If UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma had his way — and he should get it — fans in the stands, not a soloist, would sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before each game.

“It would be way more meaningful to have everyone in the building sing the national anthem, from the top of their lungs, like they really mean it and believe it is what America stands for,” he says.

Amen to that. The anthem is meant to be participatory, though it’s not the easiest of songs and there have been stirring solo renditions.

Plus, there is a long history, not just in the United States, of singing one’s national anthem before an athletic event. The Pledge of Allegiance, however, has no such history. It’s usually said at the beginnings of meetings or school days.

Since September, though, those attending UConn football and, now, basketball games have first stood to recite the pledge. Interim athletic director Paul Pendergast suggested the recitation to note the 10th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks, and it has continued.

The pledge is a moving tribute to the fallen of Sept. 11 and a reminder of the virtues of U.S. citizenship. The complaints of those who don’t want to recite it are irrelevant because they can simply stand quietly, as do residents of foreign countries, who could hardly be expected to pledge allegiance to a nation that’s not their own.

Reciting the pledge before every game, however, runs the risk of turning a central statement of patriotism into a chore, just one more thing to be gotten out of the way before the court or gridiron action starts. It’s too much a part of American life to suffer that fate.

— The Courant of Hartford