Mariners' anthem memory

 

Two years ago this week, THIS happened.

 

On May 9, 2012, I had the honor of performing the National Anthem at the Seattle Mariners vs. Detroit Tigers game at Safeco Field. The date is pretty special, because it was the day after the anniversary of my mother's passing (May 8, 1991). For those of you who know me, you also know my mother was a huge baseball fan and a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees.

At the beginning of the 2012 season, I sent the Mariners a clip of me singing at a Seattle Thunderbirds game with no expectations. Imagine my surprise (shock) when they emailed to book me (!) and offered these dates: May 7, 8 or 9.

I don't believe in coincidences.

After a long and somewhat tearful conversation with my sister Kimberly, I selected May 9. We both felt performing on May 8, the actual date of our mother's passing, might prove to be too emotional. I had a terrible sound check (seriously - I started way too high and was intimidated by the players who were taking batting practice on the field). The three-hour wait that followed only served to ratchet my anxiety into orbit.

Then, something weird happened.

As I stepped onto the field to sing, a sense of calm washed over me. I stepped up to the mic - and sang. I didn't fall apart until I finished singing and walked off the field and into my family's waiting arms. We then enjoyed watching the M's beat the Tigers 2-1.
 

I'm so thankful to the Seattle Mariners for helping make one of my anthem dreams come true... and thankful to my friend Elaine, who recorded it on her phone.

Post by Elaine Smith.

My worst hockey nightmare comes true: The T-Birds and Silvertips face EACH OTHER in WHL playoff action

I like to be able to cheer for a team in the playoffs freely, without stress, conflict or dare I say, guilt. So, when the WHL released its playoff bracket, I let out a loud groan as I saw who the Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTBirds) and Everett Silvertips (@WHLSilvertips) would be facing in the first round: EACH OTHER.

My first reaction was, "Really, WHL? Why??????" 

Then I realized the league had absolutely nothing to do with the match-up. Their nearly identical records placed them at 4th (T-Birds) and 5th (Silvertips) in the Western Conference, which meant they would have to battle each other for the chance to advance to the Round 2.

Well, two games are in the books and it's been brutal trying to be Switzerland (aka: impartial). It's been damn hard to be happy for the team that won both games (Seattle) and sad for the team that lost (Everett). Because at the end of this series, whether it goes 4, 5, 6 or 7 games, one team's players will jubilantly advance to the next round, and one team's players will go home for the summer, utterly deflated.

I've written little tidbits about Game 1 and Game 2 for the KING 5 Sports site. They're nothing more than overviews of the game for casual fans perusing our website. But I've been reading juicier recaps courtesy of Andy Eide (@AndyEide) and Tim Pigulski (@tpigulski) on MyNorthwest.com (T-Birds) and Nick Patterson (@NickHPatterson) at The Herald of Everett (Silvertips), as well as admiring the stellar action shots captured by photographer Christopher Mast (@MastImages) (click here to check out the ingenious "goal cam" he set up before last night's Game 2 at Comcast Arena in Everett)

(Game 2: Kozun robs Khaira of a goal/Photo: Christopher Mast)

Game 3 takes place tomorrow night (Tuesday, March 25) at ShoWare Center in Kent. The puck drops at 7:05pm, and a few minutes before that, I'll do what I've done about half a dozen times at T-Birds games during the regular season: sing the national anthem. And I'll be wearing a T-Birds jersey because that's what anthem singers do. But for the minute or so it takes to get through the anthem, I hope all the fans inside the arena will unite as one and sing with me. 

After that, when the puck drops, you're welcome to retreat to your corners and cheer your little hearts out for your team until the final buzzer sounds. Then, maybe we can unite again-- not just as T-Birds or Silvertips fans, but as hockey fans.

At least, until Game 4 (Friday, March 28 - 7:35pm at Comcast Arena in Everett).

The rest of the schedule (if necessary):

Game 5 – Saturday, March 29, 7:05pm – Everett at Seattle (ShoWare Center, Kent)

Game 6 – Monday, March 31, 7:05pm – Seattle at Everett (Comcast Arena, Everett)

Game 7 – Wednesday, April 2, 7:05pm – Everett at Seattle (ShoWare Center, Kent)

Homage to anthem singers - courtesy of the Hanson Brothers

The National Anthem I Will Never Forget (Or… Why I ALWAYS write the words down before every game!)

I was the National Anthem singer for my university. If there was a sport to be played, you’d see me singing the anthem before every game. Our school has an NCAA Divison I ice hockey team, so it was inevitable that we would eventually play a Canadian school, although I thought it highly unlikely. After all, our university was in Alabama! No Canadian team would ever travel to Alabama.

Well, the inevitable happened. January 1992. Seneca College came to play. I learned about it several months in advance and kept telling myself I needed to learn the Canadian anthem. Finally, the week of the game, I dragged myself to the University library to check out a record that contained Canadian folk songs, including the national anthem. I took it home and listened to it over and over and over and over until I had it memorized. I wrote the words down. I returned the record to the library. I felt confident that I would nail it.

The day of the first game arrived. I couldn’t find the words anywhere. I rushed to the library, but wouldn’t you know it, someone checked out the record of Canadian folk songs! Who knew that Canadian folk songs were so popular in the Deep South? I went to the public library. No Canadian folk songs or national anthem in sight. I wracked my brain and managed to remember the beginning and end of the song. I could not remember the middle. The clock was inching closer to game time.

I became desperate and hunted down the first Canadian I could think of: our goalie. He had always been very nice to me. I found him stretching in the hallway outside the locker room. When I asked him to help me with the words, he scrunched up his face, deep in thought. Then, together, we went through it.

By the time I took the ice to sing, I felt confident that I had it nailed. Until I started to sing. I knew right away that the words I’d been given were not right. They didn’t fit the cadence of the song. But, in show business, they say, never let them see you sweat. I knew I didn’t have the right words, but I sang them as though they had always been part of Canadian history. I sailed through the American anthem and rushed off the ice. As usual, I was greeted by enthusiastic fans as I made my way to my seat. One woman gushed, “I’ve never heard the Canadian anthem sung like that before!” I grinned at her wryly and replied, “And you’ll never hear it like that again!”

After the game, I took quite the ribbing from the players. Several scolded me for seeking advice from our goalie.

“Didn’t you know that goalies don’t know shit?” one player scoffed. “Everyone knows that! It’s a proven fact!” (This I highly doubt. Our goalie not only was an excellent player, he actually finished school and I believe went on to pursue a higher degree).

The player who was mocking the goalie leaned in. “You should have come to me!”
I looked him square in the eye and asked, “So YOU know the words to the Canadian anthem?”

He looked taken aback. “Of course not!” he spluttered. “But I would have just told you I didn’t know! I wouldn’t have made shit up!”

Later that night, the goalie came to find me. He apologized, sheepishly explaining that he’d wanted to help me so badly, he hadn’t had the heart to tell me he didn’t know the words to his own national anthem.

I forgave him, and made sure I had the correct words when I sang the next night, and every night after that.

So, if you’re at a sporting event that I’m singing at, you may see me scribbling madly on a scrap of paper. It’s my superstitious ritual. I write the words to each anthem on a scrap of paper about 5 minutes before I sing.

And as much as you’d like to say hi, let me finish my ritual.

Trust me, you’ll enjoy my performance much better if you do.