{"id":84463,"date":"2021-02-15T16:31:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T16:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=84463"},"modified":"2023-04-18T16:38:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T16:38:56","slug":"please-rise-playing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/please-rise-playing\/","title":{"rendered":"Please Rise for the Playing\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The views expressed in this blog are<\/em> those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLadies and gentlemen, please rise for the playing of our National Anthem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since I guesstimate that I have done over 4,500 sporting events in my career and probably watched just as many as a fan, these are words that I have heard and responded to more often than I could possibly have imagined.<\/p>\n

Like any fan, I just took it for granted that prior to a game actually beginning, I would rise, along with everyone else, for the playing of our National Anthem.<\/p>\n

But this week (and I will tell you why in a bit), I actually pondered how this tradition actually began.\u00a0 I found this in an article by Matt Soniak:<\/p>\n

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<\/a> and Red Sox<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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 in 1931), the song continued to be played at baseball games, but only on special occasions like opening day, national holidays, and World Series games.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

So why do I bring this up?\u00a0 Since the start of the NBA<\/a> season, Dallas Mavericks<\/a> owner, Mark Cuban, ordered his team\u2019s home games to start without playing the National Anthem.\u00a0 This went on for 13 games and, since there were no fans, almost no one noticed.\u00a0 Once it was brought to the attention of the NBA commissioner, Cuban was directed to play the anthem.\u00a0 He agreed.<\/p>\n

But he made his point \u2013 \u201cWe respect and always have respected the passion people have for the anthem and our country.\u00a0 But we also loudly hear the voices of those who feel that the anthem does not represent them.\u00a0 We feel their voices need to be respected and heard, because they have not been.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Orleans<\/a> coach Stan Van Gundy tweeted, \u201cIf you think the anthem needs to be played before sporting events, then play it before every movie, concert, church service and the start of every work day at every business.\u00a0 What good reason is there to play the anthem before a game?\u201d<\/p>\n

So I guess the question is should we play the National Anthem more often, less often, or continue to play it primarily at special events and all sporting events.\u00a0 Does it polarize, does it lose its effectiveness with constant repetition, or does it need to remind us to offer allegiance to our country?<\/p>\n

That is for each one of us to decide individually when the public address announcer utters the words, \u201cLadies and gentlemen, please rise\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Eagles<\/a> want<\/u> to trade Carson Wentz and most expected that would be accomplished by now. It hasn\u2019t.\u00a0 Reports are that they are asking too much in return.\u00a0 If he is traded, they will need a backup and, with the #6 pick in the draft, they might just take another QB, and with a pick that high, it should be a good QB to compete with Jalen Hurts.\u00a0 First, they must get rid of Wentz.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Think about this – Aaron Rodgers gets a $500,000 bonus if he participates in offseason workouts. He has participated every year.\u00a0 Surprised?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Remember Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner in 2007? He never could do enough to stay in the NFL, so he tried major league baseball.\u00a0 He\u2019s back on the Mets spring training roster of 75 players.\u00a0 This is his fourth spring training where he has hit .151 and one home run.\u00a0 Why?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. I hope you happened to watch the Lafayette<\/a>–Loyola<\/a> men\u2019s basketball game on Saturday. It went four overtimes; lasted 2 hours and fifty minutes and had some outstanding individual performances.\u00a0 Catch it on RCN Video on Demand.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. We will have Central Catholic<\/a> at Allen<\/a> for you this Friday and Lafayette-Bucknell<\/a> Saturday (men) and Sunday (women). We will, also, bring the District individual wrestling championships on Sunday night.\u00a0 The Colonial League championship basketball games and the Districts are right around the corner.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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            \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

            \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n

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             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company. \u201cLadies and gentlemen, please rise for the playing of our National Anthem.\u201d Since I guesstimate that I have done over 4,500 sporting events in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPlease Rise for the Playing\u2026 - 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