Rick Reilly Fails To Uphold Timeless British Maxim: Don’t Mention The War

By Eamonn Brennan

Andy Murray is as recognizable a British athlete as there is. But you don’t need me to tell you that. Rick Reilly, ESPN columnist and cheesy video essayist extraordinaire can handle that task, as he does above. Yes, Reilly is examining the Brits’ newfound love affair with Murray, whose deep run into Wimbledon is the sort of thing British people get really excited about. Remember Tim Henman? He was actually pretty good in Virtua Tennis on Dreamcast; he was also the subject of yearly British exuberance, and ultimately disappointment, whenever Wimbledon rolled around.

Anyway, the point of Reilly’s little video is that Andy Murray is popular in England. Which is why it would make sense to score the piece with “God Save The Queen.” Except the producer didn’t do that. He or she, for whatever reason — and I admit it’s hard to notice at first — chose the German national anthem, “Das Deutschlandlied.” Minor mistake! Fortunately, England and Germany share no sense of ill will toward one another bred by any sort of recent historical conflict; heck, they don’t mind the occasional anthem swap! Hey, sure! Go for it!

Deadspin has already touched on the problems here, but I’d argue the real shame is on the merits: “God Save The Queen” is vastly superior to “Das Deutschlandlied,” both of which can’t hold a candle to “Gimn Sovetskogo Soyuza,” the anthem of the former USSR. Want to know why more than a million Russian soldiers threw themselves at Nazi mortar shells in Stalingrad? Here’s your answer:

The lyrics, on the other hand, failed to stand the test of time.

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