To all who favor getting rid of our National Anthem at sports events because it's not part of the game, merely a tradition, I believe a little respect for our country is not out of order. Ask the Hong Kong and Cuba demonstrators what they think. Maybe we should get rid of all traditional distractions: The Frog Horn, cheerleaders, showgirls, band, fireworks, riff ram bah zoo, flyovers, stadium statues, conference team flags, jumbotrons, homecoming celebrations, etc. Gosh, if we got rid of all those distractions which are merely traditions we could just focus on the game itself, except for those damned rules...which are merely tradition.