National Anthem

RE STANDING during the national anthem: I stand every time, and I think everyone should. It is a time to pay respect to all those men and women who have laid down their lives to protect us so that we continue to be able to speak our minds. And they continue to do so as I write. And, Mr. Parrish, those wonderful military people are black, white, Latino, Asian, etc. So stop standing when you feel like it and stand all the time. You'll feel better! Anthony Zajko, Glenolden I stand for the anthem - anywhere, anyplace, any time.

The battered reputation of Josh Howard took another hit this week when an online video surfaced showing the Dallas Mavericks forward disrespecting the national anthem. In a video posted on YouTube, Howard is shown on a football field at a charity flag football game this summer run by Allen Iverson. As the national anthem plays in the background, Howard approaches a camera and says: "The Star-Spangled Banner" is going on right now. I don't even celebrate that [expletive]. I'm black.

A week ago I wrote a column concerning the difficulty of singing "The Star-Spangled Banner. " I pointed out that even professional singers are hard- put to sing our national anthem to its conclusion. Several wrote to agree, others felt the song has been around too long to "change horses in midstream. " Some said they have always been offended singing a song about "bombs bursting in air. " One reader, who was born on Sept. 13 - the day the song was written (but not in the same year)

Leave it to the Daily News to support basketball player Chris Jackson's (alias Abdul-Rauf) decision to ignore the National Anthem. Wouldn't want to offend your black readers. Everyone knows this has nothing to do with religious beliefs and everything to do with expressing hatred for our country and our way of life. But even that isn't the point: The National Basketball Association is entitled to set rules, and those employed by the NBA are obliged to obey them. You at the News know about rules - no spitting on the presses, no cursing out loud; it works the same in the NBA and elsewhere.

DEAR ABBY: I was criticized recently for placing my right hand over my heart while the flag was flown and "The Star-Spangled Banner" was being sung. I was told that the hand over the heart is for the Pledge of Allegiance only, when the flag is present. Is that true, and what is the proper procedure? - St. Louis Patriot DEAR PATRIOT: No, it is not true. Whoever criticized you was ignorant of the Flag Code, as amended by the 94th Congress and approved July 7, 1976. According to the code, "During the rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present . . . shall stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart.

The memories of Sept. 11 are still burned into the minds of baseball players. The unspeakable acts of terror occurred on a Tuesday morning while most late-sleeping players were just getting out of bed. There would be no games that night, no games that week, and that was a good thing, because no one felt like playing baseball. Eventually, the players took the field again. They wore American flags on their uniforms. They made generous donations to relief efforts. The season went on, pennant races pulsated, and the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees treated us to a magnificent World Series.

The basketball teams are at mid-court inside Conestoga High's gymnasium before a Friday night crowd of 500 rambunctious fans. In a moment, the place is quiet. It's time for Devon Cockerill to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner. " She stands with microphone in hand, not far from the scoring table. Her voice floats through Francis Scott Key's verses without the slightest quiver. Every note is right on target. Eyes stray from the flag on the gym's far wall back to Cockerill.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, the Denver Nuggets star who has refused to stand during the national anthem this season because of his Islamic beliefs, was suspended without pay by the NBA. NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said yesterday Abdul-Rauf violated a league rule that requires players, coaches and trainers to "stand and line up in a dignified posture" during the U.S. and Canadian anthems. "The NBA's rule on this point is very clear, and all our rules apply equally to all players," he said.

Like a boom box, Ashley Lauren Costello is a small package with a BIG SOUND. That is, when she sings. When she talked with a visitor before a basketball game on a recent Sunday afternoon, Ashley, who is 9 years old, was shy and barely audible. She twiddled her fingers and deferred to her mother when asked about her passion - carrying notes up and down the scale. But give her a song, say the national anthem, and she changes her tune. "I don't know. I just do it," she said with a shrug as she waited to belt out the anthem before Temple took on Virginia Tech.

You should first know that his name used to be Chris Jackson. You should also know that he has been sitting down for the national anthem all season, but the NBA did not threaten discipline until the last month. You should know that Denver Nuggets guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, a converted Muslim, has tried not to draw attention to himself. Sometimes he would stay in the locker room as the lights dimmed and the anthem played, sometimes he sat or stretched in his chair or simply faced away from the flag.

So you think you can sing? Melodiously enough to please thousands of cantankerous Eagles fans? Starting at 9 a.m. Saturday — a little after the dawn's early light — you could have your shot at becoming a National Anthem singer at a National Football League game at Lincoln Financial Field. The tryouts could last into early afternoon. A panel of judges will pick 25 competitors to move to the final round, at a later date, when three individuals will be chosen to perform during the coming season.

We have to admit we'd rather be in New Orleans dealing with late interviews and overhyped fans and crazy deadlines and the fact that CBS can't be on time for a first-game tipoff that the network itself scheduled for 6:09 p.m. but actually happened at 6:14 (did you really have to run a commercial between the national anthem and the player introductions?). But if you have to be home watching game action sprinkled among the ads, there's nothing better than following along on Twitter as Kentucky's Anthony Davis shows in no uncertain terms why he is college basketball's player of the year and the absolute mortal lock No. 1 pick in the next NBA draft.

THE SOUL in the offseason added more all-stars than a Miami Heat limousine. Twelve of the 16 players in this week's expected starting lineup were with other teams last year. Five of those 12 were either first- or second-team All-Arena. And another guy, lineman Devin Clark, will make it six All-Stars when he comes off injured reserve in 3 weeks. New coach Doug Plank led Georgia to the Arena Bowl in 2005. New offensive coordinator Clint Dolezel was one of the league's greatest quarterbacks and is one of its brightest minds.

Josh Harris, the first-year 76ers owner, hasn't conducted many interviews, but he took some time before Friday's game at the Wells Fargo Center against the Dallas Mavericks to give his near-midway point state of the team. The Sixers took a 20-10 record into the game and won't return home until after the all-star break, Feb. 29 against Oklahoma City. Not surprisingly, Harris has been impressed with the team on and off the court in this shorted 66-game season. "So far everything is at or ahead of expectations," Harris said.

The New Jersey Nets honored the late Whitney Houston by playing her rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" from the 1991 Super Bowl before their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The Newark-born singer died in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday at the age of 48. Her funeral will be Saturday in Newark at the New Hope Baptist Church, where she sang as a child. She will be buried in Fair View Cemetery in Westfield, where her father, John Russell Houston Jr., was buried in 2003.

Fawzia Koofi is the author of the new memoir The Favored Daughter: One Woman's Fight to Lead Afghanistan Into the Future I will never forget the day I swore my oath as a member of parliament in Afghanistan. Our national anthem was playing, and tears streamed down my face. I looked around the room and saw all of Afghanistan's faces reflected there; every ethnic group from my culturally diverse nation - more than 40 languages, with more than 200 dialects, are spoken nationally.

Adam Aron, 57, treasurer of the Abington High Class of 1972, became co-owner and CEO of the 76ers on Oct. 18. Friday was the home opener. Evan Bayh, former governor and senator from Indiana, arrived early and was about to give his lifelong friend a hug when Aron waved him off. "Hold on. I'm on the phone with Dr. J. " Aron was the host, the celebrity, living a boyhood fantasy, CEO of his hometown team. He was operating on "nine levels of adrenaline," and hadn't slept more than five hours a night in months.

THE HECK WITH dribbling, shooting, passing and defending. For Shep Garner, Roman Catholic High's newest basketball sensation, the most challenging task is trying to keep a straight face right before the games begin. When Roman is the home team, that is. Garner's mother, Kim, is a professional singer (fronts one band; has another of her own) and . . . hey, there she is, impeccably dressed, standing right in front of the scorers' table, belting out the national anthem. "I'm laughing on the inside, but I can't let it show," said the personable Garner, a 6-2, 190-pound sophomore point guard.

Who: Standout youngster on "Majors & Minors," an adorable, heart-swelling, no-elimination show featuring 12 amazing "minors," ages 10 and up, and their "major" celebrity mentors. Airs 7 p.m. Sundays on The Hub. Age: 14 From: Originally South Philly, now East Falls School: Meredith Elementary Memorable show moment: The first time he met Brandy, Michael performed a song he wrote - and reduced the R&B vet to happy tears. Back in town: Since the show wrapped, Michael's been a regular eighth-grader, taking the bus to school and singing in the adult and praise choirs at Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church.