Saw the Musical or the Musical Saw

I just heard a discussion on the radio the other day about how fans at sporting events don’t really pay attention to the national anthem anymore, or how they disrespect the song by hooting and hollering or stuffing their face with popcorn and overpriced beer.

I became one of these disrespecting fans last night by laughing through the entire song. But don’t hate me my patriotic friends. It wasn’t my fault. Let me explain.

So I was at a Wayne State University basketball game (Go Warriors!), and we all stand for the song, but instead of hearing a tenor, bass, alto or soprano, I hear this piercing sound come out of the speakers, almost made my eardrums bleed.

I looked down on the basketball court to find that the sound was coming from a man holding a handsaw. That’s right. Handy Manny was playing the National Anthem on a handsaw. Now, don’t get me wrong, Manny was great as far as handsaw players go. He hit every note. But how could I take him seriously? He was playing a saw!

Apparently Manny is not the only one who’s made the handsaw his instrument of choice. According to Wikipedia, America’s most-trusted site for factual information, there is something called a musical saw, which is the application of a handsaw as a musical instrument. Who knew?