Doubt anybody has ever seen that....older veteran in uniform with mic starts to sing national anthem, one of RU coordinators runs over and rips the mic out of his hand. The veteran then has heated conversation with the RU guy while anthem going on, it was surreal.
National Anthem
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Wondered why I heard someone singing and then nothing. Was trying to figure out where the singing had come from but couldn't locate it. Strange.
Same here......guess this was unfortunately a prelude to the ending for the evening......
It's the evolution of RU, but really need to see the game raised across the board. Things like this don't happen at big time, well run schools. Someone should be fired for this.
You are right because at the beginning of the game there were stats on the message boards with totals for rebounding, turnovers etc. like the game had already playing time for at least 10 minutes.
Cali is 100% SPOT-ON here. A U.S. Armed Services VETERAN was holding a mic, center court, singing the anthem and some ASSHAT decides to take the mic out of his hands? That person should be FIRED ON THE SPOT, period, no questions asked, and done so with a public apology. What a ******* disgrace we are sometimes (and this is coming from a guy who worked in the Marketing/Communications department that use to be in charge of all game day happenings as such).
Lou - there was only take 1. Pep band is playing the National Anthem - military man sings O Say Can you See......intern takes mike from the guy and they have a heated debate until near the end....then the military guy salutes the flag for the last few lines of the National Anthem and then leaves. Probably never to return again.
why was there a mic in the first place..what purpose would that serve
Thanks, but enough of this stuff. Experiences at these games matter a ton. B1G schools are run professionally. We need to continue to get better. Something like this simply isn't acceptable .
@Caliknight makes a good point.
We are starting to look the part (more importantly) ON the court. It would be nice to get it right for the rest of the “show” too...
-the garbage cans
-RAC exterior
-lighting in the parking lots
None of the above are donor related/needed. They’re everyday things that should be no brainers.
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We were there also,it seemed he wasn't in sync, as there was some sort of delay between what he was hearing from the band, and what he was singing.We felt bad for him, awkward to say the least, but I'm pretty sure that was the reason behind it.
I think it had to do with running up against the TV broadcast start time, but unfortunately was not handled properly - it looked like they were running late with the pregame - the band played the National Anthem at warp speed. Unfortunate missteps probably under some pressure from the network
Don't care. You don't take a mic away from a vet singing the National Anthem. AWFUL call by whomever at RU made it (Hobbs include IF so...).
If he wasn’t supposed to sing, why did he have a microphone??
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Were keeping this alive. From a pr standpoint is it important to issue a public statement? I would hope and assume that the athletic dept has taken the steps necessary to assuage the gentleman. I assume he was supposed to have been there .?
Well geeze I hope he just didn't wander out onto the court randomly...with a mic...that's a completely different ball of wax LOL!!
If a guy who isn’t supposed to sing the national anthem starts singing it why is what we did wrong?
Imagine if they did nothing and he ended up looking like a complete fool. The narrative would be how could the athletic department not take control of the situation.
No one should be allowed to go rogue and sing the national anthem.
Now I am very curious how he got the microphone?
Imagine if they did nothing and he ended up looking like a complete fool. The narrative would be how could the athletic department not take control of the situation.
No one should be allowed to go rogue and sing the national anthem.
Now I am very curious how he got the microphone?
happened right in front of me. after the flag was unfolded, the band goes into the anthem. one of the RU guys hands the officer the mic. it almost looked like he was startled to get the mic handed to him and jumps into the anthem mid verse. he gets a couple bars off and then the RU guy who runs all the promo stuff sees the older gentleman with the mic singing and puts his hand on the mic and takes it away from him. then the 2 start having an awkward convo while the band continues with the rest of the anthem. very strange and cringeworthy. I apologize to the officer on behalf of Rutgers University. typical RU screw. in the mean time, they are honoring past military at 2 points during time outs.
Big time screw up. Once he started singing they should have let him finish. There is no law against having the pep band accompany a vocalist singing the national anthem.
Would love to hear an explanation from the athletic department as to why they gave the guy a microphone and then took it away.
Would love to hear an explanation from the athletic department as to why they gave the guy a microphone and then took it away.
the band rendition was pretty bad....its something they play thousands of times, it shouldnt be sloppy like it was
Sorry, don’t agree, just let the guy continue singing. VERY bad form here and most agree.
1. You are assuming a guy who isn't supposed to be singing the national anthem is going to be able to sing a difficult song
2. You are also asking a person in a difficult spot to make a split second decision
It is unfortunate it happened, but to kill someone from Rutgers based on this is silly.
I still though want to know how a mic got in his hands.
Like was mentioned earlier I don't see why they couldn't have just lowered the levels on the mic and had no volume coming out...if he wasn't supposed to be singing.
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