20-40-60 Etiquette---Should we just sing the right words?

QUESTION: We are definitely all in for OU football.  For several years now, people are singing the Star Spangled Banner by replacing “Home of The Brave” with “Home of the Sooners.” This is certainly not appropriate, but how do we get the message across to students and fans that it shows absolutely no respect to anybody to sing our national anthem like that? I think the song should be sung as written.

CALLIE’S ANSWER: I see your point that this is inappropriate. No one is trying to offend you though. The loud ‘bang’ and everyone screaming “SOONERS” at the top of their lungs…  what a great atmosphere! I love my country, and I also love my Sooners! I am sorry that you are offended. It is not intentional.

LILLIE-BETH’S ANSWER: The yelling of the word “Sooners!” during the National Anthem has bothered me at games, too, but the more university officials have tried to call attention to this insensitive and inappropriate form of school pride, the more defiant the yellers have become. I don’t think it’s possible to explain why it’s a problem in order to make certain people quit doing it — the university has already tried to tackle that issue and has been ignored. Last year, despite messages on the giant board in the stadium asking fans to respect our heroes, some fans still altered the anthem’s word on both 9/11 and during OU’s game against the U.S. Air Force.

The Oklahoman sports columnist Berry Tramel addressed the issue in the newspaper and online at NewsOK last year with little success.

“The song is … about honoring the nation and the sacrifice our military has made,” Tramel wrote last year. “We have had perilous fighting. Rockets have produced red glare. Bombs have burst in air. You have every right to yell ‘Sooners.” Just know that when you do, you’re disrespecting the brave.”