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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