Spaceship said:
Guitarsoup said:
Spaceship said:
Guitarsoup said:
Spaceship said:
Guitarsoup said:
Spaceship said:
Guitarsoup said:
M.C. Swag said:
This is gonna get the boomers goin
I can already hear the dozens of "i'm done watching the NBA" from people who have never watched the NBA.
Why exactly do we play the SSB before every game? Just to give a medium talent local a place to show off?
I guess I'm in the minority, but I think small reminders of patriotism and gratitude for where we live are a good thing for our society.
And you need that before a Tuesday night game between the Mavs and Kings?
Do you sing it before you go to work?
Does Congress sing it before they go to work?
Does Biden sing it before he unilaterally decides who gets the money I worked hard for?
That's quite a logical leap there and obviously not what my original comment meant.
American, despite its flaws, is indeed exceptional. Some are grateful for that and some feel entitled to it. I think little symbols of patriotism in society helps shape the former and minimize the latter. It's something small, but helps positively shape our outlook. I think the SSB tradition is a cool one, and what other countries do is totally irrelevant to me. What's the point of NOT doing it? Why the change now?
Is it a logical leap? Our own state and national leaders don't start their work with it. But entertainers participating in SOME events do.
So it's an entertainment thing, but we don't do it for TV, movies, video games, e-sports, etc. So it isn't really an entertainment thing.
So why do we do it? We want to show our patriotism and gratitude before we cheer on a Slovenian and a Latvian make tens of millions of dollars to throw a ball in a hoop?
This argument doesn't make any sense. I don't sing the Aggie War Hymn daily when I wake up, so should we eliminate it from Kyle Field? I don't sing Jingle Bells before going to work, so should we eliminate it from Christmas time? Things have a time and place as governed by tradition. One unrelated thing doesn't justify another.
The SSB is good because it reminds us that before and after a contest that both opposing sides of a court/field/game that we're all united in some bigger way. Eliminating it because it's now somehow too offensive or inconvenient actually is even more divisive than having it. Cuban is being very shortsighted on this.
Your argument doesn't make sense.
The War Hymn is the fight song of A&M, so eliminating it from A&M makes no sense.
The National Anthem has nothing to do with the Mavericks and their best players aren't even American.
We are united in some way? But the crowd is probably from dozens of different countries and the players in any given game are probably from a half dozen countries. Dallas next game will be vs Atlanta. Countries represented:
USA
Slovenia
Switzerland
Serbia (x2)
Latvia
Australia
Canada
Germany
Angola
Italy
It isn't because it is offensive or inconvenient, it just doesn't really make sense.
If you need more patriotism and gratitude in your life, I am sure you can find a spotify channel and rock out to some Lee Greenwood and Jimi Hendrix and make that part of your day.
And yet those players from all over the world aspire to be here to play in an American League, played in American cities and in front of American fans. That's why it makes sense - because 99% of people going to these games are American.
Also, your half ass comments about Lee Greenwood, etc show that you don't understand there's a slightly deeper argument at play here.
Oh no, I get that you are trying to make a deeper argument, but it isn't working.
These guys do want to play here, but there are also Americans that play other sports that aspire to play overseas. And people of all countries that dream of playing their sport in a number of different places. The Spanish aren't trying to force their anthem before the Barca Real Madrid matches. But those are games between the best players in the world that came from all over to place for those clubs in Spain. They don't play whatever Brit song before Arsenal v Liverpool.
There really isn't a great reason to have it. Patriotism? Before a game where 1/3rd of the players are foreign and DGAF about it?
Why did sporting events become the time to flex the patriotism muscle?
We are outliers, internationally.
If you actually read about the history of playing the SSB at sporting events, the first time it was done, it was patriotic. But it wasn't before the game and it didn't become a thing for decades later.
To me, more spontaneous shows of patriotism are a helluva lot more meaningful than the force and often contrived SSB before some sporting events (again, not all) that we have here in America. That's why RWBout was so incredible. And that's why the first time it was played at the 1918 World Series was such a momentous event.