The National Anthem For Kobe's Farewell Was Terrible, But Also Terribly Fitting

I'm sorry, the public address announcer did say Flea was "honoring" the United States of America, correct? Kind of sounded like he was taking it's beloved anthem and defecating all over it if you ask me. Now, I know I am not a music connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. If you had asked me if I knew who Flea was before last night my best guess would have been the homeless guy outside the neighborhood 7/11 that made asking me for change part of his daily routine. This may have been a miraculous piece of music that my ears simply weren't cut out to hear as such, who knows? What I do know is that one of the most anticipated events of the year was NOT the place to bust it. It's the Star Spangled Banner. It should always sound relatively the same. No remixing, no chopping and/or screwing, and most definitely no shredding. I know it's the land of the free, but maybe we can stop being so brave with our renditions of the National Anthem. 

With that said, whatever the fuck it was that infected my ears was absolutely necessary for the situation. Not because it was good or authentic, but because it reminded us that the game was being played in Los Angeles. Let's be honest, last night was not very 'L.A.'. People were in their seats on time for the start of the game. The crowd was loud and engaged. With what you saw you would almost think that the city cares and appreciates it's athletes. That's why we needed some old dude to come up dressed like someone 20 years his junior, refuse to remove his snapback, and make the song all about himself by trying too hard. If that didn't bring attention to the fact that Los Angeles - if just for one night - resembled a real life sports city then nothing would, because everything else about the atmosphere would make you think the Lakers were on the road.