Posted on 11/12/2012 10:07:25 AM PST by massmike
Nearly 200 high school hockey teams in Pennsylvania have been advised to eliminate the national anthem because it takes too much time to perform and costs too much money.
“We are recommending the national anthem not be played or sung or whatever it is,” Ed Sam, commissioner of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League told Fox News. “It has absolutely nothing to do with patriotism at all. That’s the furthest thing from the truth.”
Schools were notified of the directive in an email from the PIHL. He said teams are only allotted a certain amount of time to play matches.
Sam also said it had to do with economics. He said ice time is quite expense and the national anthem eats into the clock.
(Excerpt) Read more at radio.foxnews.com ...
Games are 3 15 minute periods. Standard ice rental is for either 75 or 90 minutes at 3-400 dollars per hour. There is a 3-5 minute warmup.
My suggestion would be, once the Zamboni is off the ice, before everyone goes out, Play the National Anthem at that time. There is no law saying it cannot be played without players on the ice.
Just saved money.
The next step is to take the kids and keep them in govt dorms and condition them for the world stage in the sport. They shouldn’t be allowed to live at home with their parents. If they are good at hockey, for the benefit of the state they should live in controlled environments. They shouldn’t be allowed any freedom. They might eat junk or get distracted by girls.
What? It’s a free country? Why? People fought and died to make it so? I forgot.
Maybe we need some sort of official public reminder that we are not soviet communists. Hmmm, what could we use...?
Why not have the players sing it during the warm-up. They could even do the other verses in that 3-5 minute skate-around period! Or even throw in a chorus of Oh, Canada.
About half of that is getting the band and/or singer ready - it's logistical. Get the band in their seats, get the kids attention - the typical non-sense you see and expect to see by a bunch of high school kids prior to doing ANYTHING. The sports game really doesn't start until moments after the national anthem, right? So, getting the teams, the band and the announcers all coordinated - takes at least 3 minutes. The anthem itself is about 2 minutes; and the game usually starts about a minute AFTER the anthem has ended. This time adds up - and when you are playing at a rented arena, every minute has some dollars attached to it.
No way. Fourth verse would be "illegal" on public school property.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
The third verse would also be illegal
And where is that band who so vauntingly sworeThe fifth line was obviously inspired by the following:
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired man waiting eagerly for his wages.--Job 7:2
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