Here’s something I didn’t know that almost made me spew my lunch all over my monitor:  in Yankee Stadium, being present during the national anthem and “God Bless America” is mandatory.  They literally chain you into the aisles.  If you try to leave for any reason you’ll be cuffed and thrown out of the stadium, like this guy was when he tried to go to the bathroom during the all-important Musical Moments of Patriotism and Religious Fervor.  Of course the NYPD says that he was drunk and disorderly, which he claims is ridiculous…and seeing how the NYPD attacks bicylists at random these days, I’m not too inclined to believe them.

Lacking a more eloquent way to express my feelings on this, all I can say is:  fuck this sports-nationalism shit.  Why in the world are people singing the National Anthem at any sports event?  What is that?  What purpose does it serve — to remind us that we’re Americans?  I think we’re well aware of that, thank you.  Attending a baseball game doesn’t make you a good American.  I can understand their desire to do it for a while after an emotional event like 9/11, but forcing this on people years after the fact is just plain nuts.

The same goes for making the players pray before each game, what a crock.  Assuming there’s some bearded man in the sky who takes orders from athletes, do you really think he gives a shit about favoring one team over another?  I think he’d have more pressing issues to attend to.  These guys never blame God when they lose, either…they just accept it as “His will.”  Oh, I’d love to see some football player leaving the field after a crushing defeat, shaking his fist in the air and cursing the heavens.  But I’d have to actually watch football to see that, so nevermind…