This is very good news and a smart move by UND. Mark Lindquist sang a few national anthems last year and he was simply amazing.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – UND Athletics and the Ralph Engelstad Arena are pleased to announce that Mark J. Lindquist has been retained as the full-time national anthem singer at UND men’s hockey games for the 2014-15 season.
Lindquist’s talents were on display at multiple UND Athletics events during the 2013-14 season and his rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” has become an anticipated portion of the North Dakota hockey game experience. With a significant amount of positive feedback from fans, as well as the desire to add to the unique experience of UND men’s hockey games at “The Ralph,” the decision was made to ensure a consistent performance of the national anthem.
Lindquist is a nationally-recognized speaker and world-touring entertainer who has performed live for over a half-a-million people throughout his career. As an actor, he has appeared in ABC’s “Lost,” CBS’ “Hawaii Five-O” and the Universal Studios movie “Battleship.”
Currently, Mark travels the country performing the national anthem for collegiate and professional sports teams, delivers keynote addresses for businesses, associations, conferences and school assemblies, as well as educational financial seminars in cities across America.
This summer, Mark has performed at the College World Series and will be performing at Fargo Redhawks and Minnesota Twins games in July, as well as for the Los Angeles Dodgers in August.
“It's such an honor to become a consistent part of such a storied hockey program. The national anthem is my favorite song to sing and I am proud to bring my rendition to UND Athletics and the Ralph Engelstad Arena,” said Lindquist.
Lindquist makes his home in Fargo, N.D., and co-founded Breath Is Limited Motivational Speaking LLC as his way of bringing a message of hope, passion, perseverance and joy to people all over the world (www.BreathIsLimited.com). He is also a partner at The 7 Mindsets out of Atlanta, Ga.
Lindquist is a former sergeant in the United States Air Force and an Afghanistan war veteran who grew up in Ortonville, Minn.
I think this is a good deal for UND. On Schlossman's blog, some critics cite a good music program that would be able to provide adequate singing talent to do the anthem. I do not doubt that, but I've been to so many sporting events in the last year where I'm at and consistency is NEVER there. I've seen singers skip whole sections of the anthem, the anthem (no kidding) be sung for over 5 minutes, and the typical: the anthem sung like they are auditioning for American Idol, or as if the people there at the event are there to listen to THEM sing rather than listen with respect to our anthem before a game. Let me tell you, the singing of the national anthem is an HONOR and not a publicity stunt. It's one of the few things I'm jealous of our Canadian neighbors over. Their anthem singers GET IT.
ReplyDeleteBetter to have it done with respect and have it done right rather than to roll the dice and hope that the singer knows what they are singing and why they are singing it.