Brian, I too get teary when I hear O Canada. But not at hockey games where half the players are from European countries. and not at similar trivial events which evoke nothing from me. But I cried when I was in Innsbruck and some friends of mine won a gold medal in bobsled, many years ago. I get teary at accomplishment, less so at patriotic showiness. I think one of the great lessons in life is to be try and be a critical thinker, to challenge assumptions, hers, his theirs, and most importantly, my own. To unflinchingly salute the country when it stumbles or is plain wrong is to adopt the same behaviour of parents at hockey games who see their children's on ice behaviour as always right, and vocally trash referees and other players.