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What on Earth Is Going On in New York City? The Islanders and the Anthem
You’ve probably seen clips of the National Anthem performance at the recent Islander games. It’s extraordinary. The entire crowd, singing their hearts out. Absolutely brought tears to my eyes. You’ve got to watch it – they have the clip in this Fox News article. It’s beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. If you haven’t seen it, you really should. It will make your whole week.
It’s also confusing. It’s an Islanders game. They play in New York City. Their stadium is less than 20 miles from JFK airport. I didn’t think you could find 10,000 patriots within 50 miles of that place. Democrats have spent the last few years trying to get sports teams to stop the National Anthem performances before games – too polarizing, too racist, too whatever. And here are 10,000 New Yorkers belting it out like they’re trying to make a point. And there were no hockey players kneeling on the ice.
Is New York City more conservative than I thought? Or are even New York liberals starting to fear the loss of their country? Or perhaps hockey fans are different than fans of other sports? Or perhaps there are a lot of northeastern Democrats who aren’t quite on board with the ‘destroy America’ platform of the Democrat party? Maybe, um – gosh, I don’t know – it’s surreal.
Sometimes I think there may be hope. Maybe just a little.
I’d almost forgotten what that feels like. It feels great.
Excuse me while I go watch that video again…
Published in General
I just watched the video. While the players didn’t kneel, they didn’t exactly join in either. In fact, the few camera shots of the players show a blase’ attitude towards the whole thing.
I’ve watched a few NCAA hockey games here in Fairbanks, and our hockey team could demonstrate a little more respect too. But I’ll add that many visiting teams, especially those from the state of Michigan (except for the more liberal U of M) would do a “hockey salute” with their sticks at the conclusion of the anthem.
Maybe those more cynical pros should be doing the same thing, instead of being above it all.