TEEEJ TALKS

I’m sure you don’t need to be lectured about the notoriety of 9/11; the mere mention of the date holds enough weight.

For me, that day 16 years ago was only struck with a small piece of the panic.

As a kindergartener, I was oblivious to the chaos unfolding on that infamous day.

I could only infer that something was wrong as my teachers, along with the rest of the school’s staff, frantically gathered all the students into a lockdown procedure as they were unsure if the terrorist attacks all the way across the country might somehow take root in our home state of Washington.

However, the reality for the families of nearly 3,000 people was that a loved one left for a regular day of work or an everyday flight and didn’t return home.

According to History.com, 2,763 people were killed when two hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center, 393 of whom were firefighters and police officers attempting to respond to the attack.

Forty-four people died from the Flight 93 crash that landed in Pennsylvania and 189 died from Flight 77 crashing into the Pentagon.

We will never forget because 2,977 people lost their lives that day and thousands more have died and are still affected by the toxic chemicals that loomed in Manhattan after the attacks.

Even in the sports world, things stood still on that day.

Michael Jordan had just announced he was coming out of retirement.

Venus and Serena Williams had just played each other in a final for the first time.

Barry Bonds was chasing Mark McGwire’s record for most home runs hit in a season.

But when tragedy hit, all those things were sidelined.

Like most networks, ESPN diverted their typical coverage of the top headlines in the sports world to cover the aftermath of the attacks.

Major League Baseball canceled every game scheduled for that Tuesday and eventually postponed gameplay until it seemed fit to resume.

The NFL postponed all games scheduled for the following Sunday.

College football also refrained from gameplay the following Sunday. The MLS even canceled the rest of their season.

The sports world transcended all profits, rivalries and differences to simply join together in mourning and determine how the billion dollar industry could contribute to healing.

In the coming weeks, athletes, owners and coaches alike came together to do their part in a grieving nation.

The national anthem before games was much more than just a song we’ve heard hundreds of times.

Many teams and players had American flags stitched on their uniforms.

Players of opposing teams joined together in prayer and moments of silence.

For the rest of the year, everyone was a New York sports fan.

Sixteen years later we still remember that day both throughout the country and in the sports world, but we remember together, unified as a nation.

And as we remember, I believe it’s important to keep sight of a few things:
Remembrance does not mean holding a prejudice against people groups that have been wrongly and falsely associated with terrorism.

Remembrance is not just a post on social media, it’s acknowledging the catastrophic events that took place and grieving with our fellow Americans who lost loved ones.

Even in the midst of a day as dark as 9/11, God is still sovereign.

He is in control and He reigns on the throne.

Though days like this remind us of evil, we are also reminded that eventually He will triumphantly reign and we will no longer experience this pain.

Lastly, I leave you with a quote:“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.”

– Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl

Davis is the sports editor.

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