When two high schools met to play for the D-1 championship title at a stadium in Fresno, California, their fans were shocked to hear the announcer tell them that there would be no National Anthem. But the defiant fans had the perfect counteroffer for the announcer.
While attending a game between Clovis High and Buchanan at Fresno State University’s Margie Wright Diamond, hundreds of fans were in disbelief when they learned that the National Anthem would not be played. After booing the announcement, it was how they responded that has Americans cheering for them and their decision to show their patriotism.
Even in these modern times, baseball is still one of our country’s favorite pastimes. Other professional sports may have gotten a black eye, but millions of Americans continue to look to baseball as our country’s finest game. It is as American as it gets. It’s also a very patriotic game. Baseball has forever been associated with our culture, history, and values. Fans of baseball are fiercely patriotic. They love the game, their teams, and the United States.
So, you can imagine what the crowd was thinking when, at the start of a game in Fresno, the stadium did not play our national anthem because it had already been played before an earlier game. When they realized what was happening, the audience was in no way pleased. Many started to boo, outraged that the school refused to play the anthem. The rest of the crowd, however, had an idea. They all stood up and sang it, anyway.
According to CBS News, despite being told: “there will be no anthem,” fans took it upon themselves to ensure that the country and tradition were honored by standing and singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” a cappella. Tiffany Marquez, a fan who attended the game, captured a video of the inspiring moment.
We came to CIF D1 section championship game between Clovis and Buchanan and the announcer said “there will be no national anthem.” After some booing, the whole stadium stood up and started singing it on their own.
Posted by Tiffany Marquez on Friday, May 25, 2018
“Honestly, I was shocked [when] the announcer stated, ‘There will be no anthem, let’s just play softball,'” Marquez told the Fresno Bee. “Within seconds, you could hear people in the crowd singing and the volume of their voices building. There I was, standing in the middle of a true testament to unity and patriotism.”
Meanwhile, event coordinator Bob Kayajania took responsibility for the decision to not have the anthem played at the game. “The national protocol is the first game of the session you have the National Anthem,” said Kayajania. “The games after that are just played.”
“We got caught,” Kayajania admitted. “They started to play some music and the people took that as the national anthem and they all started singing, which I think is obviously a wonderful thing to show off their patriotism.” Kayajania called it a “learning experience” and said that going forward, the anthem will be played at every game.
The American flag and the “Star Spangled-Banner” still matter to a whole lot of people, and they take it personally when anyone disrespects these deeply-held symbols of our great nation. The softball fans who stood in defiance of an announcer who couldn’t be bothered to give the anthem a moment of his time were true role models for the kids on the field that day, and for Americans everywhere.
