The National Anthem and the Playoff Picture
If you're a regular (or even semi-regular) reader of Puck Daddy, you're familiar with Justin Bourne's posts. They're usually focused on a specific aspect of the game, but from a player's (or former player) perspective. Recently, he had a great piece on the anthems. If you follow me on Twitter, you know how I feel about many of the anthem singers.
But I digress. From Bourne:
As hockey fans well know, the national anthem is a staple of the hockey game experience. It gives us pause to hono(u)r our home countries, and provides us with some "American Idol"-like entertainment. It also allows the suspense to build nicely before the drop of the puck.
As a player, how you experience the anthem depends on where you're standing.
Being on the bench gives you the opportunity to really soak in the experience, whether it be helping to sing after an adorable 8-year-old girl has her mic cut out, or in just indulging in a chuckle when someone goes Christina-Aguilera-at-the-Super Bowl on the thing. In the minor leagues, there are plenty of professional Anthem Botchers to enjoy.
But when you're on the ice, it's a whole different experience, especially in a big game.
You really want to soak in the moment (and, sometimes, you let yourself for a few seconds), but you can't get lost in it. And that would be easy to do -- from where you're standing, you can hear the fans singing the anthem in a whole different way. The voices come together in a more singular, solitary sound than when you're on the other side of the glass. The ice is pristine, the jerseys are sharp ... the whole pregame presentation could easily distract the weak-minded into forgetting that there's a game to be played.
[...]
The bottom line is, the song can't be over fast enough. Like the way it must feel for racers at the starting gates, the final seconds before release seem to drag on forever.
The truth is, it's the crowds roar when the anthem ends that's the real music to the players' ears. It's go time. (Puck Daddy)
From a fan perspective, I can tell you that the roar of the crowd is definitely because we are ready for action too. Certainly many of the anthem performers that come through the Toyota Center (and other rinks I've been at) are quite talented, some moreso than others. But I guarantee you I did not go to a game to hear a concert, you're not going to get your big break and win a recording contract.
According to one of the anthem singers I know, the anthem is supposed to be sung in 76 seconds. That would make sense with the whole 1776 independence thing (even though the poem was written in 1814). So I did some digging to see if that was official national anthem protocol. Didn't find that directive anywhere, but I did find The Code for the National Anthem of the United States adopted by the National Anthem Committee in 1942. It states (in part):
- It is inappropriate to make or use sophisticated "concert" versions of the National Anthem.
- For usual mass singing of adults and for band or instrument performances, the key of A-flat will be used. For treble voices the key of B-flat may be used.
- When the National Anthem is sung unaccompanied, care should be taken to establish the correct pitch.
- The National Anthem should be sung at a moderate rate of speed. (The metronome indications in the Service Version are crotchet 104 for the verse and crotchet 96 for the chorus).
- The slighting of note values in the playing or singing of the National Anthem will seriously impair the beauty and effectiveness of both the music and the lyric. Conductors should painstakingly rehearse both instrumental and vocal groups in the meticulous observance of correct note values.
Now I took piano lessons for eight years and used a metronome, but I don't know what those settings mean. So I contacted my local band and choir teachers (teachers rule!) to find out more. Neither had heard that there was an official "rule" about the song having to be 76 seconds. The choir teacher directed me to a WikiAnswers page which pretty much contained information I'd seen on many other sites (I've seriously spent too much time researching this), it includes flag etiquette. Here's another great site with good information regarding etiquette.
The band teacher also didn't know of any official 76-second "rule", but sent me an mp3 of a recording by the US Marine Band- " The Presidents Own" It is 1 minute 17 seconds. He added, "If the presidents own band can't do it right then nobody can." One minute 17 seconds, for those keeping track, is 77 seconds, so that's pretty darn close to the 76 "rule" I'd been told about.
----------
What would happen if the playoffs started today? It would be rough going with the number of injuries, that's for sure.
That aside, as the standings are right now, the Americans would be facing the Vancouver Giants in the first round. Whooboy. If they weren't banged up going into it, they'd be banged up coming out of it. Giants are a big, physical team. Thinking back to the December 17th gongshow game, they aren't afraid to fight and show some frustrating when losing (as most teams do, let's be honest).
I'm going to screw up this "if playoffs started today" scenario by saying the Ams would have Owsley and Big Mess back from injury, still not sure what the prognosis is for Prokop, but I'm hopeful.
The Giants have some scoring power in Brendan Gallagher, currently sitting at 7th in league scoring with 38G 39A 77pts. On defense they're lead by big David Musil and Neil Manning. Number one goalie Mark Segal has a 2.93 GAA and .896 sv%. He has 3 shutouts on the season, one more than our Owl.
On the flip side, the Ams are struggling with puck luck. That's an understatement. Coach is juggling lines to compensate for injury losses and to try to spark something, anything. On one hand, I get the shuffling-as-a-spark mentality, when things aren't working, adjustments have to be made. Conversely, part of me thinks the lines that were so strong earlier in the season should stay together, work through their struggles. And I know that's a little impossible at the moment with injuries. Also, I'm not a coach so I don't know what the magic solution is. I'm sure if there was some magic solutions, all coaches everywhere would utilize it.
Other teams are no dummies, they know they need to shut down the Shinnimin-Hughesman-Ashton line and those guys, especially Shinny because of his size and some apparent "reputation", get worked over pretty good by the opposition shift after shift.
I'm not one for making predictions, I don't like to admit when I'm wrong (ask anyone who knows me) so if I don't predict, I'm off the hook. If playoffs started today, and both teams were healthy, it's hard to say which team--the Americans or Giants--would have the advantage. Maybe that's a cop-out, but I don't care. If they started today with all the current injuries, I think the Giants might have an edge.
1 comments:
LOVE the anthem post! Well done! I had no idea there were such rules. There's no rule about substituting words, such as one of the most important words, "BRAVE"?
And LOL at "if I don't predict, I'm off the hook!"
Post a Comment