November 22, 2010

Anthem



In the photo, water polo players stand for the national anthem before the game. It's strange to me the national anthem is played before a high school sporting event. I remember my uncles, all of whom served in World War II, telling me there was no national anthem played before major league ball games in the 1950s. The umpire said "play ball" and that's how they started the game. I find myself thinking of that often while I stand through the anthem.
Have a good holiday, friends.

19 comments:

dara said...

I don't really have a problem with the anthem. It is funny to watch it at a hockey game where almost none of the players are American.
I do, however, cringe when they play God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch at baseball games. They only started it after 9/11, and the infusion of religion and politics into baseball unnerves me.

The Words Crafter said...

I knew it was played at the Olympics. For some reason, I thought it was played at baseball games. Huh. See-you can tell how much I keep up with sports anymore!

Hope you have a great and happy thanksgiving and be safe!

Ed Pilolla said...

word crafter: it is played at the beginning of baseball games. they started doing that during or after the vietnam war.

dara: yeah, god bless america is over the top, too. and how about the jets that fly overheard for a big game.

Brian Miller said...

have a great holiday ed...wonder what they are trying to get in our brains...smiles.

Vicki Rocho said...

AWESOME picture. Love the reflection in the pool. Would love to see this blown up and although I'm not generally a fan of B&W, I think this one might be an exception to the rule.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful reflections! I did a double-take at first, wondering what they were doing.

Maude Lynn said...

Awesome picture!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wine and Words said...

Great picture. Reminds me of photos I took during the olympics, when my brother swam. Lined up they were...red, white, and blue draped in medals. Thanks for the memory stir.

j.m. neeb said...

I actually coach high school water polo in Michigan and we, of course, play the anthem before every regular season game. Now, I've been coaching for ten years, but this season was the first time where I said to myself "You know, it's kind of weird that we do this."

I don't mean to be unpatriotic or anything like that, but how did this practice start? Why don't we do it at the start of the workday? Where else is the anthem played on such a regular basis?

If you think about it, it might be played at annual ceremonies -- graduations and whatnot -- or governmental/military functions, which makes sense. But where else in life does it happen so frequently?

Claudia said...

i love our national anthem...and sometimes..i have to admit...but don't tell anyone..i get tears in my eyes when the football players sing it before a game...
ours starts with "unity, justice and freedom..."

Phoenix said...

I always find it slightly amusing that so-called traditions of expressing patriotism usually come about more out of fear of each other and others than out of a true spirit of camaraderie or American pride. Both the National Anthem and The Pledge of Allegiance came out during McCarthyism, when everyone was more interested in not being branded a Communist than in being proud of being an American.

We're the country of the free...but we can't exactly say we're the country of the unafraid.

Su-sieee! Mac said...

I'm a sucker of reflectiveness in photos, Ed, in both senses of the word. I can't help but wonder if the boys who put their hands over their heart were/are Boy Scouts and whether the guy with crossed arms may be the one who thinks out of the box. LOL. A joyful Thanksgiving to you.

Lisa said...

Hola Ed. That is a really very special picture. It is colorful, wonderful, funny, historical. You must submit to National Geographic!

I was really moved once when I heard America's national anthem at one naturalization ceremony at Thomas Jefferson's home on Independence Day, quite some years ago. It was quite an experience. Felt left out :)

Unspoken said...

I like it! Love reflection picts.

Happy Thanksgiving, Ed! Hope it all went well.

James said...

Your imagery says more than the pixels; the construction sets up more ideas to consider...

Nice.

Claudia said...

i LOVE semi colons - i think they're intriguing..smiles
hope you're having a great week ed..

jane said...

what an awesome capture! i´m loving all your shots! :)

the fly in the web said...

It happened in Brisbane, for the first Test Match of the Ashes series...and I never remember anthems being played before international matches before.

I think it somewhat out of place...this is sport, for goodness sake, not a state occasion.

Lydia Kang said...

I swear I left a comment about this picture but it's not here. Sometimes blogger eats my comments, sniff.

That picture with those lines and the emotions running high...so amazing. Even seeing it after a little while, coming back to this post, still affects me.