The NBA and NHL Finals Featured Some Amazing National Anthems

James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica played the National Anthem for Game 5 of the NBA Finals in San Francisco. It gave me chills. One of the best I have heard.

The next night, it was Game 6 of the NHL finals in Chicago. It was the final Anthem of the year for the Blackhawks fans. These people have one of the best Anthem singers in the world. Jim Cornelison, who is a former Marine. The crowd goes nuts through the entire Anthem. It is a Chicago tradition I didn't get. So, I asked a real Blackhawks fan, Kristin. Kristin said " The cheering during the Anthem started during Desert Storm. The first hockey game after the war started, the fans gave an ovation and cheered through the anthem. They started doing it to show support for our troops. That's why they always have a veteran & current military personnel on the ice during the anthem as well. It's incredible to be at the game and hear how loud it gets! To me, it seems a bit disrespectful to those who want to hear this man sing but check it out.

It's a great day to turn it up because it was on this day back in 1812, the US and Great Britain began the War of 1812. During this war, the White House was almost burned to the ground and Dolly Madison got credit for saving the only known portrait of George Washington.

Michigan was involved in the War of 1812. According to Wikipedia.org "The British scored an important early success when their detachment at St. Joseph Island, on Lake Huron, learned of the declaration of war before the nearby American garrison at the important trading post at Mackinac Island in Michigan. A scratch force landed on the island on July 17, 1812 and mounted a gun overlooking Fort Mackinac. After the British fired one shot from their gun, the Americans, taken by surprise, surrendered. This early victory encouraged the natives, and large numbers moved to help the British at Amherstburg. The island totally controlled access to the Old Northwest, giving the British nominal control of this area, and, more vitally, a monopoly on the fur trade."

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