Seventh Inning Stretch

I am tired of "God Bless America." It was always a pretty stupid song, better suited to being belted by a bunch of 7-year-olds at the school concert than professionals. But ever since 9/11, the song's prevalence has been especially annoying.

I will admit, I got chills when Congress spontaneously sang the song on the steps of the Capitol the day after the attacks. But that was because here were the leaders of our country, brought to this place where the best thing they could think to do was to sing a song of their childhood about how America would survive. That was great.

But why are we still hearing it now? Years have past, and we should have moved on. I mean, we still sing "The Star Spangled Banner" before sporting events, why belabor the issue?

As far as I'm concerned, the worst part is that it's taken the place of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at the seventh inning stretch. First of all, way to kill the mood. We're supposed to be enjoying some lighthearted fun, and then we go all serious about the country. What the hell? I'm at the ballpark to enjoy the game, not get preached to.

Worse than that, now standing up isn't "stretching," it's a sign of respect. And apparently you also now have to remove your hat and put your hand over your heart for the song. I thought that was only for the National Anthem. If you're going to replace the National Anthem, at least replace it with a decent song, like say, "America the Beautiful"?

Please, end the madness. Let us enjoy baseball again. Let's all remember Harry Carey hanging out the press box half-drunk, and sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Comments

Steve said…
I am so sick of Ronan Tynan (or maybe I'm just sick of everything Yankees?) - bad as that is, it could be infinitely worse. In Baltimore, they do a disco-fied version of "Thank God I'm a Country Boy". If I had to listen to that every night, I'd abandon the principles of non-violence and smack somebody.
October 8, 2007 at 10:43 AM
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