You needed to watch more games. Many players on many teams were not singing the national anthem. It's hardly unique to the US team.

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"I can endure more pain than anyone you've ever met. That's why I can beat anyone I've ever met." Steve Prefontaine, Without Limits

You should have watched the NHL Playoffs this year. The Edmonton fans sung both the Canadian and US (opposing team).

I'll say this from an athlete's and a fan's perspective. As a fan, I love it ... many times I get watery eyes (or "something in my contact"). Whitney Houston's rendition during the Super Bowl of the Gulf Storm years still gets to me. I love singing the anthem, although I'm not sure what I do could be called singing, and I love saying the pledge each day as school starts.

But, as an athlete, and before big games, the anthem can be a distraction. You spend all that time getting mentally focused and concentrating on all the details and mindset that you need to be successful, and if you "get into" the anthem ... it can take you to a completely different, emotional place ... and possibly out of your mindset for the game.

Still, I would rather have the anthem played before games, than not ... but realize that athletes and the spectators are not exactly in comparable situations before the game. It should also be pointed out that those same fans aren't going to let an athlete slide on a substandard performance because the athlete "sang the national anthem".

We need to have realistic expectation and some understanding for our athletes sometimes. There is a difference between comic book heroes and athletes. Comic book heroes aren't real people.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Maybe if our anthem wasn't so doggone hard to sing!

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Reverisco!

I'll say this from an athlete's and a fan's perspective. As a fan, I love it ... many times I get watery eyes (or "something in my contact").

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TT, I am exactly the same when our anthem is playing, terrible these contacts, aren't they even when thier not in.

I think it depends whether you can play most effectively in a heightened state of arousal or if it tipped you over the edge. Personally, I hate it when I see an athlete not singing along, but that's just me.

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"How bad can it be?" - SimpleS

Most people don't know the words...

What bugs me most is flag etiquette. It's amazing how many tacky displays of the flag I saw over the past few days. Flags worn as clothing, flags touching the ground, etc, etc, etc.

It might not be that they're "too good" or it's "uncool." They might feel self-conscious about their singing voices, and as previous posters have mentioned, the Star Spangled Banner isn't the easiest song to sing. Another issue is that many times the person leading the singing will take so many liberties that it's almost impossible to follow or he/she will put it in a ridiculously high key so the average person can't hit the high notes.

In contrast to the Star Spangled Banner, the German anthem is extremely singable. My guess is that since it's obviously designed to be sung, not "performed," the soloists might be more inclined to sing it properly so the fans (and athletes) can sing along.

(FWIW, I'm a classically trained soprano and I always join in singing the Star Spangled Banner when I'm at a sporting event.)

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"Real winners aren't content with yesterday's victories"

Odd. I always thought that the people who sang along were the weird ones. Count me in as one of the "stand theres".

Do a majority of people really actually sing our anthem? I think I'm doing it much more respect by letting someone who can ACTUALLY sing perform the song and not have me butcher it.

Samuel Johnson defined patriotism as the last resort of a scoundrel. Ambrose Bierce disagreed and said it was the first.

H. L. Mencken trumped them bith with this line....“But there is something even worse: it is the first, last, and middle range of fools.”

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

I never really associate patriotism with someone singing an anthem at a sporting event.

If I don't sing, I certainly don't feel less patriotic than the guy belting out a beer-induced attempt to draw attention to himself.

Maybe it's just me.

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You sir, are my new hero! - Trifan 11/13/2008

Casey, you are a wise man - blueraider_mike 11/13/2008

Casey, This is an astute observation. - Slowbern 11/17/2008

You got to keep in mind that many of those people have probably been waiting their entire lives to see their country win the World Cup. It's like the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA finals and Olympics wrapped up in one event for them.

Actually, if you watched today, only about half of the players of EACH team were singing their national anthem ... some of them appeared to only strat "moving their mouths" once they realized the camera was near there. Naw, surely not.

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

I like to sing the anthem, but typically will only when the people areound me do as well. It is a tough one though.

Was anyone at the CDA awards banquet? They had a local 12 year old girl sing it. She was amazing!

I'm in the military and deployed, and I can't remember the last time I actually sang along with a playing of the Anthem. I'm not sure that singing along is necessarily tied to your national pride. Some people place a hand over their hearts, some sing, some just stand still,...to each his own I guess.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)