9/20/01
Last Tuesday America stood still, frozen by the horror of three great
buildings destroyed by acts of terrorism. As the country watched in
shock, rescuers went to work at both the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon in an effort to save lives and save what was left of those
devastated buildings.
In the case of the World Trade Center their efforts went for not.
Shortly after the airliners crashed into those structures, the towers
collapsed killing countless people and injuring others. Later, Building
Number Seven joined them. While all of this was going on, the sports
world of the United States was paralyzed. Almost immediately a debate
began to rage as the leaders of professional sports searched for an
answer to the question, do we play or don't we.
The talking heads of the sports world chimed in with their opinions
and the chasm between them was vast. Finally, without much prodding,
major league baseball canceled their schedule for the rest of the
week. The choice was easy, all flights throughout America were canceled,
but the decision for football was tougher. It took Paul Tagliabue
a little longer and the debate continued on ESPN as well as other
sports dedicated channels. An exchange between the Sports Reporters
on ESPN had the appearance and intensity of a street argument. Most
seemed in favor of using the sport to help heal the wounds caused
by this disaster, the lone dissenter was Bob Ryan, a reporter for
the Boston Globe.
He did not feel it was appropriate to play the games especially for
teams like the Jets and the Giants. The Giants would have had to play
their game in view of the still smoldering Trade Center and the Jets
would have had to take a cross-country flight from New York to Oakland.
It just did not seem appropriate to have players from the city hit
with the most devastation to have to play in light of the situation.
Despite all of this tension, ESPN was announcing that their sources
"close to the commissioner" were saying that the games would
most likely be played.
Giant defensive back Jason Sehorn announced he would not play. Other
players less affected stated they did not want to play, but would
if the decision came down. Gene Upshaw of the Player Union came out
in favor of canceling the games and there seemed to be an atmosphere
of confusion everywhere. Mercifully, on Thursday Paul Tagliabue canceled
all of the games for the weekend and stated the league would deal
with the rest of the season soon. Players all took a deep breath.
Some pundits speculated the commissioner made the decision because
he could not guarantee the safety of the players and fans. Others
said the decision was made because players would not be focused and
risked injury. Still others said it was a make-up call for the Rosselle
decision to play two days after the death of President Kennedy in
1963. I would like to think that part of the decision was because
football, like America, is so culturally diverse it would take time
for all of the players to come to grips with the situation and reassure
themselves their life in football had purpose in these caustic times.
Outside of the sports world some of the commentators were comparing
this attack to the attack in December of 1941 upon Pearl Harbor. Some
disagreed because we knew who the enemy was, it was right there on
the side of their airplanes and the sailors and soldiers firing from
the ground could easily distinguish the enemy. They drew parallels
over the aspect of surprise and the attack coming from the air. Both
sides failed to point out Japanese pilots attacked military targets.
Military personnel, though caught by surprise, could still shoot back.
There was some collateral damage, but civilians were not singled out
and Honolulu stood standing after the attack. The civilians at The
World Trade Center, the workers at the Pentagon and on those airlines
never had a chance. Apparently there were some heroics on the flight
crashing outside of Pittsburgh, but most were innocent victims of
an atrocity they never expected or saw coming.
In the wake of Pearl Harbor came an executive order sending all Japanese
in the west to relocation centers inland. Some of the Japanese wanted
to enlist and fight against the enemy, but they were denied. Instead
they lost their farms, homes and businesses so they could be interned
for the duration of the war. Another 5,000 Japanese Americans in the
armed forces were discharged. They were classified as 4-C, an enemy
alien. They were seen as the enemy within and it did not matter that
many of them had been born in this country and had served it in a
variety of ways. They were clearly the enemy. All you had to do was
look at their skin and their eyes and the answer was obvious.
After being sent to camps, some of the young men asked, even begged,
to be given a chance to fight for their country. They were, after
all, Americans and they hated the attack upon Pearl Harbor as much
as anyone else. After much debate, and grim determination on their
part, the Nisei Battalion was allowed to move forward and Japanese
Americans were given the chance to show their devotion to their country
and fight, but not against Japan. America's trust had not gone that
far. Instead they were allowed to fight in Europe against the Italians
and the Germans. Many gave their full measure. The 100/422nd Regimental
Combat Team fought above and beyond the call of duty winning 18, 142
decorations including 20 Congressional Medals of Honor, more than
any other unit in American history. They demonstrated the strength
of American diversity to a couple of fascist bullies and showed the
world what makes America great. Now we face an enemy who has a different
face and different motivation and, instead of learning from history,
some Americans making the same mistakes we made after Pearl Harbor.
The role of football in American society has always been questioned.
It was almost banned in the 20's for being too violent. Football players
have been compared to Roman gladiators. They are on the field only
to pacify the minds of the crowd and thrill them with acts of staged
brutality, but American football is more. Look in any stadium across
America. In the stands and on the field you will see the cultural
mosaic typifying this country. They are all there for one single purpose,
to participate in the fierce competition, fair play in the form of
team unity, which is America. Now is not the time to question the
patriotism of American citizens. They come in as many colors and backgrounds
as players in the National Football League, but they salute Red, White
and Blue.
The games begin again this weekend and baseball has already resumed
their season. There will be some modifications to the schedule, but
the spirit of the games will be there. There has been talk about changing
the lexicon sports because perhaps catching a touchdown in the final
moments of a close game is not heroic enough, I would disagree. If
anything, September 11, 2001 has proved there are plenty of heroes
to go around. They are busy working at "ground zero" in
the rubble of a proud world center, in the classrooms teaching, in
the armed forces protecting this land and on the athletic fields all
over the country. Given the long road ahead, we will need every hero
we can find.
People have said the symbol of New York has been destroyed in the
smoldering ashes and mangled bodies of the "Twin Towers"
but they are wrong. Look at the bottom of what was once those towers
and the real symbol of New York is in the streets and volunteers from
all over this country join them. In your minds eye travel over the
harbor adjacent to those fallen towers and you will still see the
symbol of America standing tall against a dismal backdrop. The Statue
of Liberty stands for all who have come to this land and her torch
still burns bright in the night sky. The market may be faltering,
the country may be grieving, but at this time we need that bright
light to be in every NFL stadium this Sunday. I have no doubt we will
see the light.
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