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Oh say can you respect the flag?

John Nash 24 January 2010 Ice Hockey 2,072 views 23 CommentsPrint This Post Print This Post Email This Post Email This Post

One of my pet peeves from the world of sports occurs before any games even start.

It happens during the closing moments of the National Anthem, right around the time the singer/Ipod/CD player hits the words, “O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave … ” before the song is even completed.

That is the time when many athletes and fans start to whoop it up, raise their helmets, clap their collective hands and cheer as though they had actually taken a leader in the contest.

Simply put, it’s disrespectful.

The reason I bring this is up because earlier this week I was talking with Wilton boys hockey coach Brett Amero and the subject of sportsmanship and the like came up.

He told me a story of how an opposing coach once called him after a Warriors win to compliment him on the class and grace the Warriors showed, right down to their remaining still for the entire National Anthem. Former Warriors coach Charlie Blanchard started the tradition just about 20 years ago and it continues today.

On Saturday, I witnessed it for myself.

As the song came to an end, the Ridgefield hockey team started banging their sticks and a few of them even started to skate around to pick up their helmets.

Wilton stood as a team on the blue line, not a single player moving until the last note echoed off the walls.

People will always remind you that people died so that our flag could fly so high and proud and it deserves to be respected.  I believe that, too. But, I suppose, people who turn their back  on the flag, or those who run their mouth during the playing of it, or those who can’t stand still for a few extra seconds have the right to do that, too. No matter how class-less it looks.

As for the Wilton boys hockey team, they’re a showcase of class, all the way.

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23 Comments »

  1. I was not at this game but couldn\’t agree more with your opinion. I actually commented about this a while back in reference to how the Trumbull Football team remained still to the very end of the national anthem this past fall whereas the Wilton team did not. As a relatively recent Wilton alum I can say that in the not so distant past no one would have raised their helmets or \"whooped it up\" before the end of the song – perhaps the hockey team\’s practice should become a department-wide policy for Wilton athletics.

    //Bud Bud Bud Bud
    25 January 2010 at 11:01 am

  2. You were dissapointed that Wilton lost a big game, to their archrival, in what has so far been a successful season. I understand that. But to write this and passively take a shot at Ridgefield is really not right. To draw the conclusion that 16 and 17 year old boys don’t respect the flag because they were figity during a national anthem is such a stretch that it does not justify print. I would hope you would use better judgement in your blogs in the future.

    Just curious? How did the nine teams that Wilton beat stand during the national anthem? Do you not know? Or maybe you don’t care because you beat them?

    //Sour Grapes
    25 January 2010 at 1:14 pm

  3. He was just stating a fact. The Ridgefield team was disrespectful simply put. Perhaps other Wilton teams could benefit from learning how disrespectful it is to do what these kids did. And let it be stated that this was not the only unsportsmanlike thing that the Ridgefield kids partook in…….

    //Missing the point
    25 January 2010 at 3:24 pm

  4. For the record, I don’t think the Ridgefield team was purposely being disrepectful to the flag for doing what they’re doing. It happens in sports all the time, including other teams from Wilton and the rest of the FCIAC who have done the same thing.

    It’s just socially acceptable in the world of sports to do that. Listen to the National Anthem during the Super Bowl and see where the fans start to applaud. It isn’t a Ridgefield problem. It’s a problem thoughout the world of sports, just as my opening line stated.

    The point of this post was to point out how the Wilton hockey team has been taught to show the flag and the anthem respect. They just happened to be playing Ridgefield in the game where I witnessed it first hand.

    //John Nash (author)
    25 January 2010 at 3:36 pm

  5. Missing the point – you dont really think that do you? If you do, you have to take off your “Wilton” colored glasses. It was a physical game and punches, taunts etc were instigated by both sides. To think that a goup of kids in Ridgefield are more disrepectful than a group of kids in Wilton in the same game is just silly. So what is your logic? Two similiar towns, with similiar economics, infrastructure, schools, ethnicity, religous backgroundd etc — but in your town the kids are respectful, and in the town just north of you the kids are disreepsctful? It is just not logical, and I think your emotions are getting the best of you.

    And read Mr Nash’s response. I think you are the one who missed the point.

    //Sour Grapes
    25 January 2010 at 4:05 pm

  6. —-and Mr Nash —- this is not a “problem” worth writing about. You should applaud all those boys who get up at 4 am and head to the rink for practice. They work hard year round at their sport. They are good students, atheltes, brothers and sons. They have jobs in the community, volunteer their time for charity, safe rides and lead exemplary lives. They will go on to do good things in life. Your article villifies them in a very passive aggressive manner, and is really a very unfortunate act by you and your paper.

    This was a HOCKEY GAME between teenage boys. We have bigger problems in our world and for you to make this an issue is just SOUR GRAPES after your loss. It was very irresponsible and should be taken off your page.

    //Sour Grapes
    25 January 2010 at 4:13 pm

  7. Sour grapes! This is a great teaching point for you! How about instead of commenting on the article, you sit the boys down and explain how classless and weak it looks to skate around while the national anthem is being played. It is in the utmost respect to our brothers and sisters across seas that we respect the national anthem. You arguing against this makes you seem very unpatriotic and is a flat out disrespect to the people in our Armed Forces. You are being the typical parent in this situation trying to stand up for your kid. “missing the point” was right, this can be used to teach all sorts of different teams in WHS (AND EVEN MORE IN RHS). If you think that this is “NOT A PROBLEM” then I have to ask you how much respect you have for the people that risk their lives EVERYDAY for YOUR safety. Thank you for this article it is something that needed to be written.

    //son of a veteran
    25 January 2010 at 5:54 pm

  8. Ok first off this is unbelievable. Give the kids a break, sorry Ridgefield kids arent perfect like Wilton kids. Its one game and to write an article complaining about how the Ridgefield boys tapped there sticks on the ice at the end is kind of ridiculous . After watching over 15 years of hockey games i have seen almost everything you can. Almost every game i have seen, teams tap there sticks on the ice. To say that is disrespectful is way out of line. And when it comes to skating around during the end of national anthem might not be the best thing to do but there is no way those kids meant to disrespect people overseas fighting for us. Ridgefield wasn\\\’t the only team out there on Saturday who showed poor sportsmanship. Wilton was chippy also and started stuff after the whistle. Its Hockey, it will always be like this. You have to realize the rivalry between these two teams and that they grew up playing each-other. Why don\\\’t we all move on and just forget about what happened Saturday. Both teams played hard and was a great game. I just think it is wrong to call out 15,16 and 17 year olds when you can say the same thing about College and Professional teams.

    //observer
    25 January 2010 at 7:01 pm

  9. they grew play WITH each other in RAHA and it should have meant they’d have more respect for each other. There were a few kids who ruined the match up. I don’t think Wilton necessarily has the more respectful kids day in and day out, but during that game there were no Wilton players giving the Ridgefield fans the double middle finger salute, and there was no Wilton player who skated by the Ridgefield bench yelling “you lose again” when it was 5-1 Ridgefield. Both Ridgefield players who did these disrespectful acts were kids who played right alongside the Wilton kids for years. Shame on them, and shame on parents who go along with “it’s just hockey, it’s just a game”. Not true, as evidenced by the kids on the Wilton team and the Ridgefield team who were able to control their tempers and play a class act game. Highest marks go to Lovallo, Rosencrantz, Morrissey, DiPrima, Gamber who showed their former RAHA Wiltonians respect on the ice, albeit they were tough and they were good! Not so high marks go to the 3 Ridgefield players who also played side by side the Wilton kids for year yet displayed “over the top” disrespectful behavior. It’s only hockey? Not so.

    Couldn’t care less about who wins or who loses, but do care when kids and parents think their vile behavior at any sporting event is OK becuase “it’s just a game”. Not so. Glad to hear they volunteer in their community, hope they don’t routinely give the double middle finger salute as they fulfill their civic duty.

    God bless the flag and all teams everywhere who respect the National Anthem.

    //there too
    25 January 2010 at 7:44 pm

  10. I also have many veterans in my family so that does not make you the exlusive authority. I am pretty sure they are fighting to defend our freedom and democracy and stopping evil people who are terrorizing our nation. Not about one group of kids standing straighter than another group of kids, and some imaginary perceived lack of respect. So you really miss the point of all this.

    The teaching point is to take a loss like an adult and stop making an issue over something that is not there. I would tell my child if he was on the team the lesson in all this is if you want to win work harder. If you lose work harder. Dont complain, make alibis, try and get your opponent in trouble — just work harder and win next time.

    But you hide behind an issue you are turning into a big deal to villanize your opponent. It is weak. Disrepect for people fighting overseas? Are you serious? IT IS A HOCKEY GAME THAT YOUR TEAM LOST. Man up and win next time.

    //Sour Grapes
    25 January 2010 at 7:47 pm

  11. I have been to the Winter Garden hundreds of times. The American flag is on the wall to the far left of where the Wilton fans sit. The Ridgefield player line up on the far goal line to the Wilton fans far right. So let me ask one question. Why were you so busy looking at the Ridgefield team to your far right as opposed to looking at the American flag on your left? Sounds like you were not showing the respect that you preach.

    (ADMINISTRATOR’S NOTE – There is also a flag that hangs high from the ceiling on the scoreboard end of the rink in addition to the big flag on the wall over lobby area).

    //Hypocrites
    25 January 2010 at 9:16 pm

  12. God this is unbelieveable. Typical Ridgefield parents. Completely embarassed and now finding ways to take it out on a journalist. The focus of this article is on the good sportsmanship of Wilton not on the complete disrespect of Ridgefield. All you Ridgefield fans think it’s justified to disrespect the flag just because that’s how its been done for “fifteen years.” Take some constructive criticism and own up to your mistakes. Oh yeah Sour Grapes needs this post of the site because Ridgefield kids have never done anything wrong. Not once. Are you kidding me? Also thank you for listing the similarities of Ridgefield and Wilton. I came on this site to read about the infrastructure and economy of the towns. Go comment on CNN.com and stop ripping Mr. Nash. What it comes down to is this. The Wilton kids showed our country respect and now you are trying to justify your mistakes. Typical Ridge.

    //wow
    25 January 2010 at 9:51 pm

  13. After playing Ridgefield in two sports for the entirety of my high school career, watching almost every Wilton-Ridgefield hockey game for the last decade, and personally knowing plenty of Ridgefield kids myself, this really doesn’t surprise me at all. Ridgefield’s a second class program in terms of sportsmanship and integrity, and its always been that way. You’ve never seen Wilton pull this, and it happens year in and year out. It’s just trash acting like trash.

    You can pay for school, but you can’t buy class.

    //WiltonAlum
    28 January 2010 at 1:16 pm

  14. And hats off to John Nash for noticing.

    //WiltonAlum
    28 January 2010 at 1:19 pm

  15. Sorry to interrupt the town urinating match, but I\’d like to note that Coach Blanchard has been with the Joel Barlow hockey team for the past five years, and has instilled the same respect for the anthem in that squad that he did in Wilton. It is a beautiful thing to see.

    //Knows \'Em Both
    29 January 2010 at 4:21 pm

  16. Wilton you are showing your colors and they are not red, white and blue – rather they are green with envy.

    Look. You lost the game and you are upset.

    There is no such thing as “typical” Ridgefield as you state. That is a prejudicial view of things, and really is coming from your emotion.

    You are very one sided in your recollection of the game. I could reopen all the specifics but it would fall on deaf ears.

    Step up and take the loss and just try harder next time. Stop making excuses.

    //Green
    30 January 2010 at 7:32 am

  17. I may be a little late to the party to post this comment, but I think John Nash has it all wrong if he thinks Ridgefield was in any way being disrespectful to the flag. Rather, they were keeping with a national sports tradition of cheering when the inspiring words, \"For the land of the free and the home of the brave,\" are sung. We\’re not in church… we\’re in a rink and at rinks, stadiums and fields around this country people cheer as the national anthem draws to an end and the game is about to begin. I think it\’s a wonderful, uplifting tradition that honors those who have given their lives for our country. To label this reaction as disrespectful is disrespectful to the Ridgefield coaches and players.

    //Priscilla Morrissey
    2 February 2010 at 11:00 am

  18. Hopefully, this will be the last post/comment on this subject, but I have a feeling it won’t be.

    The previous commenter made the point about how accepted it is, calling it a “national sports tradition” of cheering at the end of the anthem.

    The reason I feel it is disrespectful is because I was not brought up that way. Plus, it’s actually against the law.

    In 2007, Congress created a law titled, 36 USC 301. The law basically states that when the national anthem is played or sung, U.S. citizens, military officers and others in uniform, should stand straight and rigid and salute at the first note and hold the salute through the last note. Men in uniform do the salute that is directed to them by their superiors while regular U.S. Citizens are supposed to put a hand over their heart and take off any head-dresses they might be wearing. These salutes are directed to the flag, if displayed, otherwise to the singer.

    And, again, as a reminder, this post was not created to point out that Ridgefield (or every other team Wilton has played since that game, which has done the same exact thing) was being disrepectful to the flag. It was to honor the Wilton Warriors and to applaud their efforts in doing it the right way.

    //John Nash (author)
    2 February 2010 at 11:16 am

  19. Great point John! What do we expect ridgefield people to follow the laws or something?! Ha! Just because “everyone” does it doesn’t make it right. If we can’t parent our kids in the right way how can we expect our countries future to pan out. I’m not just saying this because Wilton lost the game. Thank you John.

    //Wilton Stud
    2 February 2010 at 9:54 pm

  20. O great you brought a lawyer into the fray.

    So apparently both team broke the law because neither teams had their hands over their hearts during the playing of the anthem. Unfortunately you did not point that out.

    Again this gets back to the fact there is a lot of emotion coming from Wilton in a loss to a rival. Really amazed to see attacks at good kids who did nothing wrong.

    Maybe in your next blog you can mention that in the state of Connecticut it is illegal to dispose of used razor blades. It is about as relevant to supporting your argument.

    //O great a lawyer
    3 February 2010 at 7:38 am

  21. Just curious. I watched the Olympics. Shaun White air guitared during the national anthem when he was receiving the gold medal. Disrespect or enthusiasm? Where is the outrage we saw on this topic after Wilton’s loss?

    I saw a replay of the 1980 Miracle on Ice medal ceremony. Captain Mike Eurizione called out and motioned to all the players to join him on the podium while the anthem was playing. Disrespect? Or one of the greatest moments in sport? Or was it influenced by the fact it was a victory as oppossed to a loss?

    Sounds like a double standard Wilton!!!!

    //Curious
    23 February 2010 at 4:50 pm

  22. i would just like to thank you for giving my father the credit for starting this tradition. As a proud warrior alum it\’s nice to see that the kids still respect the anthem. I still remember when my father took over the team and this was the first change he made after seeing us look like a bunch of clowns the year before in a playoff game. I think if you went back and asked any kid who played for my dad if he taught them more about hockey or life. They would say life. Go warriors.

    //matt blanchard
    5 March 2010 at 4:13 pm

  23. gotta love the warriors!!! blue whitteeeeeee

    //wilton
    3 May 2010 at 11:41 pm

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