Al Bernstein's Blog February 24, 2009 A Not-So-Nice Garden Party When Michael Jennings traversed the Atlantic Ocean from Great Britain to come and box Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden, he knew he was walking into the lion’s den. Cotto has had several major fights at the garden and he has a huge fan base in New York. So, Jennings probably did expect some boos when he walked out to the ring, and he certainly expected that Cotto would be greeted like a rock star. And all that did happen. Something else happened on Saturday night that might have been a shock to Jennings and his fans watching on television in England. When the British national anthem was sung by a lovely young lady, she was showered with boos. Well, I suspect the boos were not directed at her personally, but rather at the anthem. This is not the first time this has happened. At recent Ricky Hatton fights in Las Vegas there have been boos during the British anthem. As I stood there ready to continue with the pay per view telecast of this event, I was ashamed of my countrymen in that arena and felt terrible for the young lady who endured the very loud boos. And, I wondered….why? Perhaps these folks still hold a grudge over the revolutionary war. But, really, most of the that were booing are so moronic they probably think that war was between the north and the south. You don’t have to be a foreign policy expert to know that the United States and Great Britain are ALLIES. And, even if we were not, is it really appropriate to boo any national anthem at a sporting event? Americans are especially skittish about other countries and their citizens showing disrespect for our national symbols. It’s hard to claim that high ground when many in the USA show disrespect to other countries as the folks at the Garden did on Saturday night. (This blog is written exclusively for USSportspages.com readers. To see more of Al’s coverage of boxing go to the Al Bernstein Boxing Channel at ibnsports.com. To contact Al call Adie Zuckerman at the Al Bernstein Live offices at 847-827-9212 or e-mail to adie@albernsteinlive.com). Archives: January 14, 2009 January 19, 2009 January 27, 2009 February 4, 2009 February 18, 2009 February 24, 2009