It was near the end of the singing of the National Anthem before the first Ole Miss game in the NCAA’s Oxford Regional Baseball Tournament Saturday evening — a day behind schedule due to bad weather Friday.
The baseball players representing the University of Mississippi and St. Louis University, along with about 11,000 mostly Ole Miss fans, stood respectfully with hats and caps removed. Old Glory flew on a flag pole in left-center field and the players faced that way, standing at attention. No kneeling or protests.
Then came a shout more often heard at Ole Miss football games and occasionally at a basketball game.
“Go the hell LSU!”
I’ve heard it for years, not just when Ole Miss was playing LSU either. Last Saturday, the LSU baseball team was as far away as Oregon, but the message was still sent.
Maybe the Tiger faithful should take it as a compliment. After all, I’ve never heard “Go to hell State” punctuate the rockets' red glare and bombs bursting in air, although the school to the southeast of Oxford allegedly is our main rival.
There are tee shirts and caps directing Mississippi State to the place down under, and I can’t say it hasn't been shouted out at some games between the in-state universities.
But LSU by far gets the prize when it comes to interrupting the National Anthem at Ole Miss games.
Frankly I hadn’t given it much thought until the past week. Then the question hit me:
If professional athletes, such as former St. Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, are unpatriotic in kneeling during the National Anthem before an athletic contest, could the same be said of one who disrupts the singing of the anthem by telling a rival to go to hell? And what about those who deem such behavior just a fun part of the festivities and chuckle at it? Are they unpatriotic?
Obviously there are deep differences in the two demonstrations.
Kaepernick and other athletes who have taken a knee during the anthem claim to be protesting what they consider injustices, including police violence, against black people. Kaepernick is quoted: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” The occasional “go to hell shouts” — which don’t occur at every game but are frequent enough — are frivolous and meant to be in good humor. No none really wants LSU people to go to hell, or at least I hope they don’t.
But if a non-serious, joking violation of accepted protocol of being quiet and reverent during the National Anthem isn’t unpatriotic, why shouldn't a quiet serious protest be judged by the same standard?
Is guess it’s a matter of opinion, but I’m just asking.
Probably the best way to react to such behavior, in both cases, is to ignore it.
If the athletes who started protesting during the National Anthem a couple of years ago hadn’t gotten so much attention, the issue may have gone away by now. Protests don't last very long when they are ignored.
They have the right not to stand during the National Anthem under this nation’s constitution. But it seems to me, the owners of their teams should have the right not to hire them if they violate whatever policies the franchise dictates. But then you get into the government subsidies some of those owners get in the form of tax breaks, public-built stadiums and such and it’s a complicated cans of legal worms.
As for me, I’m not for disrespecting the flag and the National Anthem either seriously or frivolously.
When they play the Star Spangled Banner, I stand and place my hat across my heart, even when the sun is beating down on my bald head.
