No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

When my radio alarm woke me up this morning (a New York talk radio station WOR710 AM in case of school closures) the radio jocks were commenting about the fact that the US National anthem (Star Spangled Banner) was not played immediately before the England v Colombia match at Giants Stadium in NJ.

The New Jersey State Governor is up in arms about it - he says he was told that "the British people didn't want to play it"...and has fired off letters of complaint to the British Ambassador, amongst others. I was at the game and elfman and I were amused that the Colombian anthem was very lengthy in comparison to 'God Save the Queen'.

The Star spangled Banner was however played prior to the following match between the Metrostars and Chicago Fire - which was obviously more appropriate considering that the teams are American.

The radio jocks (whom didn't go to the stadium) then made sarcastic comments about the fact that 'soccer will never be a major sport in the US unlike the rest of the world because no respect is made towards the US national anthem' and that the reason why the stadium was cleared so quickly after the game was that the attendees were trying to avoid the INS".....what a pair of tossers... :mad: :rolleyes:

Here's the story as printed in today's 'Star Ledger'....

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey...120.xml&coll=1

What do you think?

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

That's stupid!
I can't say for sure if ths is true but in all the Europen Club competitions, the European cup and the world cup, I don't remember them playing the host nations national anthem if they weren't playing.

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

Well as the USA does in fact own the planet, the anthem should be played at *all* sporting events regardless of where they are held. In fact I for one, was most dismayed that it wasn't played at the Eurovision Song Contest and am thinking of writing a strongly letter to someone.

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

In the World Cup they only play the anthems of the teams playing. Doesn't make much sense to do the host nations.

I think over here they play the US anthem before concerts as well most sports events, which would be why there was an expectation that it would be played.

Personally, I get fed up with all this overt patriotism, particularly when Americans try to force it on people. There was uproar among certain right leaning parts of the media when last year a school girl who did not agree with the Iraq war wouldn't stand and sing the anthem before her school basketball games.

But, hey I guess I should have learnt by now that the whole world revolves around the US. ;)

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

Where was the ref. from, was his national anthem played? Its a disgrace I tell ya

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

I'm sure there were fans from a number of different countries. I bet most of them wrote a stern letter asking why their anthem wasn't played. It's the commentators and the people who were watching it on TV that I feel sorry for, taken for granted.

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

No they don't, where on earth did you hear that?

Also, there is only one article in all of Google News about this, I think this thread might be making a mountain out of a molehill.

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

The DJs are idiots trying to stir something up that just isn't there. Your average American understands that there's no need to play the US national anthem at a sporting event where neither of the teams is American -- even if that event is held in the US. Look at how anthems were played at Olympic Games held in the US as an example.

The very fact that the DJs made xenophobic comments about the spectators clearing out quickly to avoid being rounded up by the INS (and I'm sure they meant the Colombian spectators, not the English spectators) just shows they have their heads up their butts and are NOT representative of Americans as a people. As for the NJ governor, he probably heard from some equally idiotic people and made comments about it so he wouldn't get a political backlash or be labeled "un-American".

~ Jenney

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

While I'd like to agree with you I've a horrible feeling that the DJ's and governors voices will be the loudest ones in this and a lot of Americans who otherwise wouldnt give a toss will be now thinking along those same lines. If that had happened in the UK there would allegations of stirring racial hatred.

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

very true about the dj's, but it does seem amusing that they aren't being made accountable for being such tits...and the govnor, free press isn't it...and not to say anything would get him in more trouble than ignoring it probably...

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

As a patriotic Brit I personally find it disgusting that "God Save The Queen" wasn't played during the Superbowl. I know it was an American game played on American soil, and is a game understood by hardly anyone outside North America, but that's not the point ;)

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

The irony is that upon hearing "God Save the Queen" many Americans would assume they're hearing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee", a patriotic song in the same ranks as "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful". The tune is that of "God Save the Queen" but the lyrics were written in 1832 by Samuel F. Smith. Most Americans (myself included) only know the first stanza, and have sung it in school for generations:

My country,' tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!

~ Jenney

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

OMG!!! :eek:

Quick, let's get a petition together - this abuse of our Natinal Anthem is outrageous! :D

But who do we send it to? United Nations is pointless because the US don't give a toss about the UN :mad:

Suggestions anyone? ;)

Elvira

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

Indeed - went on for a while, didn't it?

What annoys me about this is that I would prefer the governor of my state to spend his time on more important matters, rather than writing loads of Mr-Angry-from-Trenton letters to just about anybody he could think of associated with Britain. The shocking state of the roads here would be a good place to start.

Re: No Star Spangled Banner at England v Colombia match
 

When looking up the lyrics (I know them but was too lazy to type them out, so decided to copy-and-paste instead!), I discovered that the tune for "God Save the Queen" is also that of Liechtenstein's national anthem, and has previously been used as the national anthem tune for Denmark, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.

At least the US didn't use it for our national anthem, just for a regular, patriotic song! And hey -- my university's alma mater uses the same tune as "Love Me Tender", so go figure...

~ Jenney