I went to an ECHL game last night. It was fun and affordable family entertainment. The quality of play was below that of the (now defunct) IHL in my opinion. More kids in this league, whereas the IHL had some veterans.

I miss the Detroit Vipers. It's hard to identify with a team when the name doesn't start with "Detroit". I root for the Idaho team, but it just...doesn't seem to matter all that much. Kind of like I'm cheering for someone elses team.

The game I watched last night was between the Idaho Steelheads and Victoria Salmon Kings. (Sounds kind of fishy, eh?). The other game I saw was against the Bakersfield Condors.

So I'm thinking, "where the hell is Bakersfield and where is Victoria???" I guess Bakersfield is in California and Victoria is in Canada.

My kid looked at me and asked "Why are they playing the Canadian national anthem?" I explained that we do this when playing teams from Canada. I then commented, and she agreed, that the Canadian national anthem is MUCH better than ours. It's beautiful. Now, I don't mean to be un-patriotic or tick anyone off but the Star spangled banner sounds...mundane.

Now with that being said, I prefer "America (the beautiful) over both anthems and the Ray Charles rendition will bring goosebumps every time no matter how many times I hear it.

Oh yeah, I saw three people with Red Wings Jerseys, but didn't get the chance to speak with them. They didn't know I was from Michigan, though, because I was sporting my Tampa Bay Lightning jersey. The arena is very intimate, and seats about 5,000. Oh yeah, bought my boy a Jersey. $90 bucks. Yeesh! If the damned labradoodle puppy (a 45 pound puppy!!!!) tries to tear it (and believe me he will if given the opportunity), the dog is HISTORY!!!

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"Quite simply captain, I examined the problem from all angles, and it was plainly hopeless. Logic informed me that under the circumstances, the only logical action would have to be one of desperation. Logical decision, logically arrived at." -- Spock

Victoria is in the province of British Columbia. It's on an island, near Vancouver. It's where Steve Nash is from. Very beautiful.

Maybe it's because I am Canadian, but hearing our anthem in an arena is spine chilling. It's magnificent.

I like the US anthem quite a bit as well, but I think that they have had so many celebrities butcher it at sporting events has reduced it's lustre.

A National Anthem shouldn't be subjected to stylistic interpretation IMO.

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

roscoe, I could not have said it better. The American celebrities butcher our anthem to badly that I go on the defensive every time someone starts to sing it.

The best I have ever heard it sung was by a Canadian singer several years ago. For the life of me, I cannot remember at which sporting event I heard it, but I wrote about it on this board at the time. It was at a game played in Canada, probably a baseball game. It might have been the last time the MLB All Star or world series was played up north.

A couple of years ago, one of the internation golf championships was played in the Detroit area. They sang anthems from a number of Euro countries as the U.S. golfers were playing the rest of the world. I had chills when I heard the beautiful renditions of all those anthems, until some jerk sang ours and messed it up so badly I could not even listen to it all the way through.

Off on another rant, so I had better sign off for now.

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Things appear to be at their darkest . . . . . . . . . just before they go totally black!!

Stick around lazy. Ranting is our forum passtime!

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

i dunno...i don't like the canadian national anthem, and absolutely love the american national anthem. of course, i usually tune out after hearing 'oh...can...ah.dahhhhh' ;o

You don't know me, but you don't like me
You say you care less how I feel
But how many of you that sit and judge me
Ever walked the streets of Bakersfield
-Buck Owens

I was born, lucky me
In a land that I love
Though I am poor, I am free
When I grow I shall fight
For this land I shall die
Let her sun never set
Victoria, victoria, victoria, ’toria
-Ray Davies

I'm not familiar with the Canadian National Anthem, but I do like the Star Spangled Banner. As far as celebrity versions, I think the Hendrix version at Woodstock really captures the glory of the lyrics, even though there are no lyrics.

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, baby!

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"Eastern Conference regular-season champs, baby," said Chauncey Billups. "This is what we set out for when we started the season in training camp. We did it and we're happy." (2003)

Totally agree with all of this. Ray is the best at singing it. When I become a U.S. senator, I will draft legislation to change the national anthem to "America, the Beautiful," and then promptly be assassinated by a hillbilly from some Southern state who doesn't want tradition to be trifled with.

Canada's anthem is WAY better than the Star-Spangled Banner, which is really a song about the War of 1812 and not as representative of the beauty of this country the way "America" is.

Bravo, DT!

I think every anthem is beautiful when everyone is singing it in unison.

We don't normally let anyone sing it stylistically at an event, but the fans will chime in, particularly at larger events and sing along.

I noticed that American tradition seems to be that everyone stays quiet while it is sung and then cheer at the end. Is this just my perception, or is it a sort of unwritten rule about observing the national anthem?

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Momma was queen of the mambo, Poppa was king of the congo, deep down in the jungle, I start banging my first bongo
Every monkey like to be, in my place instead of me, cause I'm the king of bongo baby, I'm the king of bongo bong
-Manu Chao

I don't think there is any unwritten rule about it. Most people just choose not to sing along with it, but a few people do sing along. It's up to the individual. I don't think anyone cares either way.

We probably cheer when it's over because we are happy the stupid song with the bad singer is over and we can sit down!!!

Anyone here notice how much better the star-spangled banner is sung at hockey games compared to NBA games. Maybe it is just a coincidence, but the last 3 NHL game singers I saw blew away the last 3 NBA singers.