Upon Further Review: Did 9/11 truly give perspective?
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We will never forget what we were doing, or where we were when this tragic event took place.
So I feel it’s very important we take a moment to remember those who lost their lives in this cowardly act.
Everything was put on hold that day and, for the sports world, the tragic event made sports a mute point for a few weeks.
America was united by these unfortunate events and the main concern for the government was for people to get back to their everyday lives, and not let this attack on America change the way we go about our everyday routine.
So baseball continued, and football resumed, as Americans tried to understand why this act of terror happened.
At first, the public was a little concerned about going back to the stadiums to watch baseball or football. But each and every one of us knew we had to put things back to normal as soon as possible.
If we didn’t, then it would let the terrorists think they had succeeded in disrupting the lives of the people of the United States.
Many of us may have had second thoughts of going back to Knoxville for a football game or going to Nashville to see the Titans play. There was great concern this terror attack was not over and the terrorists were ready to strike again.
But all across the country Americans went back to fill the ballparks and were bound and determined to go on with their normal activities.
Americans grew closer and pulled together as one great country last fall and for the most part put things in perspective.
Last month as baseball talked about a strike, I started thinking about how insignificant all the concerns of the baseball players really were. It was just a year ago these same players were saying they would give up all their money if Sept. 11 had never happened.
How soon we forget that sports are a privilege, not a necessity.
Sports are part of our heritage here in America, but they are not something we couldn’t live without.
We take many things for granted, and winning or losing a game shouldn’t be that important. I’m not saying we shouldn’t strive to be winners, but we should have a better understanding of what it takes to reach that goal.
After Sept. 11, we all know it takes time to heal all wounds — and for some, the wounds are still there.
In playing sports, winning is sometimes so important we seem to react very selfishly and even sometimes grow very impatient.
We put a lot of pressure on the kids and coaches and are not willing to wait for good things to happen.
I thought after the tragic events of last year, Americans would somehow be more understanding with events in their lives and greed would somehow find a back seat to the things that really matter in life.
But I guess I was wrong.
We still want more and still are more concerned about winning a game than learning and understanding what life is all about.
Winning is great and, yes, it can pull communities together. But it shouldn’t take winning to pull a school or a town together as one.
We all enjoy a good game.
But let’s remember, it’s just a game.