Elusive National Pride

Not many people make it to the start of a sporting event on time. The game may begin at 7:00pm but Americans seem to be trained to know that it really doesn’t start until at least 7:15pm. After spending 7 seasons in the NBA, I always found it comical the people who would rush through the door, knocking small children over in the process, to get to their seat before tip-off.

What they usually would miss however was one of the most important yet overlooked and taken for granted traditional pregame events. The moment I’m speaking of is, of course, the playing of the national anthem.

Believe it or not, it wasn’t some ego-centric American idealist that thought up this tradition, though it would be nice if we had more of those types of patriots around. The playing of a national anthem actually has been done for centuries in many countries, although it became more common place in the mid-1700’s in England.

One profound frustration I had each and every game was the lack of respect shown to the playing of the national anthem. I was raised to stand and place my right hand over my heart, and if I happened to be wearing a hat, I was to remove it. When I was young, I recall most people acted in a similar manner. Over time I have noticed that more and more citizens do not place their hand over their heart while some won’t even remove their hat.

Not quite sure why this behavior has continued to become increasingly contagious. In spite of Sir Charles Barkley’s disdain for being a role-model, I hold the athletes responsible. Watch how basketball players rarely hold their hand over their heart during the anthem. They aren’t in uniform, at least not one that would be appropriate to refrain from showing the obligatory respect.

Even this commie from NPR has lost sight (or never had it in the first place) of what the true purpose of the playing of the anthem should be. I do agree with a couple of his points that it has become trivialized. But this isn’t a reason to end such a symbolic gesture.

I don’t have to make the usual case for the armed services and the sacrifices that coincide with the service rendered. But it seems that this trivialization has crept from the arena’s and into the aristocracy of politics. Even the Democratic Presidential Nominee has a hard time showing proper respect to the USA.

However, one of the most promising events of the recent Olympics occurred not with the men’s basketball team winning the gold medal, but what was to follow. Ironically, all 12 of the players held their hand over their heart as the anthem played. To me, this was almost more exciting to see than the game itself. (Apologies for the blurry pic but if you look closely you can see what I mean.) I’m glad I stayed up until 3AM to witness something I was pleasantly surprised to see.

The question now, will these NBA superstars take the experience of what it means to represent the United States of America back to their teammates during the regular season?

Forgive me if I’m skeptical, but in two months we’ll find out.