Rodman's Ramblings by: Bill Rodman

The alarm clock unceremoniously jarred me from a deep sleep and back to something resembling consciousness at 5:30 in the morning. I had set it to remind me that I had to meet the barbershop bus at 6:30 in Orland Park.  Our barbershop chorus, The Singing Men of Note" were scheduled to sing the National Anthem at the beginning of the Bears and Saints game in Champaign Illinois where the Bears will play all their home games until the rehab of Soldier Field is completed next year.

I stumbled out of bed and headed to the bathroom noticing that it was still dark. I haven't got up this early since I retired and wondered if this was really such a great idea. My head finally cleared and I once again realized what a great opportunity this was to see the Bears play football and to sing to an audience of over 70,000 people.

I made a quick breakfast and headed out the door into weather that was cold, windy and raining, which was certainly less than desirable for watching a football game - much less appearing on the field in only a yellow polo shirt for protection from the elements. Gloria suggested that I take a hooded sweatshirt, jacket, hat and poncho, which later turned out to be a lifesaver.

I arrived at Orland Park, and it was still raining. The bus had not yet arrived and everyone sat in their car to stay dry until it did arrived. It was a long drive to Champaign Illinois and the state police were all over the place nabbing Bears fans that were in to much of a hurry to get to the stadium.

We arrived at the field in time to do the scheduled sound test that the Bears organization requested to assure that everything would be perfect for our singing of the National Anthem and there would be no technical glitches. We had 38 men on the field and the sound came from all the speakers in the stadium.  As we walked from the field one of the sound men commented that it sounded fantastic and that the crowd would go (expletive deleted) wild.

It was still raining and we all wondered if thing would clear up as the weatherman had promised. At about 11:00 the sky started clearing and things looked much better.  At about 11:50 the stadium was full with 74,000 rabid Bears fans and we marched onto -the now sunny - field in an orderly fashion and took our place in the end zone ready for the signal to sing.

The field announcer asked the crowd to stand and turn their attention to the South end of the field for the singing of the Nations Anthem sung by the Singing Men of Note directed by Bob Tuohy.

The part of the song "The rockets red glare" really started the crowd cheering and it just got louder from that point until it was even difficult to hear ourselves and we had to keep a close eye on the director to stay together. We held the last chord longer than usual and the crowd go even louder. I understand that this is the only country in the world that cheers its national anthem the way we do. I think it is fantastic.  I cannot speak for the rest of the chorus, but I had chills up my spine as I have never had before. I was in awe to think that we could not only sing our Nation Anthem in this stadium but to have the crowd appreciate, not only our countries Nation Anthem, but our performance as well.

We returned to our seats and the Bears provided us with food and soft drinks that we all enjoyed. The Bears took an early 20 to nothing lead but unfortunately, lost the game in the last few minutes. We will win then next one.

I guess the Bears origination was more than pleased because there was talk about inviting us back again next year and possibly even having us participate in a half-time performance.