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National Anthem at Sporting Events
It is time to take away from the Pop Culture feel of our National Anthem and to start bringing back the American Culture.

In today's American sporting events, the singing of the national anthem is a tradition that is widely accepted, as it should be. During sporting events involving different countries, their anthems are sung as well. The difference is that in the states, it seems that it may be coming a bit of a joke. We have famous singers making mockery of our beloved Anthem. Some can't sing it correctly while others make it more of an annoyance. Americans spend more time concentrating on how good the singer sang rather than taking away a sense of pride for our country. To top things off, at Baltimore Orioles baseball home games, the crowd starts singing "OH!" and then cuts out as a reference to the O's (orioles). (Dan Steinburg, Washington Post Blog)

Another thing is some people don't know or understand why we sing our National Anthem at sporting events.(Yahoo Answers National Anthem). Many people think it is just a pop culture and don't realize the significance of it. The question is why has it become this way and how can we fix it?

In the last couple sporting events I have attended, something great has happened. At the MLS (Major League Soccer) Cup back in November, A good portion of the crowd started singing along. It was beautiful. I felt proud to be an American. This past Saturday (March 29th, '08) I attended the New England Revolution First Kick (the first soccer game of the season). It took the singer about a minute to become prepared. Our section, starting with a group of about 10 people, started singing the National Anthem. The whole crowd caught on while the female vocalist stood on the field without a clue of what to do. This nearly brought a tear to my eye. This could be a way to correct the pop culture feel of our countries song of pride.

Should this become a common tradition in American sporting events? How far should it go? It starts at national sporting events, but where could it end? High School football games? I feel that our national anthem should be sung loudly and proudly by the audience in attendance and players on the field. If you don't believe in our National Anthem, then don't sing. There will be plenty of others who will.

There are a couple of things this could do for our country and the many Americans who attend sporting events. First, it promotes a common bond that we all have as Americans. It shows a sign of brotherhood and community. Singing the National Anthem is something to unite Americans at their sporting event, even if they are at each others throats 5 minutes from now.

Second, it may begin to remove the pop culture feel of our Anthem. We try to find the "poppiest" star to sing our Anthem at all of our games, while half of the Americans are not sure what all the words are. We are there to listen to the star and watch them make an appearance. If Americans started singing our anthem, it could bring back the true meaning and give actual feeling to our national anthem.

It is my belief that if Americans sing our National Anthem it could take away from the Pop Culture mockery of our Anthem and start bringing backs the American Culture.

http://answers.yahoo.com/quest ion/index?qid=20080325103926AA qA8Q8&show=7 Yahoo Answers
http://blog.washingtonpost.com /dcsportsbog/2006/12/question_ should_the_national_a.html - (Dan Steinburg - Washington Post Blog)

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