When I first thought about my topic for this week’s column, I was thinking about writing something on some of this past weekend’s NFL games, but then I stopped for a minute and remembered my column would run on the one-year anniversary of 9/11.
Although the attacks were not directly linked to professional and college sports, I think many will agree the sports world definitely shared in the confusion and grieving the rest of the country experienced.
I remember the day of the attacks and all the emotions that came with them like yesterday, but it took me some time to reflect on how exactly the sports world was affected and what became of the many sports taking place that week or ensuing weekend.
The biggest sport to be affected was Major League Baseball.
Right after 9/11, it was in doubt whether the rest of the season would even be played out. Had league officials decided to postpone the season, it would have been only the third time in the national pastime’s history. The other two times this happened were when President Harding died in 1923 and when allied troops landed in Normandy for D-Day in 1944.
Think back to last season, however, and remember what events were obsessing baseball fans everywhere: Barry Bonds and his mission to break the single-season homerun record (he did end up doing it) and the exciting wild-card playoff race.
In the end, the season was spared, and that was a smart thing. To call off the entire season would have been totally wrong, as many Americans were using baseball as their crutch to return to their normal lives.
As the season restarted, the players, owners and fans used the sport to immerse themselves in rebuilding America.
Many players took it on themselves to help in any possible way they could. Whether it was the New York Mets donating their paychecks from one game or the embroidering of American flags on every hat worn by an MLB player, every team did its part to help aid in the recovery of New York and the rest of the country.
Not only was baseball affected, the National Football League was, too. Only a few games into the new NFL season, the decision was made to cancel games scheduled for Sept. 16 and 17.
The league was then faced with the possibility of cutting down the number of wild-card teams that would take part in the playoffs that following January.
Instead of altering the time-honored playoffs, sponsors and host town New Orleans worked hard to make arrangements to move the Super Bowl back one weekend to allow the playoff schedule to remain the same as in past years.
After the arrangements had been made, the season progressed as usual, but with slight variations in every city.
Patriot guard Joe Andruzzi was able to have his brothers Billy, Jimmy and Marc, all New York firefighters, be honorary captains for the first game back after 9/11. As soon as the game ended, Andruzzi’s brothers promptly left to attend the funerals of fallen comrades and to get back to ground zero to help with recovery.
Almost every member of the San Francisco 49ers donated blood, the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts took to the street to collect donations, and the Washington Redskins gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to pray for those families who lost loved ones in the attacks.
In many different ways, the NFL pitched in to not only heal those Americans with heavy hearts, but to physically heal the families of those who had lost loved ones.
College football was by far the most confusing sport to watch deal with the effect of 9/11. It took most of the week for each separate conference to decide if they would be playing games Sept. 16.
Since there is no commissioner for NCAA football, many conferences struggled with the pros and cons of playing that week’s game. In the end, all 58 games involving Division 1-A teams were cancelled, forcing teams to decide if they wanted to make up the games or not.
Many teams opted to reschedule the games for Dec. 1, which resulted in some conference championships taking place a week later than usual. However, the Badgers were able to move their Western Kentucky game to UW’s bye week, and WKU moved its regularly scheduled game for that week to later on in the season.
Unlike MLB, the NFL and college football, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League were not yet in season, so their response to the 9/11 tragedy was easier.
Even though the NBA was not yet in season, the league did cancel all of its international preseason games in fear of what problems international travel could bring.
The NBA, like the other leagues, also pitched in by donating clothing to those volunteers and firefighters working at ground zero.
Along with the NBA, the NHL also took part by donating over $500,000 to help aid the families of New York firefighters and policemen.
The NHL also cancelled the 23 preseason games scheduled for Sept. 16 and 17.
Not only did 9/11 affect the business world and the everyday life of all Americans, the tragedy that happened in only a matter of hours affected many months of some of the country’s most loved hobbies and pastimes.
The amount of pride and community service that resulted from 9/11 will be remembered forever. The images of fans crying during the national anthem, Sammy Sosa rounding the bases with a flag in his hand, the fans from Chicago cheering on the teams from New York and the faces of the firefighters when Jets players visited ground zero will live on forever as proof that sports and its players can be vulnerable and sympathetic to the same tragedies the rest of the country faces as well.
