Winter Classic Culture War: Hipster Hockey Fans Deride ‘God Bless the USA’ at DC Game

Lee Greenwood Screen Grab 2001 World Series
Daniel J. Flynn

He’s proud to be an American. They’re ashamed that he’s singing at their hockey game.

Hipster hockey fans have lashed out at the NHL for inviting Lee Greenwood to sing “God Bless the USA” at the Winter Classic in Washington, D.C., on New Year’s Day. Greenwood sings his hit during the second intermission at the Washington Capitals-Chicago Blackhawks outdoor game at Nationals Park. NBC coverage begins at 1 p.m.

The country singer’s Rorschach test of a song brings grown men to tears, just not for the same reasons. Too-cool-for-school Caps fans insist they would rather watch the Zamboni in silence than hear the patriotic song with the Capitol and Washington Monument in the backdrop.

Though Billy Idol and Gavin DeGraw–they don’t exactly scream “2015”–perform at the event, the Grammy Award-winning Greenwood alone has drawn the ire of the Twittericans. With a flyover from military jets and the U.S. Army Chorus and Band combining for the “Star Spangled Banner,” Greenwood would appear to mesh nicely with the proceedings in the capital.

But the anti-muricans like their pucks minus the patriotism, and view Lee Greenwood the way the people who like his song viewed Osama bin Laden.

Mr. Greenwood will survive, though. He’s on record as affirming that if tomorrow all his things were gone that he had worked hard for in his life, leaving him with just his children and his wife, he would thank his lucky stars to be living here today.

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