Americans have been getting a bad rap in the last few years…mostly deservedly. I even heard a travel tip for Americans going abroad: say you’re Canadian.

Well, Canadians might not want to be associated with us either; from SI.com:

 SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — San Jose Sharks fans loudly booed the Canadian national anthem Sunday night before Game 5 of their team’s second-round playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers.

The vociferous booing started from the opening notes of singer Annmarie Martin’s rendition of O Canada. While other fans attempted to drown it out by singing along, the boos were audible until the final notes.

I had the dubious honor of being present at the game — dubious because the Sharks proceeded to stink up the ice like a skunk on steroids.

Most of the boos seemed to come from the “end zone” areas of the HP Pavilion (the arena where the game was held) — that would be the area behind the goal net for those unfamiliar with hockey terminology. Those are usually the “cheap seats” — cheap being a relative term when talking about playoff tickets; the spouse and I were about 3 sections away, same upper level, and our tickets were $42 each (would’ve been $27 during regular season).

There were a few shouts of “shut up assholes”, including from yours truly. What made it even more hurtful and pathetic is that many of the Sharks key players are from Canada — one wonders what they were thinking.

The same people who booed “O Canada” seemed to also cheer and hoot and holler throughout “The Star-Spangled Banner” — I put them in the same ilk as the 101st Fighting Keyboardists, those who are so gung-ho about Bush and America as long as their blood and guts aren’t required.

I also participate in a hockey message board that’s been visited by a large contingent of Edmonton Oiler fans; to their credit, they mostly are able to chalk up this behavior to a relatively small crowd of bastards and not blame Sharks fans, nor the city of San Jose, nor Americans, as a whole.

But while many may chalk it up to hockey rivalry, there are those who will look at this story and just consider it as more evidence against “the Ugly American”.