The proper steps?
09/13/2001
Codding Home / Sports Channel / Bullz-Eye Home
September 11, 2001. How do we move on from here?
The short answer, of course, is slowly and steadily, but what exactly does that mean? Nobody's really sure; after all, as a nation we've never dealt with tragedy on this level, at least not since Pearl Harbor. There's no question that when those four hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and an empty cornfield outside of Pittsburgh, we as Americans were instantaneously thrown into a situation we never dreamed was possible, certainly not on U.S. soil. We were bombarded with images normally projected onto movie and TV screens, horrific sights that previously had only invaded our darkest dreams as we slept at night. The New York skyline has violently and permanently been changed, and the American psyche will never be the same.
Now we've got to figure out how to bury tens of thousands of people and get on with our lives. The buzzword being floated on radio and TV broadcasts is "normalcy." It's a hollow word, though, as nobody's really sure exactly what normal is anymore and, at least three days after the attack, there's no way to know when that "normalcy" will again set in.
Some people say we need to get back to our routines -- waking up in the morning, going to work, grabbing a quick lunch, going home, eating dinner, kissing our loved ones goodnight and going back to bed. For millions of Americans, part of that routine, part of that normalcy, also involves the world of sports.
People who aren't fans apparently cannot understand this, but sports are eternally stitched into the fabric of American life. Football and baseball, to many Americans, are as much a part of everyday life as eating and sleeping, and while sports aren't essential for life, they are significant facets of our society.
Which is why the question of whether or not to cancel this weekend's NFL, baseball and college football games certainly is a prominent issue.
NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue answered a portion of that question late Thursday morning when he announced all 15 games on the NFL schedule this weekend -- including Monday night's match up between the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens -- have been postponed. A few hours after that announcement, Major League Baseball, which apparently had been leaning toward playing this weekend because they believed the NFL would also be on the field come Sunday, decided to wipe out their weekend schedule as well. As for college football, it now appears every game that originally was not postponed has now been canceled, following the NFL's example.
Have these league officials made the right choice? To be entirely honest, I'm not sure.
When these discussions first started gaining momentum, I desperately wanted the NFL games to go on this Sunday and for baseball, as was originally reported, to resume its schedule on Friday. Judging by Internet polls conducted by ESPN.com and other sports sites, I wasn't alone -- nearly 65% of more than 200,000 voters in one poll felt football should be played this weekend. Why?
We're talking about that routine again, and a big part of our weekly routine during this time of year is football on Sundays and Monday nights. Waking up Sunday morning with no football on TV will be another reminder that something's just not right. Yes, something definitely is not right in our United States, and certainly watching a football game this weekend would not help us forget about Tuesday's horror. But it would help many people start to take those first few steps toward closure, and right now closure is the best thing we can hope for because we won't be able to officially move on for weeks or months, not until the rescue and cleanup missions in Manhattan have finally ceased.
I wholeheartedly agree with this mode of thinking. For me and millions like me, if we need to find a way to get back to everyday life -- or at least some form of everyday life -- having sports back on television and in the stadiums is as vital as finally sitting behind this computer again and getting back to work. Sure, they're small steps but they're small steps in the right direction, and that's what counts right now.
But the more I think about this, the more I weigh everyone's opinions and the more I actually listen to the players who would be forced to take the field if the games resumed, the more I agree with the leagues' decisions as a whole. Out of a matter of shear respect, it's probably best that the sports world be put on hold this weekend, but not just out of respect for the victims and their families -- out of respect for the entire country. From Maine to Hawaii and everywhere in between, Americans have been shocked into a state of dismay and we need time to heal. So often we look at our sports heroes and see machines that can throw a football 60 yards downfield and hit a baseball 450 feet into oblivion but they, like you and me, need time to grieve. Asking them to take the field and try to focus on a game just doesn't seem possible -- I'm having a hard enough time punching the right letters on my keyboard.
Should these sports have shut down this weekend? I'm not sure -- I'm just a writer sitting behind a computer screen trying to sift through the waterfall of feelings that are rushing through my head right now. But I applaud the NFL, MLB and college football for making a firm and respectful decision in the face of so many critics. I don't think, as some people have said, that waiting a week merely as a safety precaution would have been a proper move, however. To be blunt, if the persons responsible for these acts want to attack again, what's really the difference between doing it this weekend or next weekend? The moment that first plane hit the World Trade Center, American life was no longer safe. Unfortunately, we could be the target for another gruesome terrorist attack next week, next month or next year. In terms of safety, what does waiting an extra seven days to recommence football and baseball games actually accomplish? Next week, we'll be going through this same debate, anyway. There will be thousands of people again calling on the NFL and MLB to cancel their games, but we've got to take those first steps into sports arenas sometime.
And when that time comes -- hopefully next week -- we shouldn't be scared. We can't look over our shoulders in fear every time a plane flies overhead. Initially, that will be an uncontrollable knee-jerk reaction, but we can't be ruled by the fear that was formed in those terrible plane crashes. Instead, when the National Anthem is sung at those first football and baseball games, we need to stand proud and undefeated, singing aloud as we did in 1991 when Whitney Houston delivered her compelling version of the Star Spangled Banner for a Super Bowl that was being played during some of the darkest days of Desert Storm.
It'll take time, but this emptiness we're all feeling will eventually melt away. With every survivor that's pulled from the wreckage in Manhattan we'll slowly begin to lick our wounds and find some peace within all this hatred. As President Bush told us, "The resolve of our great nation is being tested, but make no mistake: We will show the world that we will pass this test."