Boston’s TD Garden has the legendary Rene Rancourt to pay tribute to America and fire up the Bruins and their fans before each home game. But Chicago’s anthem singer, Jim Cornelison, is no slouch, either.
In fact, Cornelison is somewhat of a legend when it comes to “Star-Spangled Banner” singers.
Since the 1980s, led by then-anthem singer Wayne Messmer, the Blackhawks have witnessed their singers and fans use the nation’s ballad as a loud and emotional rally cry, as pointed out by the New York Times. The fans hoot, holler and sing along during the entire anthem, which is seen a lot north of the border during the Canadian national anthem, but not as often Stateside.
The booming anthem not only fires up the Hawks, it even gets the visiting teams pumped up.
“It’s always fun to play here,” Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson told MLive.com. “It starts with the national anthem. It’s incredible in here. It gets everyone fired up. The crowd is really loud here. Who doesn’t like to play in front of a loud crowd?”
Cornelison has carried the torch and then some, as B’s fans may recall the stirring rendition following the Boston Marathon attacks, which can be seen below.
Check out football’s version of the tradition, as seen on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIO9DLe_-rY
