P.A. broke so this dad took over national anthem from stands

With COVID-19 fears putting all New Jersey indoor sports on ice in schools, this story might be a good shot in the arm. The new rules are now in effect here in the Garden State. The following is straight from nj.gov:

Effective Saturday, December 5th, indoor sports practices and competitions for youth and adults – inclusive of all risk levels set forth by the New Jersey Department of Health – are placed on a full and complete pause through January 2nd, 2021.

So no indoor sports here for awhile. Which sucks as much for the parents as for the kids. Because when your kid takes the court you feel every bit of their nerves, you love their confidence and their doubt and their pride. You hang on their every move.

That brings us to this story out of Ohio, as reported by CNN. A father is there in the stands to watch his kid play when at the very start of the evening the p.a. system failed just as the national anthem was about to play. Every knew what happened. There was an awkward silence as many were feeling the same thing, which had to be what a lousy year for kids this has been and what a lousy way to start this game.

That’s when one father had enough of 2020 and it’s disappointments. He took matters into his own hands and began singing it himself, from the stands, a cappella. And even better? He doesn’t suck.

Trenton Brown is the dad nicely belting out the anthem. Johnny Futhey is the guy who started recording it. Both their sons play on the same basketball team. The video has been viewed 1 million times.

The nature of this year being nothing we expected, I think this happy accident with the sound system failure was far more moving than had things gone according to plan.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.