‘Epitome of ignorance’: US Tennis Association plays ‘Nazi anthem’ during German encounter

Honestly, who cares? Yeah it was a mistake, big deal. If this is “the worst thing that has ever happened to me.” , then be thankful because you have lived a great life.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: DaveButts
Until I read this article I had no idea their was a band set of bars in the German national anthem. And I venture to guess most non German people don't know it as well.

I knew about this but that is only because I sing the full version to my nieces.

Is that before or after you drink the blood of newborn kittens and kick disabled puppies?

originally posted by: Nyiah
Is that before or after you drink the blood of newborn kittens and kick disabled puppies?

No animals are harmed when I do my Uncle Heinrich character and play Kamp Direktor with them. It's one of their favorite games.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Nyiah
Is that before or after you drink the blood of newborn kittens and kick disabled puppies?

No animals are harmed when I do my Uncle Heinrich character and play Kamp Direktor with them. It's one of their favorite games.

O.O

ROTFL, treading a real thin line here. I can't figure out a good comeback without risking a mod spank.

Anyway, regarding the OP, there's a slap to the face if ever there was one, intentional or not. I can't figure out of it was a purposeful middle finger, or a genuine mistake, though.

originally posted by: Nyiah
I can't figure out a good comeback without risking a mod spank.

You can always PM me, I promise not to make it public for at least 30 days.

a reply to: Nyiah

If it was purposefully done it wasn't the tech crew...Those guys get paid a lot to be there and would risk a lot more including most if not all of their future work by doing that. The production community is pretty small especially at that level of it. Word spreads and lists are kept and shared...It would be a huge risk for them. However the clients especially if American may not have even realized the offense... Especially if it was an assistant tasked with going and downloading a copy to play.

a reply to: RickyD

Oh I completely understand the tech crew not being dumb enough to do this, it's kind of a career ruining move to pull a stunt this low-blow. A gofer assistant though, there's a possibility someone wet behind the ears & eager to please merely grabbed the first anthem they saw without double-checking.

What a colossal screw up.

Germany still haunted by the ghosts of their past.

I was discussing with my son today how Europe seems to be so scarred after the wars. You can see the scars of their history in their worldview. Not a criticism at all. Its interesting, though, to see what such massive horrors can do to amend worldviews.

There have been a few instances of this occuring over the years. I wonder if any of them are on purpose?

To be fair, mistakes are continually made at sporting events. However, this one does show a level of poor processes to verify the correct version of the anthem to use.

It's a bit of a storm in a tea cup though, but nice to see the righteous brigade fully unleashed.

a reply to: DaveButts

I would hazard a guess at saying that you are absolutely wrong about most Germans not being aware that there are sections of their original national anthem which are considered, and have been since the re-unification of Germany, to no longer be part of the anthem, due to their imperialist, supremacist and domineering implications. As a result, the third stanza alone is recited as part of the anthem.

I would have thought that there are only a few Germans who do not know this, the vast majority will be simply aware of it, with a few being absolutely aware of it, either because they refute and despise the implications of the discarded segment, or because they are devoted to the sort of supremacist stupidity that being overly devoted to the concept implied by the discarded segment. However, the tally of persons who have no idea about the history of the German national anthem, is probably very small, when compared to the total population.

Could somebody German and/or musical educate the rest of us about the musical distinction between the dropped and the accepted stanzas?
I am still wondering how they could tell the difference if the words were not being sung.

originally posted by: Nyiah
a reply to: RickyD

Oh I completely understand the tech crew not being dumb enough to do this, it's kind of a career ruining move to pull a stunt this low-blow. A gofer assistant though, there's a possibility someone wet behind the ears & eager to please merely grabbed the first anthem they saw without double-checking.

I'm not sure exactly if "double checking" would have helped, unless they knew the details behind the German National Anthem -- which I doubt most people do know. Heck, until I read about this incident, I didn't know about those details, either.

to be clear, the "new" (and correct) anthem is in fact a part of the old "Nazi" anthem. The difference being that ONLY the third stanza of that old anthem is now part of the new anthem; the first two stanzas are the "banned" parts of it.

Actually, the first two stanzas were still officially part of the anthem until 1991, but they were traditionally not sung. It wasn't until the re-unification of Germany in the 1990s that the first two stanzas of the song were banned.

Germany has a right to be particular about their insistence that the anthem ONLY be the third stanza of the original, but if they want to be that particular, then they should bring their own music with them or tell the sound guy which to play -- rather than assuming the sound guy can actually understand the words AND the history enough to know that the first stanzas are the offensive parts.

I mean, really...there are a lot of national anthems in the world, and I don't expect the sound technician to know all of the ins and outs of the history of those anthems.

Search youtube "Full German National Anthem" press play and walk away. Most likely what happened hahaha Highly doubt the soundguy knew any better.

a reply to: EchoesInTime

More than ignorance.

New game, new rules. It's everywhere.

originally posted by: orgncpndmc
Search youtube "Full German National Anthem" press play and walk away. Most likely what happened hahaha

Highly doubt the soundguy knew any better.

Nor would I necessarily expect him (or most average people) to know any better.

I would not have known any better to realize that only the third verse of that song is now the anthem rather than all three verses.