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Decibel and Docket

Podcast.

Mike, a viral video from Sunday's Cubs-Twins game shows an older fan ordering a younger fan to stand for the National Anthem and then smacking him in the back of the head when he does it.

I don't want to show the video here because I think it's a little egregious, but have you seen this video? I have not.

Oh.

Well, what, I mean, basically what happens is kind of what I described.

There's an older belligerent guy sitting two rows back from a, um, a guy casually kind of sitting in his chair during the national performance, the national anthem at Wrigley field.

There's two guys in a 20 seat seating section.

The older guy, um, And he's barking at the guy to obviously stand while the national anthem is being played.

And then reaches back and smacks the guy upside the back of the head.

And the guy kind of gets up.

and complies and just stands for the National Anthem, kind of in shock.

This is culture war material, right? This is like Fox News loves this kind of stuff, right? And it's interesting, I think, in some sense that this has become a debate in the media because, I mean, in my perspective, there isn't No debate here.

Right.

And whether you believe people should stand for the national anthem or not is besides the point.

Like physically attacking someone over a political agreement is to me like the antithesis of the rights that people fight to protect in this country that we even stand for.

Right.

And so.

If it was supposed to be this marketplace of ideas, obviously, I think, you know, intimidating and striking someone who doesn't conform to those ideas feels like, you know, fascism, right? And it reminds me of Will Smith, like, hitting Chris Rock, right? I remember that, yeah.

You don't get to assault someone because you disagree with them, right? I would have liked to have seen this guy arrested or at least cited.

What do you think about that?

Yeah, I think I agree that, you know, whether or not someone wants to stand, stand or, you know, put their hand over their heart or whatever for the national anthem is a personal choice.

And people are allowed to do that and totally agree that there should not be.

violence or physical contact made to make a point I mean it reminds me of the Colin Kaepernick kind of thing that happened in the NFL a couple years ago where players were kneeling

which

is even

different than not standing I mean you're actually

taking like a an actual taking a knee which is kind of taking a stand by taking a knee action, you know, to protest versus simply refusing to stand or whatever.

And people have that right to do that.

And people need to be respectful of everybody, whether, you know, don't make fun of someone if they want to salute the flag and you're not and vice versa.

Okay.

I mean,

we're both on agreement here.

This wasn't an easy one.

So let's make I want to make a little more controversial talk.

Mike, in 2026, do you think we should still be performing the National Anthem at sporting events and live events? I think

it's a good question.

I personally don't have a problem with the playing of the National Anthem.

There is an ongoing debate about prayer in public schools at sporting events.

But, you know, like... outside of my own political beliefs, I don't mind playing the national anthem at the beginning.

It's a cultural kind of like process that we engage in, whether or not someone wants to participate is their own individual decision, especially at like national big sporting events, you know, that are professional things.

I think it might be a little different in schools and whatnot, but I don't have a problem with the playing of the national anthem, as long as people are allowed to participate if they want to and allowed to not participate if they don't want

Right, exactly.

I think that the Star-Spangled Banner is actually a good song.

It's dynamic enough that performers can kind of put their own stamp on it, but it's also difficult enough, right, that it takes, like, actual singing chops to perform certain parts of the song, you know? Yeah.

Okay.

Here's an even more controversial one for you.

Okay.

What, who has a better national anthem, the United States or Canada?

Ooh, that's tough because I have Canadian family.

Um, uh, You know, I'll give a non-answer.

It was really cool in the World Cup, you know, to hear all of the different national anthems played from 40, was it 42 or 48 countries? Yeah.

And how some are short and to the point, which I think the Canadian one is, is not particularly long, which I appreciate.

Yeah.

But and, you know, the music that's associated with them and some of them seem to not have words, really.

It was just like a like a musical harmony was a national anthem.

It seemed like for some of those countries between the United States and Canada.

I'm going I like both.

They both like set the tone for what the country stands for.

And I appreciate that.

Which one are you

going with? I'm going to ask you

the same question.

I didn't think about it.

So I do like the Canadian National Anthem.

It's more fun to sing in a group of people.

But I think Canada, it kind of ends... right with a bit with repetition while the star spangled banner really hits the high note at the end i mean it really builds it kind of builds up and plateaus right at the end so i couldn't have to score higher for the star spangled banner just okay

hey canadian listeners and followers i i i voted for you too so There you

go.

There was a resolution with our main man in Chicago.

So the guy who threw the slap was named Robert Chavez.

He's a Vietnam veteran who told Inside Edition that He lost friends in the Vietnam War, and he allowed his emotions to get the better of him.

Chavez did say he regretted his actions and acknowledged the central contradiction here.

He said, we fight for the rights of people, and that's one of his rights.

The guy who was slapped and who also sounds like, according to the story, the young man who got slapped approached Chavez, apologized, and bought him a beer.

Hey, what

better way to resolve a difference at a baseball game?

I always say I can talk to you all day about the topic at hand, but we've got a bigger show to do.