Technical Failure Forces Entire Gym To Step Up for Powerful Anthem Rendition
There’s no controversy over the national anthem in Alleman, Iowa — at least, if one viral video is any indication.
According to WHO-TV, students at the high school are now going viral after a video showed two basketball teams and the crowd singing along to “The Star-Spangled Banner” when glitches turned off the loudspeaker at North Polk High school.
“Due to technical issues, the recording of the national anthem wasn’t able to play before North Polk and Roland-Story tipped off,” the station posted on its Facebook account Friday.
“But that didn’t faze anyone in the gym.”
And indeed it didn’t. If anything, the anthem sounded just as loud as it would have with the speaker on.
According to Fox News, a musical recording of the anthem — what North Polk would usually play — didn’t come on as planned.
Instead, “players, referees and fans supporting both the North Polk and Roland-Story teams joined together for a rousing rendition of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ that hit all the right notes, before the athletes jumped into action on the court.”
Talk about a memorable senior night.
“So the recording of the national anthem didn’t work at the game tonight. So the entire room sang the national anthem and no one missed a single beat,” WHO photojournalist Sam Lozada tweeted.
So the recording of the national anthem didn’t work at the @npgirlsbb game tonight. So the entire room sang the national anthem and no one missed a single beat. @SoundOFF13 pic.twitter.com/eQnPrxRk16
— Sam Lozada (@SamLozada) February 2, 2019
This sort of thing actually isn’t so uncommon, either.
Take a 2015 college softball game between the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and Baylor University. The crowd was told there was no time to sing the national anthem before the game.
That didn’t stop them:
The same thing happened at a high school baseball final in Fresno, California last year, when Clovis High school and Buchanan High School fans sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” without music when it wasn’t played due to time constraints:
It’s often hard to remember, with all of the sturm und drang over the national anthem in professional sports — the NFL in particular — that the song still remains in the hearts on the minds of the people in America’s cities and towns. In communities like Alleman, Iowa, there are people for whom respect for the flag and “The Star-Spangled Banner” is never an issue.
I write this as the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams are about to take the field in Super Bowl LIII. The halftime acts are under tremendous pressure to take a knee. We have no idea what’ll transpire during the national anthem, although one assumes there won’t be any protests en masse like we saw in 2017.
Whatever happens, however — this Super Bowl or any season in the future — we should keep in mind the anthem isn’t in jeopardy of becoming obsolete.
Yes, it may infuriate us to see people who make a living under the aegis of the flag and anthem disrespect both. I’m not saying that isn’t shameful. But remember, evidence seems to indicate we’re the ones on the winning side.
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