Bombs Bursting in Air

I always wondered why we sing the Star Spangled Banner before every major league sporting event in the U.S.; why are sports and patriotism were so inexorably linked? Matt Soniak, writing for Mentalfloss.com, provides this simple historical explanation: “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.”

Well, when Canadian teams in leagues like the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League or Major League Baseball play their U.S. counterparts, “O Canada” is routinely played with the Star Spangled Banner… on both sides of the border. In fact, “[t]he NHL requires arenas to perform both the Canadian and American national anthems at games that involve teams from both countries. One American team, the Buffalo Sabres, goes a step further and performs both anthems before every game, a nod to Buffalo's location near the Canadian border and the team's substantial number of Canadian fans.” Wikipedia.

So what is the proper etiquette for those in attendance when the anthem is performed? “United States Code, 36 U.S.C. § 301, states that during a rendition of the national anthem, when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart; Members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present and not in uniform may render the military salute; men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold the headdress at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and maintain that position until the last note; and when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed. Military law requires all vehicles on the installation to stop when the song is played and all individuals outside to stand at attention and face the direction of the music and either salute, in uniform, or place the right hand over the heart, if out of uniform. Recently enacted law in 2008 allows military veterans to salute out of uniform, as well.” Wikipedia. No eating, and if you are walking, stop and assume the position… but there is no penalty for non-compliance.

I’m Peter Dekom, and it’s all so complicated!