National Anthems in Sporting Events
A very interesting aspect of sporting events these days is the fact that the national anthem is played before the start of them. It can be the host country’s national anthem or the national anthems of the two teams playing. Over the years, the concept of playing the national anthem before the start of a game became the standard. It was interesting why this happened but it seems war played a big part in it.
The reason to stir up feelings of patriotism and national pride brought about the singing or playing of the national anthem before a game. The anthems of the three winners are also played at the medal ceremony of the Olympic Games. Some people have now started to call for a ban on playing the national anthem of countries as they feel it serves no purpose. At the moment though the practice looks all set to continue.
The playing of the national anthem before a game first started in 1918 right after the First World War. It seems the American people needed some perking up after the devastating war. The first time it took place was during the baseball World Series in 1918. During the seventh inning of the game, the band spontaneously burst into a rendition of the American national anthem, ‘The Star Spangled Banner’. When the band starting playing the song, players from both teams turned to face the American flag floating above the field and the crowd rose to their feet. This one act started a trend that has continued to this day. From then on a lot of baseball games started to feature the anthem but some did not, it took a little while before it became something that was played before every game. Now it is standard practice in almost all games played in many different countries of the world.
The national anthem played before a game can be a huge source of pride for the athletes and for the country whose national anthem is being played. The feeling that a team gets when they step out onto the pitch and their country’s anthem is being played cannot be described. A lot of the time players can be seen beaming with pride or with tears streaming down their faces. The tears signify the fact that they are at such a large stage of their careers and they are representing their countries and their people. It is usually a very happy occasion for them and for their nations. National anthems can have hugely uplifting qualities to them and can even push players to perform better at the game they are playing. A lot of people really enjoy when national teams meet at a stage like the football World Cup and because it is a competition between countries, the national anthems of the teams about to play seems to really fit the scene and accentuates the mood. There are other people who are critical of anthems before games though.
Some people do not understand the point of having the national anthem played before domestic games. It seems to be the case that in America a lot of local games even have the national anthem played before them. Critics of the practice understand the use of anthems during an international match when two different countries are playing against each other but they feel it should not be done during domestic matches. They do not really see the point of it. The other problem now a days is the fact that on national football teams, for example, there are people who are not from the country they are representing. Because people can play for countries that their mothers or fathers came from or the country of their nationality, it is common to see a lot of different nationalities on a football team. A lot of the time a team of players can be seen standing side by side when their country’s national anthems are being played and they can be seen not singing along, signifying that they do not know the words.
The practice of playing national anthems is all set to continue for the next few years. Maybe it will stop taking place in the future but for the moment it is standard and does not look like it is going to go anywhere.
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