You have seen it.
We all find those videos on YouTube or social media that stick with us, ones that we share with close friends or repost on Facebook. Last week, I found one that remains with me.
A man is playing the National Anthem on his trumpet before a baseball game. Everything is going well until something happens: the trumpet no longer works. The man presses down on the valves, but one is apparently stuck. Time freezes right in the middle of the National Anthem on a fall evening at an Arizona Diamondbacks game.
The man pauses, looks at the trumpet, then steps to the microphone stand and removes the microphone. He holds the trumpet to his side and begins to sing the rest of the National Anthem as if this change had been his intent from the first note he played.
The camera crew and photographers move around him as he spins toward the crowd. He sings, swinging his broken trumpet to the patriotic rhythm of the song. As he finishes, the crowd erupts in well-deserved applause; he casually places the trumpet on the ground and triumphantly walks away.
Doctor Jesse McGuire, the 68-year-old former lead trumpeter for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, a man who has performed before three presidents and played the National Anthem 25 years ago at the 2001 World Series, has more than likely faced many different obstacles in his life. I imagine his instincts had him prepared for this moment, one that teaches us many valuable lessons.
Despite all our careful preparations, there will be moments when life does not unfold as we wish it would. We may be on a stage surrounded by a crowd; we could be among colleagues at work; or we could be alone at home. Regardless of the time and place, we are left with ourselves and the choices we must make.
McGuire had options, right? Once he saw the valve was beyond repair, he could have simply stopped, held his trumpet out to the crowd, shrugged his shoulders, smiled, and waved to the crowd. Honestly, that would have worked. The televisions around the stadium and at home televised the entire debacle. People knew what happened. Could anyone truly fault him for that?
McGuire could have put his head down and walked off the field. Leave the trumpet on the ground and walk away. The cameras would catch it all, and he could have done so graciously. He could have accepted this defeat by simply removing himself from it.
Lord, some people would probably have been understanding if McGuire cursed and swore at the trumpet. “You damn piece of crap!” What if he grabbed a bat, tossed the trumpet in the air, and gave it a good whack into the infield? That is extreme, but tell me it doesn’t sound like a choice he could have made.
Does anyone remember when Roseanne Barr attempted to sing the National Anthem at a Padres game over three decades ago? I never thought she should have been invited to sing; she is a comedian who is clearly not known for her singing ability. But, hey, America is the land of opportunity.
She started singing off-key and later could not sync her singing to the taped-recorded music blaring throughout the stadium. Her crude singing became a torturous shriek. People booed the hell out of her, and do you remember what she did at the end? She grabbed her crotch and spit on the ground.
What would you have done if you were Dr. McGuire?
I know that I have had times in my life when life fell apart unexpectedly. Some of them give me the cold chills every once in a while. Those bad moments have stuck with me. I can recall times when I was totally at fault for what transpired, but I remember those when I was the victim of life’s misalignment of stars. That doesn't change the fact that I had choices.
McGuire’s choice? He sang.
The cameras and photographers were the people we know are there watching us when things go wrong. Our own audiences will hover, swirling around us the way the photographers did with McGuire. Sure, people may want to see us fail; others may empathize because they have been in an impossible situation. Many are just curious to see how we will react.
Maybe that’s why this video is so popular. We all have been there before, just not on this grand scale, in a nationally televised baseball game. This moment reminds us that when life goes off course and hits a guardrail, we can remind ourselves that this was always a possibility and then find our way to a better ending.
Picture Credits
Arizona Sports
Plametto Media Company
