Last night, the Albany Patroons lost a close game to Academie d’Alma, a prep team in the TBL. I mean, it gives the Patroons their second loss of the season, but they’re still dominating the TBL’s Northeast Division.
I arrived at the Armory to find that the person in charge of the paper running stats had gone home sick, and the team needed someone to fill in.
So I did. I filled in and filled out. Did okay for myself, so there’s that.
But that’s not the big deal.
Since Academie d’Alma is from Canada, it is customary to play the Canadian and American national anthems before the start of the contest. For “O Canada,” we have a military instrumental recording, and the maple leaf flag shines on the digital scoreboard.
The announcer said, “Would you all please stand and remove your caps and headgear, for the playing of our countries’ national anthems. First, the National Anthem of Canada.” Then, the sound manager pressed a button.
Instead of “O Canada,” something that sounded like a Drake track blurted out for a second.
Okay, that’s kinda funny. Honestly, though, you could argue that the national anthem of Canada is something from a Rush album, but I digress.
The sound operator fiddled with the mixing board, but “O Canada” didn’t start.
And both teams were on the court, standing at attention and ready to honor America and honour Canada.
Yep. You know what I did. I went over to the announcer, motioned for him to hand me the microphone, and he did so. This is called trust.
And I belted out a decent and reverent version of O Canada. I had to remember that a few years ago, to be more inclusive to all Canadians, the words “in all thy sons’ command” were changed to the more gender-inclusive “in all of us command,” so that was handled without trouble.
I should note that if you thought I was the next version of Michael Buble on the microphone, trust me. The only similarity between Michael Buble and me is that my girlfriend likes both of us a lot. Still, despite battling a sore throat and the final remnants of a cold, I made it through the song without totally embarrassing myself or causing any international incidents.
I should let you know … this is not my first time doing this. In 2010, while working as a photographer for the then-Premier Basketball League, I had to fill in and perform both anthems at a Vermont Frost Heaves / Montreal contest.
I’ve also belted out the American National Anthem at Albany Patroons games – at least three times to my recollection.
Of course, in telling these stories, I have to tell one more. During my time in the Premier Basketball League, there was a team from the Puerto Rican Basketball League, Capitanes de Arecibo, that played an interlocking series with us. I worked with all the teams in the league at that time, and confirmed that if they didn’t have national anthem singers who knew the words and could perform the songs properly, that they could download a list of appropriate performances from a set lineup.
When the Capitanes played in Manchester, New Hampshire against the Manchester Millrats, the Millrats owner played what he thought was the national anethem of Puerto Rico (“La Borinqueña”). Instead, when he played the anthem over the loudspeaker, there were noticeable giggles and head-holding from the Capitanes – apparently the Millrats owner had downloaded a version of the Puerto Rico national anthem associated with the rebellion. Oops.
No matter. All this proves is that whenever I need to step in and help the Patroons, and I’m able to do so, I will.
Just don’t ask me to be the next shooting guard or small forward, okay?
Chuck The Writer 
Is there no bottom to your bag full of talents?
Good on you!
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