Houston, we have a problem.
The conclusion of the March Madness is taking place in Houston, TX at NRG Stadium. The No. 5 seed San Diego State Aztecs and the No. 4 Seed UConn Huskies are currently facing off for the NCAA National Championship.
However, the start of the broadcast got off to a rocky start with a questionable “Star Spangled Banner” performance.
Everything about this performance made sense.
Oh, the game is being played in Houston, an area famously connected with the NASA space program? Get an astronaut to sing the national anthem.
What’s that? The NCAA Championship game is a competition that pits the very best student athletes against one another and raises money to help fund all other NCAA sports? Get a former student athlete to perform the song commemorating the stars and stripes.
The NCAA nailed it with those two ideas. However, Tracy Dyson’s singing ability might have been the only thing that they forgot to check out.
It’s not that it was necessarily bad, but one could argue that the performance did not match the moment. Take a look for yourself at the video, which the Men’s Final Four captioned:
“Tonight’s anthem was out of this world!”
Tonight's anthem was out of this world! 🧑🚀
Tracy Dyson, a @NASA Astronaut and former @FullertonTFXC student-athlete, performed the National Anthem ahead of tonight's #NationalChampionship game.#MFinalFour pic.twitter.com/2r8JupXh8r
— NCAA Men's Final Four (@MFinalFour) April 4, 2023
Like I said earlier, not that bad, but not that great.
I won’t act like I could do any better, because I know good and well that I could not. All I will say is these two things:
-Her performance was not even in the same solar system (see what I did there?) as Chris Stapleton’s Super Bowl National Anthem.
-Tracy Dyson still managed to rocket high above (I did it again!) Fergie’s infamous NBA All Star Game “Star Spangled Banner” (I put that in quotations not because it is a song, but rather how you would do air quotations with your fingers sarcastically in real life).
I didn’t want to be too mean towards the astronaut and former student athlete’s performance, but I will guide you to some of the internet’s response to the National Anthem, and I will preface it by saying that the comments are not good at all.
Twitter needs some chill:
The pitch was out of this world. https://t.co/jTMXvAaL6U
— @loudlonger (@loudlonger) April 4, 2023
When she started using her hands, that’s when I became concerned.
— K. J. (@MrKennethJones) April 4, 2023
Wow hidden talent!! Please keep it hidden.
— synneove (@synndamon) April 4, 2023
— 🧟♂️ (@cl3va4) April 4, 2023
It was also out of that key.
— Cory Lingerfelt (@LingerfeltCory) April 4, 2023
That was awful
— chris schubothe (@cbothe) April 4, 2023
Aww damn, she tried at least lol 😂 Have mercy on her 😂
— O.G. Sailor (@ogsailor) April 4, 2023
I plugged my ears and sang it myself
— Gabe Duckro (@protonparter) April 4, 2023
You know, Houston has a professional opera company?
— Scott Boyce (@RScottBoyce) April 4, 2023
Still better than Fergie.
— shannah quinn (@domesticninja) April 4, 2023
Jonathan Potts probably summed it up best:
I thought this was fine. She’s an amateur singer. You people are mean. https://t.co/tQhCIWg2zz
— Jonathan Potts (@jepotts) April 4, 2023
