Hello! My name is Jake Nordstrom, and welcome to my blog on the Basics of Baseball. Today I will be talking about how important the National Anthem is to respect, and what it means to us as the Americans who share it. Hope you enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAZcXhcl-3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAZcXhcl-3s
The National Anthem
When the Anthem is played at any sporting event:
- Stand up, remove your cap or hat, and put it over your heart.
- If you don't have a hat, take your right hand, and place it over your heart to show respect.
- It is important not to speak, make comments, or goof off during the Anthem. The only time you talk is when you are singing along.
- Focus on the flag, and respect it.
- Once the Anthem has started, you have three options. You can:
- Sing along with the singer
- Move your lips to the words
- Stand in silence and respect what is being said
- If you're a Mom, you may cry. I know my Mom always does...
- When the Anthem is over, it is then okay to sit back down, put your hat back on, and eat your nachos.
What the National Anthem Means
Most Kids don’t realize what the National Anthem really means. They think that it is just a simple paragraph of words said to “represent” our country. But they haven’t really even bothered to look into it and see what all of the lines mean.
Below: The original National Anthem
(Read it over, and then below, look at what it means in a more kid friendly language).
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Below: Translated for Kids to understand
Hey, can you see this morning,
What we saw and were so amazed by and proud of last night?
The flag that, through all the dangerous fighting,
We could still see standing strong and waving?
Throughout the fighting bombs, guns and cannons are going off and their explosions are lighting the night sky,
The light from the explosions showed us that indeed, our flag was still standing!
Yes, our flag IS still standing!
Over our land, the land of free willing to fight bravely for their freedom: The United States of America!
If you really study these words, you can start to see the connection to what really happened in our history of the United States of America.
In war, our soldiers and our flag stood tall. We were fighting for our freedom. We gained our freedom. We are free to this day and use the symbol of our flag to show our respect to our country and to those who have sacrificed their lives defending it.
So stand up and respect it at every opportunity.
So stand up and respect it at every opportunity.
You see, in baseball, when you are faced with adversity and one door closes...with a positive attitude, another door may open...to allow great things to happen!
Video Below: At one of our last All Star games, the snack bar was accidentally locked so there was no music to play the National Anthem into the loud speaker before the game. Out of the "blue", the umpire respectfully stepped up and said, "I can sing".
Enjoy our All Star Team and this Little League Umpire spontaneously paying respect to
our National Anthem. Awesome!
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Thanks to my friend Chris Ware for his help with technology.
Another thanks to the Umpire with the respect to have a voice. Thanks Mr. Burnham!
Special thanks to America for being the greatest country ever. God Bless America and all of our soldiers who have fought for it!
Thanks to my friend Chris Ware for his help with technology.
Another thanks to the Umpire with the respect to have a voice. Thanks Mr. Burnham!
Special thanks to America for being the greatest country ever. God Bless America and all of our soldiers who have fought for it!
