"The Star Spangled Banner," the lyrics composed by Francis Scott Key in 1814, is commonplace at athletic contests waged by professionals and Pee Wee's. Especially since 9-11, it's become an expression of national pride and unity.

For singers, however, the national anthem is a difficult task, mostly because of its 1.5 octave range.

"It's difficult in that there is a wide range,and I don't have a wide range at all," says Pittsburgh-based soul singer Billy Price, who has sung the national anthem prior to Pirates , Penguins and Steelers games, and before University of Pittsburgh basketball and Philadelphia Eagles contests.

"For the common man, it's a very difficult song to sing," says Richard Teaster, an opera singer who teaches at the University of Pittsburgh and is director of the Pitt Men's Glee Club. "On the other hand, it is quite beautiful if it's delivered correctly. When I hear it sung by a harmony chorus or a glee club, it can be quite stirring."

The anthem starts off simply. The first few lines are sung in a low register; it's not until the fifth line ? "And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air" ? that most singers are challenged, and many stumble. Teaster says singing the high notes that accompany the words "glare" and "air" ? because of the unique "r" sound that requires pulling the tongue back into the roof of the mouth ? causes tension in the throat.

"It makes it a difficult song to sing," Teaster says.

The tradition of playing "The Star Spangled Banner" at sporting events dates back to World War II, when it was used to honor American servicemen and women before major league Baseball games. Before then, the national anthem was only occasionally performed at sporting events. The first printed report of the song being played was during the 1918 World Series, when a marching band performed the national anthem during the seventh-inning stretch at a game in Chicago. Hearing "The Star Spangled Banner, " both teams stood at attention and the crowd joined in to honor the troops engaged in World War I.

Singers have a variety of ways of dealing with the perils of the national anthem. Donnie Iris, the musician from Beaver County who had the hit singles "Ah! Leah" and "Love is Like a Rock," has sung "The Star Spangled Banner" prior to Pirates , Steelers and Penguins games.

"It's not a difficult song to sing if you start off in the right key," Iris says. "If you're starting out too high, you're not going to make it."

For Iris the more problematic part of singing the national anthem is the surroundings. At Penguins games, there are 17,000 diehard hockey fans in attendance. At Steelers games, 60,000 rabid football fans. And even the Pirates , despite 16 consecutive losing season, usually draw at least 10,000 per game, far more than at most local concerts.

"The challenge is getting out there all by yourself in front of all those people with no kind of backup, singing a capella," Iris says.

Dean Kokanos, a native of Lower Burrell who sings with the Pittsburgh Opera, has sung the national anthem at a handful of Penguins games this year. He admits the setting can be intimidating, but after the first time ? and getting used to how cold it is on the ice ? he became more comfortable.

"It's not an audience that's there to hear the singer," Kokanos says.

What Kokanos does is try to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" without too much flair.

"I feel the national anthem is best when it's sung as simply as possible," he says. "I try to sing it as it was written, as one of the Founding Fathers would sing it. If you keep it simple, it's easier to sing."

Price agrees the simple approach is the best.

"I don't like to put a whole lot of personality into it," he says. "I sort of object to singers who use a lot of melisma and are soulful. I like to sing it straightforward."

Teaster ? who touts the late Robert Merrill, the baritone with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as having sung one of his favorite versions of "The Star Spangled Banner" ? thinks a rash of subpar versions started when the anthem fell out of the domain of classically trained singers.

"I'm not quite sure when the shift occurred, but sometime in the '80s we decided we wanted to have pop singers sing it," Teaster says.

That started a trend, according to Teaster, of singers "adding more notes" and taking liberties with the song's structure.

"I, personally, would like to hear it in its purest form," Teaster says.

A singer can do everything right, however, and still be subject to circumstances. Joe Grushecky, the longtime frontman of the Houserockers, has sung the anthem at a variety of sporting events in the area. At a Pirates game years ago, when the team was still playing at Three Rivers Stadium, Grushecky was selected the sing the "Star Spangled Banner" on the same day as his son's birthday.

At the time, Grushecky had been recording with Bruce Springsteen, who had warned him about the perils of singing the anthem.

"He said 'Oh, that's a hard song to sing,' " Grushecky says. "'Are you going to remember the words?' Yeah. 'Are you going to hit the high note?' Yeah. Everybody told me, Bruce, the guys in the band, can you hit the high note? It went on and on for a week before I was supposed to do it."

With his son, his daughter and two nephews behind him, and the Pirate Parrot beside him, Grushecky was handed the microphone. The first thing that went wrong was when the announcer asked fans to remove their hats. Grushecky, who had been up all night traveling home from a gig, was wearing a Pirates cap to hide "the worst case of bed-head. My hair was plastered down on my forehead," he says, laughing.

Then he started to sing "Oh, say can you see ... "

Grushecky heard nothing ... until the four-second delay kicked in, much to his dismay. After singing "by the dawn's early light" and stopping again, Grushecky sang the rest of the song as quickly as possible, trying to ignore the delay.

"If was funny after it was over," he says. "But I almost gave everybody a heart attack."

Famous performances

A variety of performers have sung or played "The Star Spangle Banner" at sporting events. Here are some of the more notable ? and infamous ? performances.

Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock, 1969 ? Hendrix re-invents the anthem for a new generation

Marvin Gaye, 1983 NBA All-Star Game ? The late singer, like Hendrix, offers a different interpretation of "The Star Spangled Banner" that is soulful, but respectful, and has the crowd clapping along by song's end

Roseanne Barr, San Diego Padres game, 1990 ? Barr not only sings off key and laughs, but also grabs her crotch and spits at the end of the song, to a crescendo of well-deserved boos.

Whitney Houston, Super Bowl XXV, 1991 ? Houston stirs the audience, at the game and at home, with her soaring vocal as the first Gulf War is being fought.

Jose Feliciano, World Series Game 5, Detroit, 1968 ? Feliciano's highly stylized version drew complaints at the time, but it's now considered a classic rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner"

Carl Lewis, NBA basketball, Chicago Bulls vs. Detroit Pistons, 1993 ? "Uh-oh, l'll make up for it," Lewis said after he is waaaay off key singing "the rockets red glare." He doesn't, and players on both teams try hard to hide their laughs

Michael Bolton, Major League Baseball playoff game at Fenway Park, Boston, 2003 ? Bolton not only over-sings the anthem like an "American Idol," he forgets the lyrics and has to refer to notes he's scribbled -- on his hand.

U.S. Olympic hockey team, Lake Placid, 1980 ? No one really heard team captain Mike Eruzione singing the anthem on the gold medal stand after the U.S. team beat the vaunted Russians. But no one needed to, the emotion etched on Eruzione's face after the fabled upset said everything.