Comments on: Should sports stars know their national anthems?

By: DonDonP1

DonDonP1 — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 06:17:29 +0000

I have to admit: not only do I know my own national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner," but also a few others, including "God Save the Queen" and "O Canada," among others. I am proud of most of the national anthems of the world and have respect as well.

By: xini

xini — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 19:05:40 +0000

Why not just create a police state, and we can all sing the anthem and salute at the same time (forced under penalty of suddenly disappearing)

By: Mexx

Mexx — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 05:04:44 +0000

In Mexico we learn our national anthem in early childhood and every school week starts with Monday morning honouring the flag and singing the anthem.
Mexican athletes sing the anthem and all the fans in the stadium do so too. Albeit badly, tone-wise (in many cases!) we sing it with love and pride. I am nearing 50 and it still brings a lump to my throat when I hear it, and when I hear hundreds or thousands singing it together at a sporting event. No matter what I am doing, if the anthem is played I stop and put my hand on my heart. With conviction!
There is nothing wrong with patriotism and loving your country (nationalism is different, it is looking down on those who are not of your nation).

By: Karen Wilkin

Karen Wilkin — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 03:28:11 +0000

I think that if an athlete from the USA wins a gold medal, they should sing our National Anthem loud and proud as our flag is raised. The lyrics tell what a strong and proud country we are and by singing it they show that they are honored to represent this great country at the Olympics.

By: Go Team USA

Go Team USA — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 07:12:28 +0000

I am disappointed that our USA Olympians do not AT LEAST mouth our National Anthem. What is up with that. I find it extremely disrespectful and embarassing. Come on... our Athletes have listened to our anthem for years–learn the words and express your respect.

By: Emily

Emily — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 05:06:58 +0000

Absolutely, athletes should be required to know and sing the National Anthem before a competition or at an Medal ceremony. It is an embarrassment when the National Anthem is playing and the athletes just stand there like slugs. If I were a coach, starting with Little League, I would insist that my players either sing the anthem or don't bother comning to the game because you won't be playing in it. You look extremely unpatriotic just standing there without singing.

By: T. Hav

T. Hav — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:32:03 +0000

Suggesting *all* athletes should know their anthems presupposes that a national anthem is a major symbol in every country and culture... which is just not the case. Nationalism means something different in every country, and each country fielding athletes in it's name should be allowed to make it's own regulations, based on it's culture, politics, etc...

As for those athletes representing my own country, the USofA... It's certainly not the government's place to force such an issue: first because our freedom-of-speech (or non-speech) values should forbid it, and second because, unlike most countries, the US teams are not funded or supported in any but diplomatic ways by the federal government.

And yet, It thrills me every Olympics to notice that, though our athletes have no obligation to sing along, they usually do. In fact, they do so far more reliably than athletes from most other countries.
Because, even with our many flaws, the US is a pretty great place to be from.

By: jases

jases — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:50:35 +0000

of course

By: tazokee

tazokee — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 14:34:42 +0000

I think the Spanish really have to adopt a new anthem that will represent the nation in generality rather than having an anthem that has no wording. I would like to humbly recommend to the world governing body FIFA to make it mandatory for players to sing their national anthem before playing any official match.

By: Nanbawan

Nanbawan — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 20:05:19 +0000

It's better if they know the lyrics but that's not such a big deal ; the most important is to respect your country's anthem and the opponent's one, that should be enough.

Strange how this patriotic craze is growing when 2 decades ago, the trend was rather to get rid of national anthems before games...Times have changed and not necessarily for the better...