided to kneel while holding his ball cap to his chest while the song was being sung. As a result of this, Maxwell's team posted the following statement on their scoreboard immediately after, which I thought was appropriate and diplomatic and very cool and California-ish: "The Oakland A's pride ourselves in being inclusive. We respect and support all of our players' constitutional rights and freedom of expression." Why are athletes protesting the National Anthem? Some of them feel like not all their liberties are being protected in this country, while others protest as a way to promote positive changes for the betterment of the country. Whatever their reason is, they have the constitutional right to express their beliefs, and I'm totally ok with that (especially since I myself always stand for the Anthem but choose not to put my hand over my heart. I personally think that's silly but I stand up out of respect, kind of like "when in Rome...").
Without getting political (Barack Obama referred to Kaepernick as “exercising his constitutional right to make a statement" while Donald Trump said "maybe [Kaepernick] should find a country that works better for him," but no - I'm not going to get political here!), I'm wondering if the solution to this controversy is to get rid of the National Anthem at sporting events altogether. I personally don't think it's necessary to play the National Anthem before EVERY sporting event in America. Do I have to wait for the National Anthem to play in order to run a local 5K race? Can a Little League baseball game begin without a pitchy ten-year-old singing the Anthem while unable to hit the high notes? Before you start saying that I'm not patriotic and that I need to go back to my country (which is actually a territory of the US), just hear me out. Singing the "Star-Spangled Banner" at Yankee Stadium on September 17, 2001 on the first baseball game being played since the 9/11 attacks, with President Bush throwing out the first pitch? Totally appropriate. Playing the National Anthem when an Olympic athlete is receiving his/her gold medal? Super cool and emotional. Having the "Star-Spangled Banner" played or sung 162 times during the baseball season? Completely unnecessary. Why not save this song for special occasions, like a presidential inauguration, a championship game between the US and another country, or some sort of important military thing (whatever those may be)? Don't complain that baseball games take too long when you're spending five minutes having the colors presented, having giant flags being unfurled, and listening to an "American Idol" reject trying to belt out a song that was meant to be an ode to Fort McHenry.
So if the athletes want to keep protesting, I say let them (because they have the constitutional right to do so). But they should do it nicely and respectfully (removing your cap and "taking a knee" is way more appropriate, in my opinion, than not standing up at all), and they should be prepared to get some flack for it (especially if they sound like ignorant illiterates when they Tweet their reasons for their protest; that's another thing - athletes who Tweet! A blog topic for another day!). Keep "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch - it's a nicer and more positive song anyway. And we can appreciate "the land of the free and the home of the brave" without having to sing about it every day before the start of a baseball game, marathon, or local baton-twirling competition. Those of us who live here truly appreciate our rights and freedoms - we don't need a tedious and outdated song to remind us of it.
That, my friends, is just my opinion. :-)
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