oldsmithie;1295714 wrote:In the home games at Smithville the teams are seldom on the field for our National Anthem. The band plays it during the pre game show and then marches to form a tunnel, thats when the team takes the field. I guess I never thought about much, All I know is I stand and remove my hat!
Same here. When I was on the team, we always just came out after it. Didn't even really know what went on outside the lockerroom when we weren't there.
As it is now, I always stand up straight, remove my hat, and place it over my heart. Patriotism can be a wonderful thing as we show respect to our origins and the beliefs in freedom and liberty that our forefathers fought and died to establish. Patriotism should not be used to establish some sort of inequality, coercion, start divisive arguments, or be used as a vehicle for puffing someone up (think: the woman in church who tries to make sure everyone knows how spiritual she is ... and then apply it to patriotism).