NORMAN — Being born on Veterans day has its advantages. I usually didn’t have school on my birthday and there is always some type of celebration going that I can pretend has to do with me. I love it.
However, there is a drawback that I have just began to notice the past few years. While growing up, when my birthday came around, everything and everyone else was secondary. All I cared about was whether I was getting the latest Starter jacket or how much money was going to be stuffed into my birthday cards.
While that was all well and good, I overlooked the importance of Veterans Day. Despite my stepfather being a veteran, it took me well into adulthood to associate Veterans Day with its true meaning.
It wasn’t until these last five or six years that it finally hit. It was when I stopped hearing from many of my military friends on my birthday because they have been sent oversees to fight. It was a cold and sobering reminder of the day’s meaning.
Despite that, I was at a loss for words when I heard about the latest controversy to hit the Oklahoma campus.
When a season starts to go bad, everything is put under the microscope. That is what the Sooners are having to deal with these days.
After enduring losses to BYU, Miami, Texas and Nebraska, the Sooner’s chances at a national championship and Big 12 championship have been evaporated. So without championship aspirations to chat about, the Sooner nation has to find other ways to keep their interest.
The latest controversy to have the media and chat rooms on fire doesn’t even have anything to do what takes place on the field. For the past almost 10 years Oklahoma fans have changed the last line of the National Anthem from “home of the brave” to “home of the Sooners.” After a decade of this, all of a sudden some people’s patriotic upbringings have been insulted.
I know we live in a time when everyone wants to prove how much they love their country and look to turn the smallest slights into capital crimes. But this is going overboard.
If someone is truly upset about changing one word of the anthem, I do not have a problem with that. I think it’s being overly sensitive, but it can be understood.
What I will not accept are the fans who stood in the stadium feeling the National Anthem was being desecrated and only now have the gumption to protest.
To think that thousands of students and fans somehow are trying to disrespect the United States and the men and women in military service is absurd.
My question is where was this angst when Oklahoma was competing for a national championship? Why is it now an issue with the Sooners struggling just to be bowl eligible? Does our radar to defend patriotism only go up when Oklahoma’s win totals go down?
Until those questions are answered, everything else is just lip service.
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November 17, 2009
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Anthem causes stir at OU games
For the past almost 10 years Oklahoma fans have changed the last line of the National Anthem from Òhome of the braveÓ to Òhome of the Sooners.Ó
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