National Anthems

(Last sport-related post for the day, promise!)

The coolest part of the entire rugby match this weekend was hearing 62,000 South Africans belting out our country's Big Song for all they were worth (can you tell I'm not really a rugby fan, more of a people-watcher?). If it was impressive on TV, it was no doubt stadium-shaking in person. It sure as heck drowned out the Scary Kiwi War Cry.

And then there are our gold-medal swimmers. One attempted a few lines of the anthem, but gave up and stood grinning with the other 3 for the remainder of the song. In their defense perhaps they're swimmers, not singers. And the thing is written in 4 lanugages, and does go on pretty long. (And the rugby crowd no doubt had the words up on their big screen in case they forgot).

But I think it's about time we, especially our athletes, knew the anthem, top to bottom, all 4 languages notwithstanding. It should be compulsory during team training, whether you can sing or not! At the very least, learn the words to mouth so you look like you're singing. That way we can all join in whole-heartedly when we find ourselves on the first-place podium...