Anthem policy: Fans on notice, too?

The All Saints Catholic School Choir did a wonderful rendition of the national anthem before Sunday’s Marlins game, full of passion and patriotism in a way to make America proud.

The Marlins players, on the third-base side, and the Washington Nationals, on the first-base side, also paid their respects by standing during the singing, some with caps over hearts. Just as baseball will today during Memorial Day.

The trouble was the masses across Marlins Park — or what passes for masses at Marlins games. The brazen walking to seats during the anthem. The non-stop rambling down the concourse.

There was even crass capitalism being conducted at concession stands during the playing of the anthem. Or are we supposed to not notice the pizza and bottles of water being delivered?

Do you realize the trouble we’re heading for in sports since President Trump offered broad and bold proclamations on how people are expected to behave during the anthem? Even after the NFL changed their policy to say players on the field had to stand for the anthem but players could elect to stay in the locker room, that wasn’t enough.

He initially said on Fox News he doesn’t, “think people should be staying in the locker rooms.” And, by people, he meant the handful of NFL players who were taking a knee during the anthem as a protest against social injustice last year.

But he continued on in a manner that puts everyone attending sports games on call:

“You have to stand proudly for the na-

tional anthem, or you shouldn’t be playing, you shouldn’t be here. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country. You have to stand proudly for the national anthem.”

In these politically divergent times, anyone who doesn’t stand for the anthem might be cut from the country. And while NFL players have been singled out, it’s the masses being put on call now.

This is as glaringly obvious as Florida Panthers’ fans habitually shouting “red!” for the team’s colors during the stanza of “the rockets red glare.” I asked a friend, a Panthers seasonticket holder, if he was ready to quit that in light of his glee at NFL players not being allowed to kneel. “Why?” he asked. It’s disrespectful. “I’ve never thought of it disrespecting the flag,’’ he said.

And NFL players thought kneeling was about social injustice, not the flag. And Houston Rockets fans want to make a statement for their team in shouting “rockets!” during the “rockets red glare” line. And Baltimore Orioles’ fans shout their namesake letter on “O, say can you see.”

St. Louis Blues fans think it’s imaginative to change the “brave” in the final line to “home of the Blues.” Oklahoma fans change it to “home of the Sooners.”

If NFL players can be called out, can’t an entire university? Will rival Nebraska single out Oklahoma’s anti-American actions? Do we need law officials to enforce patriotism during the anthem?

The president was able to get “that of a son-of-ab---off the field” for kneeling during the anthem. But what about all of them in the stands shouting “red” during Panthers games?

Not just that. Let’s warn the couple walking down to their Sunday seats in Section 210 they shouldn’t do that as the anthem is being played. Everyone on the concourse should stop, too, just as all business should like the man buying pizza at the concession stand.

“I don’t really want to give you my name,’’ he said.

That’s fine. We’re not naming names just yet. I recently asked a foreign athlete playing for a South Florida team who is generous with his thoughts about standing for our national anthem, night after night.

He shrugged and smiled. “I’d rather not get into that.”

You can’t blame him. How would you like to stand for the Russian national anthem every day before you worked?

As the grandson of an immigrant and son of a Navy man, I agree with standing for the anthem. As a proponent of the Constitution, I stand more strongly for the First Amendment.

But who cares what I say when the leader of the free world has spoken?

Walking to seats and localizing the anthem with “red” at Panthers games might sound innocent to some. But as you heard this week, you should stand proudly for the anthem or you shouldn’t be at games. Maybe you should even get kicked out of the country.

Dave Hyde