It was an ordinary day. Reading about the Philadelphia Flyers fans having no hard feeling against their professional hockey team, even after their lock-out with management at the beginning to this season. The 2012–13 NHL lockout was a labour dispute that began at 11:59 pm EDT on September 15, 2012, and ended at 4:45 am EST on January 6, 2013, lasting 113 days. Last weekend the team began practice for this season and over 2,000 fans showed up at their training complex in New Jersey. The usual 82 game season will be reduced to 48 games with the first game on January 19. The players should be in hockey shape, since most have played in other countries or in minor leagues in the US since the start of the lock-out. The fans, vendors and others who depend on the full season are the real losers in this lock-out. The players and team owners still walk away with a fantastic amount of money. Carol and I used to watch the Flyers all the time when our youngest son was playing ice hockey throughout middle and high school. It was during this time, specifically the 1972-1973 season, that the Flyers shed the mediocre expansion team label and became the intimidating Broad Street Bullies. Fun to watch Bernie Parent, Dave Shultz, and Rick MacLeish as they started Philadelphia on a winning tradition that lasted years. But, the players weren't the only thing that we like to watch when we tuned in the Flyers games on our TV. We enjoyed the singing of "God Bless America" by the vocalist with the voice that could fill the arena. Kate Smith was a fan favorite and theFlyers made sure they included her singing at the beginning of the game on many occasions. It was on December 11, 1969 that the Flyers played her rendition of "God Bless America" for the first time and an unusual part of her career began. The team began to play the song before home games every once in a while and it seemed that the team was more successful when she sang. At the Flyer's home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 11, 1973 she made a surprise appearance to perform the song in person and receive a tremendous ovation. The Flyers won that game by a 2-0 score and the tradition grew. She again performed the song at the Spectrum in front of a capacity crowd of 17,007 fans before Game 6 of the Stanley Finals on May 19, 1974 against the Boston Bruins and led to back-to-back Stanley Cups. Loved her singing as well as the game that night. The Flyers' record when "God Bless America is played or sung is a remarkable 94 wins, 26 losses and 4 ties as of April 26, 2001. I cannot find any records since then to share with you. One fan even said online about the beginning of a game when she appears that "it ain't begun 'til the fat lady sings! However for the opponent, it's over." Kate Smith and her voice still remains special to Carol and me and remain a special part of Flyers' history. In 1987, a year after her death, the Flyers erected a statue of Smith outside the Spectrum. Something that they didn't do for many of their best players. The Flyers occasionally still show a video of her singing "God Bless America" in lieu of the "Star Spangled Banner' for good luck before important games. They have also begun projecting her image onto their large screen at the beginning of games to have her and Lauren Hart, daughter of the late Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster Gene Hart, sing a duet of "God Bless America." Pretty inspiring to say the least! Hockey back then was more than just money, it was a culture. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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