What's up with stars wanting out?

[UWSaint]

(funny the timing of that too - got a red hat in your closet, Dub?)

Lancer; I've had a red hat, well, helmet, as my avatar for 25 years on this board (and the board that I sought political asylum from to post here).

I don't expect Canadians to agree with America's policies. I don't expect Americans to agree with them either. I expect debate about that stuff in forums for political discussion, IRL or online. We influence, we get influenced, we vote, we act, we adjust to changing conditions, political parties adjust to us, we do it all again.

But on my visits to Canada (which have always been to see friends or as a tourist), I would find it quite rude to be booed at or held to account for the actions of my government, whether I agreed with 75% of it, 25% of it, or just agreed with the fact that the people who set my country's foreign policy were duly elected and that carries with it a legitimacy that I ought to respect.

[donlever]

Yeah, I agree with the Yank here.

Let sports be our escape from the ongoing asylum and keep the politics out of it.

All things being equal hockey players are pretty good dudes.

Boo Tkachuk for being a prick sure.......but not for being an American.

These guys can be proud of their flag but not their current politics or policies.

I can see how booing the anthem would be regarded as a personal affront.

[Cousin Strawberry]

Lancer it's most likely that youve wanked hard to 95% American porn stars over the years so there's always that

We all wank together

[Meds]

Risk mitigation being all the [r]age these days, it makes sense to factor in inherent risk with some players.

That's the (third) claim in my post -- which you are free to disagree with -- the risk is not *inherent* but is instead partly mutable based on the attitudes of a significant enough sample of Canadians (Mëds says minority; you suggest majority) towards the American foreign nationals.

Yeah, the polls don’t accurately represent because, if you dig down to the brass tacks, the anti-American sentiments the vast majority of people hold right now are actually anti-Trump.

If you want to dig into policy and trade and economics, well sure, the US actively suppresses Canada’s resource development, but those actors are corporate tychoons (eg. Soros) and their companies. Canadians should be pissed off about that, but their ire should be directed at their own government for making policies that permit that interference, and compounding that interference with policies that make development mulit-fronted battle. You’re fighting Canadian red tape, Indigenous greed, environmental policies, higher taxation…..it’s a long list.

Anyways…..back to hockey.

Only an ignorant asshole boos a visiting team’s national anthem, and the only sort of situation I would see that as tolerable would be (as an example) Ukrainians booing the Russian anthem.

[5thhorseman]

Why do we play anthems before the game anyways, it's not Canada vs US is it? They don't play anthems before games in any of the European football leagues nor the Champions League or Europa League which have their own anthems. Just a weird North American phenomenon to overlay the nationalism of two countries on a sport with participants from a dozen or so.

I don't really care if people are offended by booing. Yeah it's tit for tat but we don't have many options for having our voices heard. Should I stop boycotting American goods as well?

[Meds]

Why do we play anthems before the game anyways, it's not Canada vs US is it? They don't play anthems before games in any of the European football leagues nor the Champions League or Europa League which have their own anthems. Just a weird North American phenomenon to overlay the nationalism of two countries on a sport with participants from a dozen or so.

I don't really care if people are offended by booing. Yeah it's tit for tat but we don't have many options for having our voices heard. Should I stop boycotting American goods as well?

If you're gonna boo the anthem then yes, boycott the goods too. Otherwise you're just talk.

Edit: Not necessarily meaning YOU personally.

[2Fingers]

While I do not necessarily agree with booing an National anthem of any country I can understand the reasoning behind it. To some the anthem represents the country and as Trump is the elected leader of the country so it is more about booing him, but since fans have no option for that, they boo the anthem.

I thought it was fantastic of Buffalo to play Canada's national anthem before their game a week or 2 ago and the fans all cheered.

I for one prefer to keep politics out of sports but that will never ever happen.

[Megaterio Llamas]

Why do we play anthems before the game anyways, it's not Canada vs US is it? They don't play anthems before games in any of the European football leagues nor the Champions League or Europa League which have their own anthems. Just a weird North American phenomenon to overlay the nationalism of two countries on a sport with participants from a dozen or so.

I don't really care if people are offended by booing. Yeah it's tit for tat but we don't have many options for having our voices heard. Should I stop boycotting American goods as well?

I'm with you Horsey, get rid of the damn pre game anthems.

I do hate the booing though.

[donlever]

Commented on the booing already.

Anthems agreed...I too can live without them.

Although be careful what you wish for.

God knows what the league and our owner would do with that spare few minutes considering some of the pre game shenanigans we've seen the past few years.

[Cousin Strawberry]

I love hearing the anthem live before a big playoff game. It is the peak of energy and excitement right before the first puck drop.

Feeling that atmosphere is worth the tedious anthems of January plus some of the singers are hot af

[Megaterio Llamas]

I've been muting the anthems for a while now.

[donlever]

I love hearing the anthem live before a big playoff game.

No need to concern ourselves with that event for a while.

[Megaterio Llamas]

I love hearing the anthem live before a big playoff game.

No need to concern ourselves with that event for a while.

[Ronning's Ghost]

If you were shocked and disappointed by Canadian hockey fans booing your anthem - something we just don't do otherwise - you may ask yourself, "What would drive these people to do such things that are, frankly, out of character?" Maybe some American players may have asked themselves the same question - maybe not.

More than just not booing the U.S. anthem, as an indication of the comradeship the countries used to share, there have been multiple times (you can still find examples on Youtube) when, in the face of arena audio system difficulties, the Canadian fans have finished the U.S. anthem for the singer. An anthem inspired, incidentally, by a battle in a war where the U.S. invaded and tried to annex Canada. Talk about good sports ! The most recent example I could find was only 3 years ago, though it feels like decades now.

If my government threatened to annex an ally, I wouldn't get huffy about fans in that country booing my anthem. In fact, I'd spend a lot of my compulsory media time explaining how that government -- or at the very least, that government policy -- didn't have my support.

If sport and politics are meant to be completely separate, then why are there anthems at the games at all?

[Ronning's Ghost]

...the only sort of situation I would see that as tolerable would be (as an example) Ukrainians booing the Russian anthem.

So, it's OK to boo if the country whose anthem you are booing is pursuing a policy of forced annexation of your country?

Check.