Brad Paisley Draws Mixed Reactions With Guitar-Driven National Anthem Performance Ahead Of Yankees-Dodgers World Series Game

Despite his West Virginia roots, country music star Brad Paisley is a hardcore Los Angeles Dodgers fan. Given the opportunity to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" for Game 1 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium, Paisley wasn't about to pass that up, or settle for a conventional arrangement of the U.S. national anthem. Showing off some legendary guitar skills and his trademark stellar pipes, the three-time Grammy winner delivered a cool, collected, and assured performance. https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1849964950392832385 To get to sing the national anthem for your favorite team in any sport on a World Series type of stage would be nothing short of living the dream. Like whatever staggering fame Paisley has achieved or all the massive stadiums he's played to on traditional tours, getting the shot to do this must be a whole other different type of awesome satisfaction. It seems like most of the reaction online was fairly kind to Mr. Paisley: https://twitter.com/primalkey/status/1849965792453890373 https://twitter.com/CigarLector/status/1849965314324431052 https://twitter.com/vedaaarya/status/1849965313606942847 https://twitter.com/Gee_wind/status/1849966078094434768 https://twitter.com/JonathanKMartin/status/1849966263419707484 https://twitter.com/mikethereal/status/1849965653979213840 https://twitter.com/ellelleeeee/status/1849966868855136431 https://twitter.com/Anne37565648/status/1849965921458139171 But of course, there were some who weren't fans of the liberties that he took with his performance: https://twitter.com/CraigMahoney/status/1849964109866950979 https://twitter.com/DevineGospel/status/1849963623554351607 https://twitter.com/Nic_Johnson28/status/1849963918279459268 https://twitter.com/mattthew_jordan/status/1849963735215223214 Can't please everybody I guess. When I think of Brad Paisley's ties to sports, what immediately comes to mind before any Dodgers affiliation are his commercials with Peyton Manning and his Cleveland Browns fandom. Regarding the former, those Nationwide Insurance commercials absolutely slap. Regarding the latter, isn't it shocking that Paisley hasn't bailed on the Brownies yet? Granted, being a fan of a sports team in Ohio being from West Virginia feels a lot more geographically logical than being a diehard Dodgers guy. Paisley started going to Dodgers games in the earlier aughts, which is when he really started to get into them. And you know what? I don't even care if Brad Paisley was driven to love the Dodgers via fair-weather fandom. All the ridiculous dysfunction in the Browns organization should allow their supporters some leeway when it comes to finding joy in other sports. Browns headquarters is, after all, nicknamed the Factory of Sadness for a reason.