Usually when the national anthem is sung at sporting events, the crowd is pretty quiet until the end or close to it. Some people sing along but not too many usually. At Chicago Blackhawks games, the crowd cheers wildly during the entire song. It is an amazing thing. It’s tough to describe, but when you are there it is just powerful.
For years the anthem was sung by Wayne Mesmer. He would bust it out and the crowd would cheer wildly. He also sang for many other Chicago teams and was well known in the most sports oriented city I’ve ever lived in.
I’ll never forget the year I was still living in Chicago and Wayne was shot in the throat by a mugger.
Wayne lived but I doubted I would ever hear him sing the national anthem again. Wayne became a partner with the ownership of the Chicago Wolves IHL team. The NHL saw the team as competition and they fired Wayne. I thought that was pretty crappy. But I will never forget the night I was at a Wolves game when Wayne sang in public for the first time after what happened. I honestly can’t tell you what his voice sounded like – I couldn’t really hear him. From the first note the place just exploded and it stayed insanely loud through the entire song. It never got that loud during any game I ever watched in that building (Rosemont Horizon – now Allstate Arena I believe.)
Anyway – I’m watching the Red Wings and Blackhawks this afternoon and they showed the national anthem and I got chills just listening to it on T.V. If you are ever in Chicago during hockey season and can make it to a Blackhawks game, do it just for the national anthem.
