Well, that one struck a nerve.
I speak here of the response to my Monday column on ballpark singers who turn the national anthem into a nightclub act with all their histrionics.
Regular readers might recall that in the column, I wrote that I like to hear the anthem sung up-tempo and with great feeling.
And that I like to hear it sung in a traditional manner.
But that most of all, I like to hear it sung quickly -- 70 seconds, tops.
Because I'm there to watch a ballgame, OK? I'm not there to watch little Ashley from Havre de Grace audition for "American Idol."
Anyway, the e-mail poured in the minute the column hit the streets. Or the website. Or whatever it hits these days.
And all I can say about the response is: There are a whole lot of people out there who are sick and tired of singers turning the anthem into a torch song just so they can show off their vocal chops.
But let's go right to the in-box, shall we?
A man who identified himself only as John wrote: "I cringe at every event when the national anthem is to be sung, wondering what new perversion of it I may have to listen to."
Perversion -- how can you not love that word? Even if it is a little over-the-top for the subject matter.
On a similar note, Bob Nobles wrote: "The announcer says we are to rise for the national anthem. What we then hear is like tuning into TCM to watch Judy Garland in 'The Wizard of Oz,' but they hit the wrong button and we get Diana Ross in 'The Wiz.'
"You're not only not in Kansas anymore, you're not even in Oz."
Whew. I'm not exactly sure what that means. But it sounds like a great line. I had to use it.
Helen Glazer sent a link to an old "Saturday Night Live" skit in which the great Maya Rudolph plays the winner of a local grocery store contest who gets to sing the anthem before Game 5 of the World Series.
The budding diva then goes on to drag the song out with faux-dramatic pauses and wine-glass-shattering high notes and theatrical "woo-woo's" added for good measure.
"Enjoyed today's column -- have you ever seen this?" Glazer wrote when she sent the link.
No, Helen. But that's exactly what I'm talking about: the contest-winner who suddenly thinks she's Whitney Houston. And that 50,000 baseball fans are there for her, ahem, "interpretation" of the anthem.
On the other hand, Joan Clark sent a link to a video showing five girls, ages 6 to 8, sweetly singing the anthem in more or less traditional fashion before a Texas Tech basketball game.
"You could hear a pin drop," the originator of the link wrote approvingly.
Sure, fine.
Except ÃÂÃÂ it ran a minute and 50 seconds.
If I'm the referee, I'm cutting off those little brats and getting to the tip-off.
Janice Flynn took me to task -- rather gently, I thought -- for being, well, a commie about such matters.
"Of course you are at the stadium to watch a game," she wrote, "but take a moment or two to think about how lucky you are to be living in this country. You are fortunate enough to have a newspaper column so you can express your opinions, but you chose the fifth of July, no less, to tell us that instead of thinking about your freedom, you are clocking the singer. What the heck!"
As I am a little slow, it took me a moment to realize that Janice was calling me a pinko.
So I e-mailed back and assured her that I was all about baseball, apple pie and Chevrolets -- well, OK, maybe not Chevys. (I once had a Chevy Nova that broke down in the Lincoln Tunnel in Manhattan. During rush hour. Need I say more?)
But I also pointed out to Janice that even real red-blooded Americans start to roll their eyes and look at their watches when anthem singers pull a Maya Rudolph and go on forever.
Finally, Larry Aaronson wrote: "I hope someday you will go even further and take issue with the 'fans' who talk on their cell phones, eat, drink and do other disturbing acts while 'The Star-Spangled Banner' is being played. As an Orioles season-ticket holder, I am always appalled at the behavior of 'fans' during the anthem as they wait to yell the only letter they know (O) in the entire song."
Sure, Larry. Someday I might tackle that subject.
But not today.
I think my in-box would explode.
Listen to Kevin Cowherd Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with Jerry Coleman on Fox 1370 Am Sports.