Downtime. (And a lesson on anthems)

It seems that everybody has finally gone to bed for the night, leaving little ol’ me with nothing to do. I’ve got to be up and getting ready to leave for the airport by about 4:30am, so I figured I might as well spend the time reading blogs and otherwise lollygagging. Little did I know everybody and their sister would be all in a tizzy.

Can you tell I like to use peculiar vocabulary when I’m tired?

Thee “God Bless America” problem that surfaced at the game has got me really worked up. I think I’m as much confused about the substitution as I am enraged by the lack of the Star Spangled Banner. The confusion bothered me enough that I’ve done some light searching and I’ve found a number of items of interest.

1. I must admit that I don’t know very much about this Ronan Tynan fellow. I understand he has done some amazing things in his life, but I just don’t see how this puts him so close to the Sabres organization. Perhaps it’s not my business. What I need to know is that the man can sing (he can) and apparently he does a pretty wicked God Bless America. I’m not debating that his performance was bad, because it was quite respectable. I’ve been told by sources familiar with the Sabres that an appearance by Mr. Tynan is almost always accompanied by a performance of God Bless America. However, it is well documented that he does in fact know other songs (Ave Maria and Amazing Grace, for example.)
2. According to the Library of Congress, God Bless America (hereafter referred to as GBA because I’m lazy) is very often considered “America’s unofficial national anthem“.
3. According to an ABC News poll in 2004, 38% of American teens were unable to correctly identify the actual title of the United States’ National Anthem.
4. A Harris poll from the same time period indicated that more than half of American adults do not know the words to the National Anthem.
5. And according to an anonymous contributer on Wikipedia, an unsubstantiated claim says,

   Later, from 1969 through the early 1970s, Smith’s recording of the song before many of the National Hockey League’s Philadelphia Flyers professional ice hockey home games brought it renewed popularity (as well as an apparent “good luck charm” to the Flyers), long before it became a nationwide sporting event staple.

I work in education (well, I work in IT that directly supports and enables education). It bugs the living shit out of me that we have to dumb down our entertainment to the lowest common denominator and I do believe that’s what’s happening here. I am at this point reserving my personal judgment of Mr. Tynan, mostly because I’m really not sure if I can imagine a good way to blame him. Instead, I lay the blame at the feet of (indirectly) American society and (much more directly) the talent coordinator for the NHL/Buffalo Sabres. In an effort to draw more people into this convoluted ecosystem of puck-heads, they’ve anesthetized the game so that it’s as inoffensive as possible.

The substitution of songs was designed to make the American public feel better about their lack of knowledge.

Is knowing the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner ever going to save your life? No. Is actually being able to sing the Star Spangled Banner in key going to? No.  Does picking a song with easier words to remember from a popular musical make you look like a jackass? Yes.

Look, here’s an example. In The Hunt For Red October, does the Russian crew sing the Soviet National Anthem right after engaging the caterpiller drive? NO! Do your friends make fun of you behind your back every time you insist that they do? YES. Why? Because the song being sung is the Soviet Navy Hymn. You’d never, EVER think to play the naval hymn at a state function unless your intention was to initiate aggressive military action. It makes a difference. Then again, if you’re reading this, you’re definitely smart enough to know.

Fight the ignorance!

Sabres! Beer! Ron Paul!

(Not really. I just thought that was an amazing way to campaign outside of the game.)