9/11: How Sports Helped Fill The Void

I'm sure nobody will ever forget where they were six years go to this day. I was at school getting ready for class when one of my fellow students told me about the horrific news that a plane flew into one of the towers. I didn't believe it at first, because the total shock factor was tremendous. But when one of the teachers went down the hallway in tears, that's when I knew that our country would never be the same. That night, there were a lot of local TV stations that weren't operating because their signals were operated from atop the towers that were then no more. I live near Kennedy Airport in New York, and planes fly over my head constantly, but a sense of fear and sadness fell over me when I heard the loud whizzing of the fighter jets over my home. Our country would never be the same. Our nation as a whole didn't feel safe, but us as New Yorkers and as Americans came together with pride, honor, and unity. We didn't know how to deal with such a catastrophic day, but we knew that if we rallied together, that we'd pull through and persevere.
Obviously, the sports world came to a stand still. The Yankees or Mets didn't play, NASCAR postponed its race, and the NFL postponed its week 2 games. It's like the entire city of New York was stabbed right in the heart, we lost so many of our own. But the nation came together in support of the NYPD and FDNY. Even the Jet fans would agree that at that time that we were all patriots. Sports was obviously far from being even close to important, but the 2001 New York Yankees may have been the most important Yankee team of all time. It helped heal an entire city, and those Yankees were one of my favorite teams of all time. They brought New York together, and even the most heated of Yankee haters couldn't help but root for a team that brought America back to life.
When baseball came back to New York after the attacks, it breathed life into the city. After a week, people wanted a distraction and just a time allotted for normalcy be it 4 quarters or in that case 9 blissful innings. God Bless America was sung during the 7th inning stretch and still is at Yankee Stadium to this day, but baseball instituted this singing across the country, from sea to shining sea.
The Yankees made the postseason and played the A's at home in the division series. The city was as hyped as can be as the Yankees represented the resilient city. And resiliency was needed as they droped the first 2 games at home to upstart Oakland, facing elimination out west. In game 3, Mike Mussina was absolutely brilliant and Derek Jeter's defensive play is still a highlight shown in the anals of postseason history. The Yankees stared a deficit down, and fought back winning the series in 5 games. New York then faced Seattle in the ALCS, a team that won 116 regular season games. Their calm, cool, and composed nature about them was the embodiment of the New York spirit as they defeated the M's in 5 games to go to the World Series.
As you know, the Yankees were stunned by Arizona in an incredibly exciting 7 game series, but the city was brought to life by the Yankee story, and the city was nearly off the ground when Jeter and Tino Martinez hit huge homers in game 4, and Scott Brosius tied it up in game 5 and New York ended up with a win in 12 innings. That state of euphoria in which New York was under was the perfect remedy to the 9/11 ills, and more then filled the void of a city that needed a boost.
September 11th is a date that will never be forgotten in American history, but let us also not forget when one team lifted a city that was mercilessly brought to its knees. I hope everyone has a meanigful day, and God Bless America.