The MLS should stop playing the National Anthem before games
By Niko Moniz
With all of the national anthem controversies over the past few months I’m here to tell you why they should NOT be played before MLS soccer games.
In North American sports, the national anthem is a staple before every game. You go to the concession stands, get your food and drinks, go to your seat, and then stand up remove your hat and listen to the anthem(s). It could be anywhere from a minute to 3 minutes and when you look at it in those terms it does not seem like a big deal. I am here to say, why bother? Now let me preface this by stating that I am Canadian, which means normally I have to listen to 2 anthems every time I go to a Toronto FC game. It just seems unnecessary to have to stand and sing the national anthem for teams where half of their players are not even from the country they are playing in. Now before everyone starts yelling at me the one argument that I can understand is that it is an act of patriotism. I don’t really get it but I have been told that Americans are beyond patriotic and I can respect that.
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HOWEVER, If you can take some time to think back to a game you have been to live lately, do you remember how great the national anthem was? The answer to that will probably be no. No one ever really remembers the anthem unless a mistake was made. If a mistake was made during the national anthem then it’s all over YouTube, or is making news because someone is upset. Just look at what happened during the MLB all star game when one of the singers changed the lyrics to O’ Canada, or when Dwayne Wade was still taking shots during the Canadian anthem. Are these really big deals that people should care about? In my opinion no. It is just a song and sure it is the song of our country but do people have nothing else to worry about than someone messing up or not paying attention to the anthem?
Now this is a soccer site so let me tell you why the MLS should change their rules so the anthem’s aren’t played before every game. Unlike the NFL, where the majority of players are from America, the MLS is a very diverse league with many different nations being represented. Looking at this player chart , if my calculations are right (which they might not be) there are 266 players from the United States while there is 336 players from other countries. If your argument is that the anthem is played to honour the teams, then shouldn’t the national anthem of every players country be played as well?
The MLS just needs to take a page out of the EPL’s playbook on how to deal with national anthems. In England (and I am not positive but I believe most of Europe) national anthems only get played during International matches. WHICH MAKES SENSE. A team full of players from the same country, representing their country, should have their anthem played. Not a team representing a city, with 30% of their roster coming from the country where the team belongs.
While taking the national anthems out of club games probably won’t make a big deal it would just eliminate the chance for a news story, or a funny YouTube clip. I just believe that if a player from Spain (just using an example) plays for FC Dallas and travels to Montreal for a game what is the point of having him stand and listen to the Canadian anthem and the American anthem? Just let him go out their and play the game.
If you disagree with me please let me know why as I am very interested to hear why people care so much about their national anthem. I just don’t think its necessary to play the anthems before every club game. Now no piece about anthems would be complete without a funny clip of an anthem blunder. Instead of showing a montage of mistakes (there is a lot believe me) I am going to post my favourite anthem mistake of all time. It happened in my home and native land, and yes it was on skates.