Oh say can you see

Providing there is a flag nearby, I'll stand with hands folded in front of my unit and count the stars on the flag -- so far, each one of them has 50. And once I'm done with that, I'll check out the scenery.

 

I was going to post about this, a glad I scanned the previous ones. I was at a high school wrestling tournament for several days in a row, at which they had maybe four sessions a day for different classes, etc. At the start of EVERY session they had a different Wendy Warbler come down and belt it out. I felt like Simon Cowell, judging them.

Of course, I stood every time - it's just plain rude not to. By the 12th time, I wanted to run over to the girl, grab the mic, and shout, "OH JUST WRESTLE ALREADY!"

 

well aren't you just fucking perfect.

 

I stand, address the flag and place my right hand over my heart.

If I'm wearing a hat, I take the hat off and hold it in my right hand over my heart.

It's the national anthem. That's what you're supposed to do.

 

you "address" the flag? god man, sorry coffee, i think you're pretty cool, but god man, that's gay.

 

As routine as it has become, you stand for the anthem. What you do (hand/hat over heart, hands behind your back, etc.) is up to you, but you got to stand for the national anthem.

What really gets me is when a press box doesn't stand for the national anthem but stands for God Bless America. This happened to me at an Astros game last June. It was a Sunday afternoon and for whatever reason, the brass at Minute Maid Park decided to have God Bless America play (unlike Yankee Stadium or someplace like that, Houston doesn't do God Bless America regularly - just a Take Me Out to the Ballgame followed by the obnoxious "Deep In the Heart of Texas.") Anyway, I was typing some info for the notebook and because it was God Bless America, I just kept typing.

Some old coot standing next to me started chastising me for not standing up, saying that I was disrespecting the United States and the troops fighting for us. I told him that I was actually upholding the American way by executing my right to sit down during a song that is about as relevant as "This Land is Your Land." That got this codger fired up even more, as he started to raise his voice. To avoid a scene, I stood up and he smirked, thinking that I had buckled. But instead, I walked by him (even though I was ultimately headed the other way) and said in earshot how I had to take a piss and walked to the bathroom. Looking at that bastard turning away sheepishly was definitely worth having that "Curb Your Enthusiasm" moment.

 

Absolutely...

 

our father who ...

 

Bad choice giving up 50-cent drafts forever for the sake of one lousy column.

 

i always used to stand when i was in the business. always.

that said, i agree with no. 2. it holds so little meaning. what's the point of a tape recorded national anthem at a high school softball game? no disrespect to high school softball players but it just seemed lame. it felt like more of a bigger deal at major events.

but i think we've long passed the stage where we can get rid of it. the first school district that proposes limiting it to big events will be excoriated by the PC police no matter how hard they try to explain that they're doing it out of respect for the anthem, not disrespect.

 

SCOTUS declared it unconstitutional in 2000, but already some schools in Texas are emboldened enough to start doing it again, over the PA and full bore, in your face and Caesar be damned.

This fall, I'm putting our news side's resident thumper-slash-football stringer on the case.