Solutions to OU’s national anthem problem
The Star-Spangled Banner debate rages at OU. Some fans, in the minority but very vocal, end the song by shouting “…and the home of, the SOONERS!” Some claim it’s disrespectful to America and veterans. Others say it’s just school spirit.
Of course it’s disrespectful. Fans absolutely have the right to do it, but it’s disrespectful. Let’s look at similar scenario. You’re in church. The padre is leading the Lord’s Prayer. He nears the conclusion. “…for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the…” when suddenly 30 percent of the congregation yells out “SOONERS.”
Out of place? Not appropriate? Ridiculous? Yes to all three. The antics at Owen Field is not much removed from such irreverence.
We know David Boren doesn’t like it. I haven’t thought to ask Joe Castiglione if he likes it, but I can’t imagine that he does. Bob Stoops probably doesn’t mind, because here in a week when his football program’s is on red alert, we’ve suddenly started talking about the dawn’s early light.
But what exactly should OU do to squelch the tradition, which extends to basketball and is yelled so exuberantly that even in venues like the NCAA basketball tournament, where maybe only 1,000 Sooner fans are in an 18,000-seat arena, the “SOONERS!” cry is well-heard?
Ignoring the problem, which is what OU has been doing, won’t work. The Sooners have been dancing around the issue with pregame announcements about sportsmanship and respect. Against Baylor, the video board even displayed an announcement talking about the word “brave” in the context of the national anthem. Talk about avoiding confrontation.
Anyway, here are a few ideas to end the grating tradition:
1. Sing a different song. Sing “America the Beautiful,” which frankly is a better song anyway and should have been declared the anthem back when Congress decided it was qualified to serve as music critics. I’ve gone through the lyrics of “America the Beautiful,” and Sooner fans would have to really stretch to bastardize the words to their cause.
2. Trot out a wounded soldier for a live request to stop the practice. Somebody recently back from Iraq or Afghanistan. Maybe in a wheelchair or walking with a cane. Put he or she on the big screen but have them standing at midfield, explaining that when Francis Scott Key wrote about bombs bursting in air and the rockets’ red glare, he’s not talking about fireworks. He’s talking about weapons designed to tear off your kneecap and make a widow out of your wife.
3. Up the ante and ask Sam Bradford to address the crowd. Frankly, the video messages of Boren and Castiglione only incite the fans to do the opposite. But put Bradford out at midfield, give him a microphone, put him on the big screen and let him talk. He could say, “listen, I know we’re all just trying to have fun, but this deal is disrespectful to a whole lot of people and makes us look like a bunch of goobers. This yelling ‘SOONERS!’ instead of ‘brave’ at the end of the national anthem is about the only thing that makes me ashamed to be an Oklahoman. Let’s find a different way to have fun.
I don’t know if the latter two would work. But they can’t hurt. What’s the point of having heroes if we don’t put them to good use?
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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Comments
i agree 100 percent with Berry, i cant’ believe it…the more you tell the mullet head Ou fans to quit ruining the national anthem, the more they will continue to ruin it…
Sorry Tom, but if someone is offended or feels disrespected it is disrespectful of you to try to justify your behavior.
This is our country and our soldiers we’re talking about here. If people perceive saying “sooners” to be in poor taste you just continue to look bad by defending that behavior.
Maybe we could just ask them to raise their voices toward the end of “Sooners?” – like they were asking a question; because that’s what it is – a question. “Does the flag still fly over the land of the Brave?”
Go ahead – look it up.
And no – it’s not questioning anyone’s bravery (or Soonery) – it’s asking if the flag is flying.
If anyone is really making an issue of this it’s Barry, save the political correctness for the newsroom
The key here (to Tom; and by the way, thank you for your service to our country), is that IT IS disrespectful. I’m sure you don’t mean it to be. But it is preceived as disrespectful, and preception is reality.
It no doubt makes sooner fans appear as “goobers”.
THERE ARE PLENTY OF WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SOONER SPIRIT WITHOUT SHOE HORNING INTO THE NATIONAL ANTHEM.
It’s embarassing, and casts a bad (hickville) light on the sooner nation.
What if Sam secretly likes the yell? If memory serves me correct—Sam very much came to the defense of Billy Sims after the Boomer yell at the Heisman presentation. Boren is a politician—take the politically expedient way and play America the Beautiful and don’t do anymore presentations which patronize people.
MJ
What a waste of time discussion derived from P.C. or politics. I am a proud American and also have vets in my family and take no issue with this. Do you think the Sooners are the only sports team in America to insert their name into the Anthem? Let’s stay close to home for an example… How about the Dallas Stars. For years, they shout bright “STARS” and home of the “STARS.” There are no silly discussions going on, like this, in that city. The crowd is also the trendy hip crowd of the 4 major sports in that city… huh that doesn’t fit. Let’s talk about something imporant relating to the Sooners next time like…. the coaching staff.
Much ado! Craig’s point about the anthem’s last line is excellent. It’s a question about the flag itself: “O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” There is no reference to soldiers or veterans. Andrew also is right. OU fans are by far not the only ones to substitute a team name for “brave.” In Atlanta, the word has been plural for decades. It happens all across the nation. Suggesting that Sam address the crowd is just silly. With all that’s going on in the world, the Oklahoman’s Page One play of the anthem story (and on the lead sports page) was inane. If it was an attempt to draw attention away from the Sooners’ dismal circumstances, it was unnecessary and ineffective.
Attending church means that you are expected to respect it. There is no such requirement about respecting America at an OU football game. Not saying that I support actively support disrepecting America, just pointing out that your analogy doesn’t really fit.
What a ridiculous topic. The whole idea of singing the National Anthem at a sports event is ridiculous. In the spirit of sports history, I follow along….just like the 7th inning stretch tradition at baseball games. All you puckery bleep people can just worry about it.
Yeah Berry, lets all goose step in unison. You’ve got to be kiddin me, you’re now attempting to legislate behavior , make it all fit into how YOU think people should behave. Typical of an anal retentive fundamental evangelist.
How bout you just write about the game and quit tryig to control the fans.
When it is ever gonna end ? You and Boren and others try to tell fans how to cheer, about when its appropriate to boo…… jeeees, who died and made you God ?
Of course it’s disrespectful. Anyone that argues otherwise is just trying to justify their loutish behavior. The Braves do it? The Stars do it? So if the Braves and the Stars jumped off a bridge…
That said, there’s not really anything anyone can do about it. I haven’t missed an OU home game in 21 years, and if 30,000 people think it’s fun to be disrespectful, well… I just sing “brave” and let all of them be wrong.
I have been following O.U. sports for a little over 60 years and I am an O.U. grad. When the louts yell “Sooners” at the end of the anthem at basketball games, I feel like hiding under my seat in case people from other schools or states see me and identify me with the oafs who contaminate our National Anthem. People of my generation were taught to respect the flag and the anthem. Sometimes I believe that some of the later generations don’t respect anything. I do not know if OSU crowds have a similar situation. If not,I thank them. One other thing that this old person doesn’t like is the current trend for female singers to butcher the anthem with their needless trills and vocal excursions. Will you please just sing it as it was written?
I agree with Glenn…This has been bothering me for some time and Glenn describes exactly how I feel when I hear it. Like I hope no one was looking at me and thinking I was the impolite and disrespectful idiot that said that….not only in Norman, but especially in Lincoln last week, in Lawrence two weeks before, and in Dallas on Labor Day weekend. It’s embarrassing.
Wrong Trammel. It is your opinion and that is it, your opinion only. You have a publisher to print your opinions. You are not King and this is America that gives everyone the freedom of speech. If you read the words to the song, “home of the brave”, they are correct and very very incorrect at the same time. It could be called an oxymoron in reference to America’s state at this time.More than 70% of our national leaders are definitely not brave but bow and squirm to any political action committee with the loudest voice and the most money. What is brave about that.
Our military service people are very definitely brave but the song is not about the military. It is about the American people and there are huge numbers of them that are NOT brave.
I could write you a book full of examples where America is brave and at the same time NOT brave. What you fail to realize is that everyone has an opinion and most importantly not everyone agrees with you. This is one area where you should stick to sports and keep out personal opinion area.
Let those who want to yell at the top of their lungs either brave or Sooner’s. After all we still live in a free speech nation for the time being.
Hey Barry
When are you going to grow the hitler stach. If freedom of speech is the law, and it offends you that some goobers yell sooners at the end of the anthem.
Then you give up your freedom of speech and your job!!!!
I was in the military for 20 years and I am proud that the people of the United States can do this without the fear of being killed for speaking their thoughts and ideas.
Remember that Christopher Columbus was the orginial SOONER!!!
I attend every game, I don’t yell Sooners at the end of the National Anthem, and I don’t like it when others do, but it is a FREE COUNTRY thanks to “THE BRAVE”. Now because you have nothing better to write about it’s going to be ear drum shattering. Stick to actual sports coverage!
Berry,
I love reading your stuff.. I really like the idea of putting Sam Bradford or another Sooner (maybe Stoops? Switzer? Bosworth?) out at midfield.. I think that’s the best solution I’ve heard so far..
But I do have to call you out on one thing.. You correctly relate this to a church service and changing lyrics and such.. Calling it disrespectful.. So why do you insist on calling the Thunder the Boomers? No, it’s not as disrespectful as the national anthem issue, but I think it’s at least in the same ballpark.. No need to change the name of the team, when it’s perfectly great as it is.. 
Again, keep up the great work.. Just had to throw that out there!
Personally I don’t like “Sooners” replacing “Brave” at football games. However, what I mostly do not like is the manner in which the American Flag is raised. Watch the flag raising then go “Google” American flag raising. The flag is to be raised swiftly to the top of the flag pole. The way they do it at OU the National Anthem is half way finished before the flag gets moving. Further the flag is to be lowered “slowly and with honor”. I’ll bet ya a $100.00 bill that flag flies down the pole after everybody has gone home.
Flag raising across America is an absolute disgrace. I think OU should set an example and crank the flag right on up that pole before the anthem gets to the word “see” like in Oh say can you “SEE”—–top of the pole let’s show the nation that Oklahoman’s are proud Americans.
It’s interesting that those that defend this practice do so with freedom of speech and school spirit.
Do they realize that the national anthem, when sung correctly, is a symbol of the that free speech and those that have served so they have that right? And shouldn’t national spirit trump school spirit?
In the overall scheme of things, this is not a major issue – but those defacing the anthem like this should realize that they are only making themselves look small and selfish.
Maybe 30,000 people find it disrespectful, but I sure hear most of the stadium yelling it at games. You can enjoy sitting on your high horse calling us ‘disrespectful’ and ‘morons’ all you want, it doesn’t bother me. No one yells Sooners out of disrespect to our country or national anthem, so why the big fuss? If you don’t like it, don’t do it. Problem solved.
the minority? 30%? more like 80% of the old people along with the entire student section. its here to stay, and i love it.
I would suggest that every OU fan respects and honors our veterans and military personnel.
After spending time in the last week with a dying friend who landed on Okinawa, a brother-in-law suffering from the effects of Vietnam era agent orange poisoning (I’m not looking to debate if that is a ‘real’ claim or not. I’ll take him at his word.) and a son that is 60% disabled from the Persian Gulf and trying to find a job that he can do – we might all better honor them with our help. If 80,000 want to yell “Sooner” -get them to put a buck in for our vets AND make sure that all the perfectly good food that gets chucked after our home games finds it’s way to the shelters serving vets in need.
The taste of the ‘Sooners”in our national anthem will not hurt many lost ticket sales,Wilsons poor du.. play calling will eventually padlock the stadium!
Or…….we could do nothing. I yell it at every game and I’m a war veteran. I don’t think there is anything disrespectful bout this. Not meant to be disrespectful or not infact disrespectful. It is meant to be fun. Your paper is trying to creat an issue where there is none. Leave it alone.