Comments on: Oh Canada, Indeed

By: burnplant

burnplant — Tue, 30 May 2006 15:02:53 +0000

Most of these “equivalent” examples are Gulf War I or 9-11 related.

Americans with war boners and/or feeling sorry for themselves is not the same thing.

By: unc_samurai

unc_samurai — Sun, 28 May 2006 15:10:31 +0000

So the people of San Jose and Aneheim booed the Canadian anthem. I hope it’s not a reflection of the people in California, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I’ve been to about two dozen Canes games over the last few years, and I’ve never seen such behavior. One night in the nosebleed section, I sat next to a couple from Toronto, and they remarked at how much they enjoyed their visit. Apperently a couple of trips to the northeastern U.S. had soured them on American road trips.

By: Iain

Iain — Sat, 27 May 2006 20:31:31 +0000

Not quite the same vein…but one of the better anthem moments of the past few years has to be when Mo Cheeks helped that girl finish off the US anthem at the Rose Garden after she blanked on the words. Just solid.

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 27 May 2006 04:28:16 +0000

I was at the first Air Force football game after 9/11. The Cadet band played the National Anthem while 55,000 strong sang along. Even the people who were still outside the gates at Falcon Stadium, waiting for their security screening, put hand to heart and sang. That’s the only thing I’ve experienced that even comes close to this clip.

By: fetal_wonder

fetal_wonder — Sat, 27 May 2006 03:09:14 +0000

Was at a Broncos game at the old Mile High Stadium in 1999. It was Alumni Reunion Weekend, and former offensive lineman Reggie McElory was singing the National Anthem. Mile High being held together by that point with chewing gum and baling wire, his microphone went out about halfway through. The crowd picked things up without skipping a beat and finished it for him. Not quite a goosebump moment, but it was pretty cool.

By: Lil' Hater

Lil' Hater — Fri, 26 May 2006 22:22:00 +0000

That’s great that you admit that you are wrong. Mind changing it then? SoCal gets enough of a bad rap from the East Coast.

By: The Big Picture

The Big Picture — Fri, 26 May 2006 21:45:16 +0000

glad everyone was singing and all…good nat’l pride. but didn’t that anthem seem to go REALLY slow?

By: Bouj

Bouj — Fri, 26 May 2006 18:55:53 +0000

I agree with the “9/11-not-about-joy” thing. It was about catharsis. I was at the 9-13-01 WWF Smackdown show in Houston. It was the first big public entertainment event in the US after the attacks. When the anthem was sung, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. It was about the emotion and the mourning and beig together. At no point did I feel like we were showing off pride for the USA as much as we were feeling a big feeling of collective mourning and healing.

I guess you could compare it like this: the Canadian Anthem moment above was like the happy-family-reunion-so-let’s-sing-sweet-caroline, but the US Anthem moment after 9-11 was Dad-died-so-let’s-remember-the-good-times.

I imagine the US anthem singing during the Yankees WS run in 2001 gave off a vibe closer to the one in Edmonton.

By: the mighty mjd

the mighty mjd — Fri, 26 May 2006 18:17:49 +0000

I could very well be confusing San Jose and Anaheim… I’m not really paying a whole lot of attention to hockey these days. Sorry.

And about the post 9/11 national anthem, I don’t think that really compares. That had nothing to do with sports… that was everyone saying, “I don’t really know how the hell I’m supposed to feel, so I guess I’ll just go to a football game and when it’s national anthem time, I’ll sing really loud.” There was no joy involved. This thing in Canada was way different… it was all about joy, it was all about celebrating your country, rising above someone else’s petty actions, and having fun… completely different.

By: VTHokie

VTHokie — Fri, 26 May 2006 17:43:34 +0000

That did happen in the US of A didn’t it? Rememeber the 1991 Buffalo loss to the Giants when Whitney Houston sang the national anthem? I thought everyone did a sing-a-long then, too.

By: Remis

Remis — Fri, 26 May 2006 17:41:20 +0000

I think you’re confusing Anaheim with San Jose in the last round.

Some people at the game in Edmonton also sang very loudly for the American anthem that you could hear them over the guy singing with the microphone.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 26 May 2006 17:16:08 +0000

I’m not sure what you’re smoking mjd, but this has been an awesome week to read your blog. From the NBA 2011 All-NBA Teams to Flip’s turtle to posting this clip … you’re on a roll.

Now how about using that trim tag sometime today?

By: Lil' Hater

Lil' Hater — Fri, 26 May 2006 16:58:13 +0000

Are you sure you are not confusing Anaheim and San Jose? I was at Game 1 and didn’t hear any booing of the Canadian National Anthem.

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 26 May 2006 16:54:14 +0000

“This sort of thing just couldn’t happen in America. One, no one really has that much nationalistic pride.”

It could, and did, happen. Obviously you didn’t attend any NFL games in the fall of 2001, or werent’ at Yankee stadium during their 2001 title run when Challenger the Eagle flew out during the anthem. I saw people moved to tears during the anthem at those games. Seeing/hearing that, as well as the deafening chants of “USA,” were bone chilling.

By: Theri Maa Bhanchod!

Theri Maa Bhanchod! — Fri, 26 May 2006 16:45:26 +0000

CANADA FUKNG RULES