Day 23: Oh say can you see...

note: Day 23 is Thursday, Febuary 10th.

Today, The St. Louis Hall of Fame held a luncheon honoring two of this year's inductees. Quite the crowd gathered to recognize Bruce Sutter, St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame pitcher and Bill Bradley, Hall of Fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar and former senator. The room was filled with athletes and fans and members of the media. I had the honor and privilege of singing the national anthem to help kick off the event.

Award-winning broadcaster Ron Jacober introduced me. Because people had already started eating lunch, he told them that they could stay seated if they wanted during the anthem. But as I sang the first phrase the crowd began to stand. First, one by one, they set down their forks and pulled up their napkins and rose to their feet. Then whole tables stood. And within seconds, the entire room stood tall with their hands on their hearts. After the final note, Mr. Jacober said, "The NFL should be paying attention to you."

I hadn't planned to mentioned Christina Aguilera's anthem singing error at Superbowl XLV on this blog until  Mr. Jacober made that comment. I have been singing the national anthem for 23 years. And there is one thing that I know for sure about the anthem: the singing of our national anthem is a precious moment.

The lyrics come from a poem written by Francis Scott Key and they are based on a specific battle. A man had left Baltimore to try to rescue his friend who was being held captive by the British army. When he tried to return, he couldn't because there was a planned attack on the city. He watched from afar and he spotted the flag waving over the city. The man kept watch over night and at one point, in the midst of the bombing, he lost sight of the flag. As dawn came and the smoke cleared, he realized that the flag was still there.

There is nothing about that story that is not relevant today. For most of my life, our country has been at war. There are men and women enduring battle day and night and when they make it through... when they fight through the night... they are that flag that is still standing when the smoke clears.

Every American should know the words and understand the meaning behind the song and appreciate that it is just as relevant today as it was in 1814. And every anthem singer should remember that the performance is secondary to telling the story.