NFL News:

• The only major NFL news of the day is about the Tyreek Hill hearing with the NFL’s investigation team.
  • This is in response to police being called to Hill’s home twice in March when Hill’s 3-year-old son suffered a broken arm.
  • The meeting took about eight hours. And Mike Florio noticed a trend emerging:

On multiple occasions in recent years, NFL investigations have become an exercise in working backward to justify a preordained ending point. If in this case the NFL already has decided that Hill should be suspended for a specific number of games, the investigation will be molded, contorted, and maybe even distorted in a way that leads to that outcome.

Today In Canadian History:

Since today is very, very empty, and I’ve been a tad negligent in my #content production lately, I figured I’d dust off the ol’ mortarboard and drop some knowledge on you fine folks.

June 27, 1980 – “O Canada” becomes the official national anthem of Canada

Being a former British colony, Canada had, upon it’s acquisition into the Empire, an adopted anthem – “God Save The Queen”.

And for over 200 years that seemed to do the trick. However, the end of the US Civil War hastened the move towards creating a “Canada” that appeared independent from Britain. (Or, at least appeared independent enough to keep the US from invading north as revenge for British trade with the Confederacy & Manifest Destiny.) While the politicians worked to promote political separation, the artistic community played its part, and a fellow named Alexander Muir wrote the lyrics & music to “The Maple Leaf Forever” as tribute to Confederation. In 1867, this song became the de facto anthem for the new nation of “Canada”.

Now, the existing French population wasn’t likely to uphold that tradition, and sought an anthem that reflected their heritage & history on this continent. In 1880, the Quebec provincial government commissioned a poem by Adolphe-Basile Routhier, and then asked “Canada’s national musician”, Calixa Lavallée, to compose music for it. Their chant national was first performed at a St. Jean Baptiste celebration on June 24, 1880, and “O Canada” quickly became the francophone national anthem.

Original French Lyrics by Adolphe-Basile Routhier, 1880

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l’épée,
Il sait porter la croix!

Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,

Protègera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protègera nos foyers et nos droits.

^{Text & photo – The Canadian Encyclopedia}

“O Canada” was first performed outside Quebec in 1901, to commemorate the visit to Canada of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (later King George V and Queen Mary). They were played an instrumental version of the song by a military band as they inspected troops in Toronto, and later sung a translated version by a children’s choir at a public arts performance.

As the popularity of the song grew outside Quebec, English lyrics were required. In 1908 – to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of Quebec (City) – the version written by Robert Stanley Weir, a lawyer and Recorder of the City of Montréal, was adopted, which was based in part on his translation of Routhier’s original poem.

A slightly modified version of the 1908 poem was published in an official form for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation in 1927, and the tune was thought to have become the de facto national anthem after King George VI remained at attention during its playing at the dedication of the National War Memorial in Ottawa, Ontario, on May 21, 1939.

The process of “O Canada” becoming the only national anthem began in 1964, when PM Lester Pearson resolved to only have one true national anthem, in advance of the centennial in 1967. A motion was put before the House of Commons, later adopted by the Senate, that “O Canada” would become the national anthem of Canada, and “God Save the King/Queen” would be the royal anthem of Canada. This was done in ime for the July 1st Centennial of Confederation, but because it was a “motion” and not a “bill”, it never became “law” in Canada. This was rectified, after many failed attempts, partially due to the FLQ & sovereignty crises of the 1970s, when the “National Anthem Act” was introduced & passed in 1980, to coincide with the centennial of “O Canada”‘s first performance in 1880.

There have been some changes to the English lyrics over the years, which I will not get into here – read this if you want – but the French version remains unchanged.

Tonight’s sports:

• CFL:
  • Eskimos at Blue Bombers – 8:30PM | ESPN2 / TSN
• MLB:
  • Nationals at Marlins – 7:00PM | Sportsnet
• 2019 Copa America:
  • Quarterfinal #1 – Brazil vs. Paraguay – 8:00PM | TSN2 / Telemundo

Seamus has you guys tomorrow – hopefully with sexy Canadians in respect of Canada Day Monday – and I’ll have the evening threads this weekend, leading into NHL & NBA Free Agent Monday. Have a good one folks.