Take Me Out to the Goddamned Ballgame Already

You know, it kind of made sense at first. I mean, look at it like this - on September 11th, the World Trade Center fell, lives changed, the country's direction changed...I don't have to spell it out for you, we all know this because we all lived it. Anyway, the most immediately tangible thing that helped people heal was sports, as much as some people may claim that sports are inconsequential compared to what happened.
Truthfully, they are. Yet they provided an escape (especially for the people of New York) from the horrific events had just occurred.
But really, the period immediately after 9/11 was the only time it made any conceivable sense to play "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch of a baseball game. And that might have even been a stretch.
I say this because in watching the 2006 World Series, I've been surprised to notice that, on national telecasts, they STILL play "God Bless America" during the stretch. And not even in New York, either - they do it in Detroit, St. Louis, Oakland...everywhere. Yet when the game isn't nationally televised, at least here in southern California, teams still play "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
What gives? I fail to see the logic behind any of this - are we saying that 9/11 has made baseball more serious and somber? That baseball is suddenly a mouthpiece for patriotism? Sure, baseball is America's pastime (well, arguably nowadays), but we can't forget one simple thing - it's a game. Do we need to be reminded every single time we watch a nationally televised game that we should be saluting the flag? We already sing the national anthem before every sporting event. Do we really need to do this too?
In the 2001 World Series, New Yorkers (and Americans, really) used the game as a release, as something to root for in a new world where a war was being fought against the most intangible enemy in the nation's history.
Yeah, we should remember what happened, but we should also use our leisure activities to relax. If terrorists had crashed a jetliner into Yankee Stadium in the middle of the World Series, that would've been a different story - but that's not what happened. Baseball had nothing to do with what happened on 9/11. So why do we pretend that it did?
When I watch a baseball game, I want to think about banal things, like whether pine tar was on Kenny Rogers' hand, or whether Jeff Weaver has girlier hair than my girlfriend.
There's obviously a place in this country for "God Bless America," the most beautiful of all songs about America (and one that I feel should be the national anthem).
It's just not in a baseball stadium.