Uhm, I’m kind of crushing on Michael Phelps right now. Just won his first gold medal in swimming. I’m crushing on his big goofy smile and big goofy ears as he stands on the podium. I’m crushing on his teary-eyed mother waving at him from the stands.
But … what’s this? Okay. They’re messing up the National Anthem! Oh dear! It started late — missed the beginning and now it keeps repeating the opening stanza again and again! ACK! I’m having 3rd-grade-piano-recital flashbacks.
No. Oh, no. Instead of two verses before “And the rockets red glare,” there have been three. Phelps just keeps smiling. Another US swimmer, Ryan Lochte, won bronze, and as the camera pans to him, his brow furrows slightly. Like, what?? Phelps’ mom appears to be trying to sing along — but she can’t; no one can. Annd … wow … now the anthem just ended early on “gave proof through the night that our flag was still there …..” ka-chunk!
But hurrah for Michael Phelps and his giddy composure. He’s just completely joyful and toothy, raising his arms, waving his silly flowers at the crowd.
CONGRATULATIONS, MICHAEL PHELPS!!
I can’t believe they screwed up the national anthem that badly!!!! It’s too bad all the American spectators and swimmers didn’t just finish singing it w/o the music when the music cut out to soon. That would have been even better!
I know — it was bad. I thought I was imagining it at first, but then the commentators talked about it when it was over. Hopefully, next time a US swimmer is on the stand there, the anthem will be done right. President Bush was in the audience and — bless him — he was just wildly cheering regardless. That was pretty cool.
I was wondering if anybody else saw this–I was trying to explain to my brother how badly it went. (sam, I wanted the same thing to happen! What, is it “not cool” for anybody to sing the national anthem anymore?) That aside, I love the swimming events.
They’ll have plenty of practice by the end of the Games. =)
Now, little ol’ me remembers when the Blue Jays went to their first World Series in 1992, and before the first game, the flag guards came out with US and Canadian flags – and the Canadian flag was upside-down. Oops. A bit of a black eye, that was…