Oh say can you see

Personally, I wouldn't mind if they lumped the anthem. But as long as they do it, I'll respect it and respect those who want to honor their country that way, even if I personally think its obligatory ceremony for the sake of ceremony.

And here's a larger point if you're on the clock. If you're being professional in the way you carry yourself for your job, you should stand for the anthem, no matter how you feel about it. It's a courtesy to others kind of thing, like not talking in church/movies, turning off your cell phone in a press conference, etc.

If I found out one of my writers was making a spectacle of himself during the Anthem, there'd be a Come To Jesus how-to-handle-yourself-professionally meeting right quick.

If you want to avoid the Anthem, go take a leak. If you're in the room, respect it.

 

Budget your time better. Those two minutes aren't going to make or break any deadline on Earth. Jeez.

 

I always stand, and I think that if you're going to do it at a high school or other low-level event, just play a standard, quick recording. Don't let Suzie Sophomore do a Britney impression.

One of the coolest moments I've had covering a game was when they pulled a girl out of the stands to sing before a wrestling meet. She forgot the words halfway through, and everyone in the stands - 1,000 or so - immediately picked up where she left off and finished it. It gave me chills, but it also shows the dangers of letting some kid sing the anthem.

 

i don't care if it's a cell or a landline or a walkie-talkie

and I don't care if you're calling in injuries, lineup changes or a shooting

I don't care if you're not starting a call during the anthem

and I don't care how many scratched players there are

you're doing exactly what you're calling out other people for

talking during the anthem

 

I don't cover sports much any more. But I'll never forget being in the press box at Yankee Stadium several times a few years ago, and seeing most of a row of beat writers standing up for the national anthem, but still slouching enough to keep typing away on their laptops to make their early files. Awesome. Got to love 7 pm deadlines.

 

That's exactly what I do, although I've never been in the National Guard.

 

i always respect the anthem by standing, but it's definitely a pet peeve of mine to have to listen to it all the time. i have never heard the reasoning on why they play it before all games, does anyone know?

 

Bingo. Isn't the anthem less than two minutes long?

 

I stand for the anthem if I realize it's playing. I don't stand for the pre-event prayer.

 

nothing worse than standing there at a Monday Night Football game and it's 9:05 p.m. -- I guess a little earlier now -- and deadline is staring at you, and the woman comes out to sing the anthem and goes into one of those faux R&B vocal pyrotechnic versions, where every word is expanded into a 17-syllable interpretation

and you know ... this is going to be at least 4 1/2 minutes

whoa ... ohhh ... ohh ... say can you ... see-eee-ee-EE-EEE-ee-whoa-whoa-yeah-yeah-yeah ....

by the dawn's early ... liiii-iiiiii-iiii-YIIII-YIIII-YIIIIIIIIIIIITE ... whoa whoa ... whoooooooooaaaaa ....



that shit makes my blood boil

the Whitney Houston-ization of the anthem

just sing the damn thing. don't turn it into the theme from fucking Bodyguard

 

Because they've been doing it that way since World War I. There's maybe a hundred people alive who have attended an MLB game when they didn't play the anthem, so unless you can find a good reason NOT to do it, it's here to stay.

Hell, there's not a whole lot of people alive who can remember when the Star-Spangled Banner actually became the anthem (1931, for those keeping score.)

It's part of the pomp and circumstance of opening a new game, like announcing the starters and exchanging lineup cards.

 

I always stand during the anthem and set aside any work I have, no matter how important

I never talk on the phone during the anthem.

land line or cell

click on "change color"

select blue

I'm not sure blue is a "font"