Louisiana State University women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey should have made the national anthem a priority instead of skipping it ahead of Monday’s NCAA Tournament game against the University of Iowa, 1980 Miracle on Ice hockey captain Mike Eruzione told Newsmax on Tuesday.
“Most times, when you’re playing in big games, and I’ve been obviously involved with the NCAA hockey situations, you normally get an itinerary of the events, what’s taking place, what’s happening, so they had to have known there was going to be the anthem,” Eruzione said during an appearance on Newsmax’s “American Agenda.”
“Why would one team show up and not the other?” he continued. “She said it was unintentional; it should have been a priority, in my opinion. That should have been the first thing. I know they have a sequence of events that they go through before a game, and how they prepare, but once you know there’s an anthem being played, that should be a priority in your locker room for your team to be out there. It’s just another way of getting frustrated for a country of people that are getting a little disgusted that we’re doing things like this, and these things are happening.”
The Olympic gold medalist added that he’s “a big believer that the national anthem should be played in every single school at the beginning of the school day, and some schools are doing that now.”
Outrage was stoked after video quickly circulated of the national anthem being played with only Iowa players present on the court. At a press conference after her team’s 94-87 loss, Mulkey rejected suggestions that LSU players intentionally skipped the anthem.
When asked if lessons should have been learned from the ordeal of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who used to kneel for the national anthem prior to being detained in Russia on drug charges, Eruzione said, “I think they would be and should be learned.
“I’m old school,” he said. “I’m a believer in the anthem. I’m a believer in the American flag. If you have an issue with it, then find another way to tell your story or promote what you want to promote, but don’t turn your back on the flag, and don’t turn your back on the national anthem.”
Eruzione then recounted his experience at the Tuesday morning funeral service of a friend’s father who was a 98-year-old World War II veteran.
“He was in Normandy, and the ceremony they had for him and the tribute was absolutely incredible and amazing,” he said. “I just wish today’s kids would get a sense of that and the pride of this country and the flag and the anthem and what that means. It’s frustrating when we see things like that [LSU skipping the national anthem] happen and somebody says, ‘Well, you know, it wasn’t intentional,’ but clearly you knew you should have been out there.”
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