Kate Smith was born in Washington, D.C., and began her singing at an early age. At just 23 years of age, she was discovered by then Columbia Records V.P. Ted Collins, who became her manager. Kate became a radio hit, and her weekly variety radio program, "The Kate Smith Hour", was the most popular radio program of its kind from 1937-1945. Her accomplishments ranged from Broadway, to radio, to television, and along the way, her fanbase grew continuously. But, many fans know and love Kate Smith for another reason. She became a living "rabbit's foot" of sorts for the Flyers during the 70's.

In 1969, the Flyers brass decided that the lackluster display of patriotism shown during the "Star-Spangled Banner" needed to be remedied. Lou Scheinfeld's solution was to occasionally replace the national anthem with Kate Smith's rendition of Irving Berlin's composition, "God Bless America". The idea worked, and almost too well. Some of the public, so completely outraged by the national anthem being replaced in any context, actually responded with violent and threatening protests. Despite the opposition, the song was played, and the trend was that when Kate was played, the Flyers won.

And so it began. Not only did Kate's singing stoke the patriotic fire in Philly, but it also became a strategy. When the Flyers wanted to stir the crowd up for a big game, Kate was introduced, "God Bless America" was played, and the crowd would cheer and sing the entire song along with the recording. The tactic proved so effective that many of the league's toughest teams were rendered stupified by the psycological impact of the crowd.

But the Flyers saw the opportunity to take things one step further. At the season opener in 1973, Kate appeared live at the Spectrum to perform the beloved song in person for a completely surprised crowd. Her performance was purposely kept secret, and when she was introduced to sing live, the roof almost blew off The Spectrum. Former Flyers goalie Doug Favell, who was playing for the Leafs on that day, knew exactly what Kate's appearance meant, and he knew it was bad news for the Leafs.

Kate's record with the Flyers is nothing short of amazing, and it shows that her version of "God Bless America" was much more than just a patriotic song, it was a psycological grenade to be unleashed on the opponent before the most important of games. Even today, her song is occasionally performed before big games by Lauren Hart, the daughter of the late Flyers broadcaster Gene Hart, sometimes with Kate's performance in the background to create a duet between the two. Kate would perform live before three other Flyers games, including the Stanley Cup clinching Game 6 in 1974 against the Bruins. The love affair between the Flyers fans and Kate Smith is unexplainable, unbelieveable, and will never be duplicated. No one could have predicted the phenomenon she would become for Philadelphia, but the Flyers and their fans are eternally grateful for having her.