It's time for a quaint little tradition at Orioles games (which has spilled over to lots of sports events in Maryland) to end. Fans must stop screaming "O" when the "Star Spangled Banner" is played and gets to the land "Oh say does that star spangled banner still wave?" If there's anything that makes Baltimore seem like a low class town full of moronic rubes, it is this insult to the solemn nature of our national anthem and the purpose saluting our country serves at the beginning of a sports event.
Baltimore should be proud of its heritage. "The Star Spangled Banner" was composed by Marylander, Francis Scott Key, aboard the British Ship, HMS Tonnant, off Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore over the night of September 13 -14, 1814. On the morning of the 14th, Key saw the American flag still flew above the fort inspiring his poem, "The Defense of Fort McHenry" which would be adapted to music to become our national anthem. This story reflects one of Maryland's unique contributions to America's heritage.
The "O" chant originated in the Orioles Magic days from 1979 onward at Memorial Stadium from the infamous Section 34, an area near the end of the upper deck on the first base side inhabitted by truly blue collar fans lead by cab driver, Wild Bill Hagy, who helped develop a passion for Orioles baseball on par with the same kind of spirit shown for the Baltimore Colts which got Memorial Stadium known as the world's largest outdoor insane asylum.
In the context of its time, the roar from 34, the O's chant perhaps was just one more quirkly little thing of a wild bunch of rowdies having a good old time, but that was then, this is now. After 3000 Americans died on 9/11/2001 and our nation is engaged in two wars in response to Islamic terrorism, this silly tradition has run its course. Surely, the Camden Yards is not the home of truly blue collar rowdies that section 34 represented.
Baltimore fans are quick to call sports talk shows and whine about how the city gets no respect in the national media, how the Ravens don't get more coverage for their successes, and the Orioles? Well, start with how much is said of a team that has had a losing record for 12 years. Sure there are jerks in the national media who routinely diss Baltimore like Chris Berman and Colin Cowherd on ESPN, but when it comes to their remarks, consider the source.
Let's put this in perspective, how would the country at large react if Houston Rockets fans screamed "rockets" during "the rockets' red glare" or even more so, if Atlanta Braves fans shouted "Braves" at the end of the anthem, "....home of the brave."
Pretty damned stupid, right? So exactly what is the justification for yelling "O" during the "Star Spangled Banner" have in Crab City?
2 comments:
Agreed, the "O" must go
Dear RMF,
I whole heartily agree with you that the habit of yelling "O" at the predetermined time during the singing or playing of our National Anthem must stop.
I must confess though, there was a time that I thought that it was really neat to yell out the "O". However, I had the opportunity to attend a NASCAR event at Dover, DE in September, 2001. This was the first race held after the terrorist attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001. During the pre-race ceremony, they had a moving tribute to our nation. During the playing of the National Anthem, my emotions got the best of me, and I couldn’t even mouth the words of the Anthem while it was being sung. When, the "O!" was sung in the line "O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave", I felt it very unsettling to hear the shouts of "O" coming from the grandstands. I didn't shout it out that day, and I haven't since.
The embellishing of our National Anthem is not limited to Baltimore alone. Performers over the past forty years, going back to Jose Feliciano's "rendition" of the National Anthem before game five of the 1968 World Series between Detroit and St. Louis have tried to jazz up the anthem in one fashion or another. While some of the "renditions" have been spiritually moving, such as Sandi Patti's during the Statue of Liberty rededication on July 4, 1986 as well as Whitney Houston's prior to Super Bowl XXV in 1991, most "renditions" do not present very well. There have been several botches of the National Anthem, most notably Roseanne Barr's "performance” of the anthem at a baseball game on July 25, 1990.
With a range and one and a half octaves, our National Anthem is not an easy song to sing, even for trained performers. As such, performers who sing the anthem before events at the Comcast Center on the campus of the University of MD, College Park, are instructed to sing it as written and within a 1 minute 20 second time limit.
Our National Anthem must be sung and play with honor and respect. The song is not about one person, one team or one city. It is about our nation and those who have sacrificed much for the freedoms we enjoy.
The way some artists embellish or stylize the National Anthem to their liking is another whole issue worthy of discussion.
Some are done tastefully and sincerely. Others are pure "hot-dogging" it. I'm not sure someone could write a clear policy for prospective performers what is and what is not acceptable beyond the simple "keep it straight" you cited for University of Maryland. It seems like female country singers, R&B stars, and any of those "American Idol" types are the worst offenders. Bruce Hornsby and Branford Marsalis did a beautiful piano/saxophone rendition prior to Cal Ripken's 2131 game that was surprisingly mellow, a very gentle adaptation, serene and philosophical, that was beautiful. This writer can't stand Whitney Houston but her version, albeit prerecorded, was also stirring.
I see no value add to having big celebrities use this serious moment as a vehicle to promote their careers. To have a military unit, a church choir, or a local marching band perform is just fine with me.
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