Patriotic overkill?

Irrelevant Dude · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2012 9:23 pm

I'm not quite sure why, but I am really starting to get turned off by excessive patriotic displays at sporting events. I realize that we are lucky to have the opportunities that we have in this country and I am grateful for people who serve in the military, but it is getting to the point where I am becoming numb to, and even annoyed by, some of the performances. Why do we need to sing the National Anthem before a baseball game and sing God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch? What is the purpose of shoving God Bless America down our throats, especially terrible renditions like the one in Game 4 of the World Series? It is just too much for me...

Am I alone in feeling like this or are there others who agree that sporting events are taking patriotism a little too far?

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MWV · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2012 10:39 pm

Re: "God Bless America", I completely agree. I've never cared for that song, and it does seem like a bit much.
On a related note, why do we sing the national anthem at sporting events in the first place? Perhaps someone better versed in the cultural history of sport can sort that out for me. It's not like we pledge allegiance to the flag before movies.

OleMissCub · **Joined:** Sun Jun 01, 2003 12:32 am **Posts:** 29175

MWV wrote:

Re: "God Bless America", I completely agree. I've never cared for that song, and it does seem like a bit much.
On a related note, why do we sing the national anthem at sporting events in the first place? Perhaps someone better versed in the cultural history of sport can sort that out for me. It's not like we pledge allegiance to the flag before movies.

http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blo ... 27805.html

Quote:

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 and Red Sox 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.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 by a congressional resolution in 1931), the song continued to be played, but only on special occasions like opening day, national holidays and World Series games.

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.

MWV · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2012 11:05 pm

I figured you might know. Thanks.

Nuts&Gum · **Posted:** Mon Oct 29, 2012 11:26 pm

I really don't care about the anthem being played at the beginning, but "God Bless America" is really cheesy and pointless by now. During the WS in the wake of 9/11? Alright, fine. 11 years later? Come on. The stretch isn't supposed to be a [expletive]' morgue.

biittner77 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 3:23 am

They should have played Riders on the Storm as a sign of solidarity to those that were about to get hit by super storm Sandy.

Drew Doughty · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 3:47 am

biittner77 wrote:

They should have played Riders on the Storm as a sign of solidarity to those that were about to get hit by super storm Sandy.

a good idea in theory, but in many storm simulations sharks rallied behind the song and terrorized NYC

wekse · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:32 am

Drew Doughty wrote:

biittner77 wrote:

They should have played Riders on the Storm as a sign of solidarity to those that were about to get hit by super storm Sandy.

a good idea in theory, but in many storm simulations sharks rallied behind the song and terrorized NYC

well, that and the fact that the doors [expletive]' suck.

kujay · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:57 am

I agree 100% with the OP. National anthem is fine, anything beyond that is over the top.

Derwood · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 7:00 am

I'm more offended by the Cubs' 7th inning stretch monstrosity

ConstableRabbit · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 8:37 am

+1

I've been saying this for years.

NeifiIsMyHomeBoy · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 8:43 am

I like when teams combine "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and a regional favorite like "Roll out the Barrel" in Milwaukee. Beyond that, it's nauseating.

Injecting "God Bless America" into the stretch is another failed effort by Selig to try to remain America's most American sport.

SouthSideRyan · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 9:47 am

What was the deal with that on Sunday? I assumed they were members of some singing group of the military, were those just randoms? It was embarrassing.

Nuts&Gum · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 9:50 am

Derwood wrote:

I'm more offended by the Cubs' 7th inning stretch monstrosity

[expletive] no. I love how it makes meatballs cry like they're desecrating some great, sacred tradition.

Derwood · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:07 am

Nuts&Gum wrote:

Derwood wrote:

I'm more offended by the Cubs' 7th inning stretch monstrosity

[expletive] no. I love how it makes meatballs cry like they're desecrating some great, sacred tradition.

[expletive] the tradition. Just don't try to make celebrity publicity tour stops into some kind of tribute to a drunk dead guy 14 years after he died. Just get rid of the entire thing

Nuts&Gum · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:20 am

There is no tradition; it's funny because you get people butchering the song or just clearly not giving a [expletive], plus it's awesome when you get people who are really into it. Who gives a [expletive]? It's just the stretch.

bcl412 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 7:43 pm

I like the stretch. Not the "God Bless America", the Cubs one.

biittner77 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 31, 2012 8:59 am

Back when I was in college, we used to go to a bar called O'Malleys that played American Pie every night at midnight. For those of us that went there a lot, it got old pretty fast. One of my firends was a DJ there and tried to skip it one night. The manager made him play it explaining that even though a lot of people were sick of hearing the song, there were also a lot of people that came there expecting to hear it.

I'd imagine that, since Wrigley Field is just as much tourist attraction as it is a ballpark, this probably holds true for the 7th inning stretch.

wekse · **Posted:** Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:27 am

sidebar: is there a worse song than don mclean's american pie? to me, there isn't.

biittner77 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:35 am

wekse wrote:

sidebar: is there a worse song than don mclean's american pie? to me, there isn't.

We didn't start the fire- Billy Joel.

I saw the sign- Ace of Bass

Derwood · **Posted:** Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:41 am

wekse wrote:

sidebar: is there a worse song than don mclean's american pie? to me, there isn't.

thousands

Tim · **Posted:** Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:54 am

biittner77 wrote:

Back when I was in college, we used to go to a bar called O'Malleys that played American Pie every night at midnight. For those of us that went there a lot, it got old pretty fast. One of my firends was a DJ there and tried to skip it one night. The manager made him play it explaining that even though a lot of people were sick of hearing the song, there were also a lot of people that came there expecting to hear it.

I'd imagine that, since Wrigley Field is just as much tourist attraction as it is a ballpark, this probably holds true for the 7th inning stretch.

True story: I drank the wall.

The wall hit back.

bcl412 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:59 am

wekse wrote:

sidebar: is there a worse song than don mclean's american pie? to me, there isn't.

Not many in my eyes.

wekse · **Posted:** Wed Oct 31, 2012 9:59 am

biittner77 wrote:

wekse wrote:

sidebar: is there a worse song than don mclean's american pie? to me, there isn't.

We didn't start the fire- Billy Joel.

I saw the sign- Ace of Bass

those songs don't get the unconditional love that mclean's POS song does, though...so it's not really the same...but i do hate those songs as well.

Treymon · **Joined:** Sat Dec 20, 2003 9:25 pm **Posts:** 14777

wekse wrote:

biittner77 wrote:

wekse wrote:

sidebar: is there a worse song than don mclean's american pie? to me, there isn't.

We didn't start the fire- Billy Joel.

I saw the sign- Ace of Bass

those songs don't get the unconditional love that mclean's POS song does, though...so it's not really the same...but i do hate those songs as well.

i saw the sign is a GREAT song.

but american pie really is the worst. it would be like a solid bottom 100 song and nothing more, but then it just goes on for five more minutes for absolutely no reason. awful.

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