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By that, one winds up with jibber-jabber, a Tower of Babel, rather than a unified nation.
When this country was coming together I'm sure it was said several times ... 'we've got one for the history books fellers' ... We know today, they hadn't seen nothing yet.
A sporting event is a mass entertainment event, no different than a movie or a concert.
Do we say the national anthem before a movie? No.
Do we say the national anthem before a concert? No. (maybe a few here and there do it)
So, why do we say the national anthem before a sporting event? All the brouhaha about the national anthem before an NFL game could be avoided just by making an NFL game no different than going to a concert, and not singing the national anthem at all.
Sadly, if some head honchos at the NFL or NBA or MLB suggested such a thing, there would undoubtedly be cries of protest from a certain camp who would accuse those head honchos of being unpatriotic, and yadda yadda. But I don't hear those same people telling everyone we need to say the national anthem before a Taylor Swift concert.
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 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.
Tradition as sporting events have always been linked to national pride. Going back to the original Olympics or gladiators in the colleaseum there was a national related song or chant.
Why do we stand when a visitor enters our dining room?
Because we want to.
Why do we shake hands when we meet people?
Because we want to.
Get it?
You - and a few other people who've responded in the last few days - haven't paid attention to even the first post.
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