We associate "The Star Spangled Banner" with ball games— so much so, that there are people who automatically think the phrase "Play Ball!" whenever they conclude singing the anthem.

So it was no surprise to hear it sung Saturday evening, March 29, at the Lake Elsinore Diamond, where the Storm, a Class-A farm team in the Padres system, was tromped 8-0 by the Padres in a pre-season exhibition game.

On the other hand, it was indeed a surprise— and a pleasant one, so far as I was concerned— to hear it sung March 25 at the San Diego Opera's production of Tobias Picker's Therese Raquin. When I attended previous productions of the opera this season, including Fidelio and Norma, there had been no playing of "The Star Spangled Banner."

Both expressions of patriotism reflected favorably on members of our Jewish community — Gary Jacobs, owner of the Lake Elsinore Storm, and Ian Campbell, general director of the San Diego Opera.

Opening ceremonies for the Storm-Padres game included three young men from Sky Dive Elsinore consecutively parachuting across the first-base line of the Lake Elsinore Diamond and running off their jumps to second base. To the further appreciation of the near-sellout crowd, the last of the skydivers, dressed in an Uncle Sam costume, landed with a large American flag flying
from his parachute's rigging.

Players for the Diamond Backs, an Oceanside Valley Little League team, accompanied Lake Elsinore Storm players out to their defensive positions, while other players for both the Storm and the Padres lined up on the first and third baselines respectively.

Then, in what seemed an American version of dor l'dor (from generation to generation), the caps of Major Leaguers, Minor Leaguers and Little Leaguers came off in unison as Joelle James sang the National Anthem with a strong and true voice. The crowd so appreciated her efforts that she was brought back in the middle of the Fourth Inning Stretch to sing "God Bless America."

A group called Homegrown Homefront urged attendees to go to the Promenade behind the stands to sign a huge petition in support of American soldiers in Iraq.

"A lot of these ideas come from our national association," Jacobs told Heritage. "But I support them wholeheartedly. We need to support the men and women who are putting their lives at risk and show that support to their families... Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, home games will have free admittance to military families."

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Ian Campbell, general director of the opera, told Heritage that he had the opera's orchestra strike up "The Star Spangled Banner" during the entire run of Therese Raquin as another expression of support for the American troops in Iraq. He said he plans to review the practice before deciding whether to implement it in future productions.

"I received three e-mails criticizing me for having it played," Campbell said after the first performance. "One said I was war-mongering; another said I was supporting an illegal government — that of President George W. Bush— and the third person said he was embarrassed. I replied to each that I disagreed, that it didn't matter whom you voted for or what you believe about the government, the National Anthem is a unifying song of our country.
It's not for a political party, and it's not for a policy."

Campbell said he also received a half-dozen phone calls from people thanking him for striking up the National Anthem and saying that "it was wonderful to hear."

Although requested to do so, not everyone in the audience stood up for the playing of "The Star Spangled Banner," which Campbell took as their way of silently protesting. He said the right to protest is an important aspect of American democracy.

Himself the son of a career Australian military man, Campbell noted that San Diego County is home to many families of Marines and Sailors. Playing the National Anthem, he said, "is acknowledgment that there are wives and children here with loved ones overseas and in danger."

Before directing the National Anthem to be played, Campbell told the opera's senior staff and board president Iris Strauss about his desire to show solidarity with the troops and their families. "To a man and a woman, they said 'these are our people,'" Campbell said proudly.