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The PA system wouldn’t play the national anthem. These high school fans had a Plan B.

A screenshot of a tweet by Fayetteville Observer sports writer Patrick Obley capturing fans singing the national anthem after the PA system failed at the start of the high school basketball game between Cape Fear and Terry Sanford in Fayetteville NC Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017.
A screenshot of a tweet by Fayetteville Observer sports writer Patrick Obley capturing fans singing the national anthem after the PA system failed at the start of the high school basketball game between Cape Fear and Terry Sanford in Fayetteville NC Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2017. TWITTER

Technical difficulties during the playing of the national anthem at high school athletic events are fairly common, but such bugs typically work themselves out with a little time.

But one crowd apparently wasn’t interested in waiting around after the PA system flopped at the start of Terry Sanford’s home basketball game against Cape Fear on Tuesday. Fans on both sides of the gym belted out the Star-Spangled Banner, and a local sports writer documented the a cappella performance in a Twitter video.

“The national anthem wouldn’t play, so the Cape Fear and Terry Sanford fans took care of it,” Patrick Obley of the Fayetteville Observer tweeted along with the video.

Obley, in another tweet, poked fun at the crowd, saying “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson “would say there were a lot of pitchy dawgs in the house,” but also criticized his initial tweet for misspelling the word “national.”

“This was a really cool thing,” Obley wrote. “All did it with a smile, nearly cracking up.”

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 1:59 PM with the headline "The PA system wouldn’t play the national anthem. These high school fans had a Plan B.."

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