Baltimore Orioles: Some events rock the world

The Baltimore Orioles open up a three-game weekend set with Kansas City at home this evening with Mike Wright on the mound. He’ll be opposed by Kansas City’s Danny Duffy. One thing of note however; this weekend will come off as somewhat upside-down. Tomorrow’s game is slated for the afternoon due to FOX carrying it, and Sunday’s game is in prime time; 8 PM on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Tonight’s game is set for just after 7 PM.

Courtesy of Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

However today isn’t about baseball. Or even in the aftermath of last night’s NFL season opener, it’s not about football. Or basketball, or any other sport. Today has a much higher calling than that, as America celebrates the 14th somber anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

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As they say, some events rock the world. And there can be no doubt that 9/11 rocked the very fabric of America – for those of us who lived through it. And I now have to find myself throwing that last bit in, because there are already kids in schools who are seeing 9/11 only through the lenses of history books as opposed to first-hand experience.

For those who care, I was a junior in college at the time. I had a course from 9-10:15 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the American Presidency. Ironically, that day we had talked about the special war powers of the President, and I clearly recall the professor saying that none of us in our lifetimes had ever seen them put to use. Little did we know what was going on and the havoc it would cause right as we were learning that.

As I walked to my next course, I started to hear the news of what was happening. And when it hit me in full, I took a step back and kind of took in my surroundings. And I knew at that moment that for the rest of my life I’d never forget being right there looking at academic buildings under green trees and blue skies when I heard the news.

And all of you have your stories of where you were and so forth. And we’ll all carry those with us forever. As we know, 9/11 shut down Major League Baseball for the better part of a week. The NFL also postphoned it’s games that weekend. Outside of recovery efforts, mourning, and essential functions of life, time seemed to stop in America for a period of time.

But that’s par for the course in our country. As I said, some events rock the world. And thus we owe it to time itself to stand back and take note. There was a lot of uncertainty in those subsequent days and weeks. However one of the great marks of America is how we recover. Eventually the crowds returned to the ballparks, and the screams of play ball! were heard. Eventually the NFL returned, and life came back to as normal as it could in America. 

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Yet 14 years later we still remember. We’re all survivors of the events of that fateful day. Those of us who lived through that time won’t ever forget it. But we’ll also never forget how our nation came together when we needed each other the most. It didn’t matter if you were a Yankees, Red Sox, or Orioles fan – you did what you had to do to make things better for those around you. And that should be one of the takeaways from that day and that time as well.

That said, you might ask yourself why you’re reading all of this on what’s supposed to be a sports column. Don’t fear; things will be back to normal tomorrow. But in the interim, keep in mind that some events rock the world.

My thoughts and prayers today are with the victims of the attacks, and their families. May God continue to bless America, so that she may always remain the land of the free and home of the brave.

Next: Orioles: Pitching issues remain after win

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