I'm going to Great American Ballpark tonight.  The Reds and Astros will play a baseball game, and hopefully the Reds will win.  I'll have a beer, a hot dog, and probably some funnel fries. I'll try to answer the Scoreboard Stumper.  I'll laugh at the unsuspecting folks on the Kiss Cam, and openly wonder about some of the at-bat music selections by the Reds.  All of that will be fun, because nothing on earth tops a night at the ballyard.

But tonight, none of that....not the score of the game, none of the between-innings entertainment, not even the food, will be more important or meaningful than a song played roughly ten minutes before Mike Leake throws his first pitch.

Tonight, I'm going to the ballpark to listen to the United States' National Anthem.

Yes, it's very corny.  And yeah, I can go anywhere to hear The Star Spangled Banner...I'm sure any number of versions exist on YouTube....but I want to hear whatever rendition is offered up tonight at GABP, more than maybe any other night ever.

We talk about not taking Francis Scott Key's most famous song for granted when bad things happen to our country.  You hear people say as much when we start wars, or when someone fighting a war close to home loses their life in it, or when we commemorate anniversaries of brutal, bloody attacks on the US.

You say it and you mean it.  And you stand at attention that first time you go to a game, and you take off your hat, and maybe even you mouth the words.  You do this a for a while, but over time, the anthem fades into the background, lost in an endless parade of first ball tossers, or loud promotional ads.  And sooner or later, you're back to missing the anthem entirely.

We all do it and we mean no harm but admit it.....while America's most famous song is being belted out, you're sneaking off into the men's room, or loading up on snacks, or maybe you're just parking the car, or finishing up that final pregame tailgate pop.  Or maybe you're just not paying attention as the national athem is being played.

Tonight, I'm paying attention.

Maybe it's a silly, corny, even jingoistic reaction to the events of last night, and I'll likely go back to taking the anthem for granted sooner than I should, but after watching an historic night of television, after hearing about how our armed forces killed the most ruthless and loathsome mass murderer of our lifetime....I can't help but want to hear that song tonight while standing with a bunch of baseball fans.

And if the Reds were out of town tonight, I'd find someone singing it somewhere.  Maybe at a college or high school game, perhaps something unrelated to sports.  I want to stand, stare at the flag, and hear it.

Maybe the Reds will have a seasoned pro handling the honors.  Or maybe it's a school choir group, or a fresh-faced rookie who's never before sang in front of thousands.  Perhaps the organist handles the duties with no solo accompaniment.  How it's played or who's playing it doesn't matter tonight.

What matters is that it will be played, and that tonight that silly little song will have just a little extra special meaning.

And as it's sung, I won't be thinking about baseball.  I'll be listening to the Star Spangled Banner, and thinking about the dude who shot Osama bin Laden, and how that guy's money should never be good in any tavern ever again.  I'll think about the people he was with and wonder how much they stared death right in the face as they pulled off one of the most important and instantly memorable military operations in history.  I'll think of every single soldier who for almost a decade helped make last night happen.  I'll think of those who died so you and I could sit home on a Sunday night and hear those words...

"Osama bin Laden is dead."

And I'll think of the people who were killed by bin Laden and his "associates" and those who had their lives just ripped apart by him.  I'll think of the piece of closure last night's news might have given them. 

I'll stand and face the flag, hat on my heart.  And I'll smile some.  And probably cry some too.  But most of all, I'll proudly listen to the words to our national anthem.

And then I'll watch a baseball game.

God Bless America.

Among the many incredible scenes on television last night was this from Philadelphia, where fans broke into the "USA USA" chant as word spread of bin Laden's death.