Usually, the Mets do a pretty good job on their own of ignoring their own history. This time MLB and ESPN did it for them.
The Mets may once again not have any meaningful games in September, but Sunday they at least had a meaningful pregame - commemorating the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The Mets played in the first professional sporting event in New York after 9/11. Mike Piazza hit what is probably the most memorable homer in the fifty-year history of the franchise.
And the Mets wore caps commemorating the heroic first responders.
But MLB didn't allow them to wear those caps last night.
I've lost track of the number of times I've wondered, what is Bud Selig thinking? Or more precisely, is Bud Selig thinking? The edict came down from Selig lieutenant Joe Torre, so he must share in the blame as well. As for speculation that the Mets were unwilling to risk a fine because they didn't want to pay it, or because MLB might demand that the Mets start paying back that $25 million loan, even if there's any truth to that, the problem still begins with MLB's ridiculous decision not to allow the Mets to wear the caps.
Had the game been played at the usual Sunday time of 1 p.m., the Mets would have had their ceremony well before the Giants' opening game and the U.S. Open final. The Yankees were also playing later in the afternoon.
Then there's ESPN scheduling the game for the worst possible time - directly opposite the glamor matchup of Jets vs. Cowboys. Complete, of course, with its own ceremony, and frequent shots across the Hudson of the New York skyline. You would think they would realize how many Met fans are Jet fans and vice versa.
Ideally, the game would have been played at the Mets' usual Sunday time of 1:10 p.m, well before the Giants, Yankees, and Jets games, as well as the U.S. Open final.
ESPN recognized that it would be a good night to air a ballgame from New York. But how about at least moving it up an hour to 7 p.m.? Fans could have tuned in to the ceremonies, then switched over to the Jets.
Last Thursday, President Obama gave his jobs speech at 7 pm rather than 8 pm. The President of the United States didn't think a major speech before Congress could compete with NBC's national football broadcast, but ESPN, which knows a thing or two about the popularity of football, thought people would tune in instead to Mets-Cubs?
At least my biggest gripe yesterday involved the particulars of a commemoration. It was far different ten years ago.
When the second plane hit, I knew I'd be coming in early to work that day at the Daily News. My Eighth Ave. subway was diverted to Sixth Ave., so I got out on 33rd St. and Sixth in preparation for walking over to the News' offices near Tenth Ave. It was a few minutes after 10 a.m., and everyone on the street was staring at the smoke pouring from the Twin Towers. I stared as well, unable to believe what I was seeing, before heading toward the office.
What I didn't realize at the time was that the first tower was already gone. There was so much smoke that you couldn't tell. Or maybe I did see just one tower but couldn't process that information - I had enough trouble processing it when I made it to work.
Or more precisely, the street in front of the office, which had been evacuated.
We soon were allowed back in, where I updated the web site with the awful news until finally leaving at 11 pm. I boarded a nearly deserted subway and made my way back uptown.
Sports did eventually offer a respite during that difficult time, but for me, the turning point was not Piazza's home run. It was Game 7 of the 2001 World Series.
I had grudgingly admitted that a Yankee World Series win would be good for the city. When the Yankees held the lead in the ninth with Mariano Rivera on the mound, another Yankee title appeared inevitable. It would be their fifth in sixth years.
Then, miraculously, the Diamondbacks rallied to win the game and the World Series. As a New Yorker, I was supposed to be upset, but I was the happiest I'd been in weeks. The mighty Yankees had lost! Yes, there was a new normal, but at least some things could remain the same. It was all right once again to root against the Yankees.
Showing posts with label 9/11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9/11. Show all posts
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Remembering the Horrors of September 11, Ten Years Later
These are my thoughts on remembering September 11, 2001, and the aftermath of the terrorist attack that killed 3000+ Americans. There will be a few baseball-related comments, but most of this post is going to be about 9/11. If you can't bear to read anything more on the subject, I will totally understand -- we do try to keep this blog all about New York baseball, but I feel like I have to say something today about the 10th anniversary of September 11.
I woke up that Tuesday morning in 2001 around noon. At the time, I worked nights as a web editor for the New York Daily News. That night was a particularly late evening at work, as the Giants were on Monday Night Football, and I worked until after 3 a.m. or so, and didn't get to sleep around 5. When my clock radio went off that morning, there was a reporter on the news talking about being on the site of the World Trade Center. I didn't know what he was talking about; even in my groggy state, I remembered that the anniversary of the 1993 attack on the building was in February, so I couldn't understand what the report was about.
Then I got up, looked at my computer, and saw on the Daily News home page that the Twin Towers were destroyed, and the Pentagon hit. How could the World Trade Center be destroyed? How could the Pentagon have been attacked? It seemed like a nightmare too bad to be true; I thought I was having a bad reaction from having taken a Tylenol P.M. the night before or something. Even after talking to several friends on the phone asking what happened, I didn't quite believe the Twin Towers were gone until physically walking up Staten Island's Richmond Terrace until I could see the skyline. When I saw two huge plumes of smoke where the Twin Towers used to be, the horrific truth was confirmed, and my jaw dropped.
I had moved to Staten Island the year before when I started working at the News, and one of the things I cherished was seeing the skyline every day on my drive to work. I used to make sure and look for the Twin Towers each time I passed it by. Now I would never see those buildings again. For years afterward, I couldn't even bear to look at the skyline, finding it too sad. Come to think of it, the New York City skyline has never looked quite right to me since the World Trade Center was destroyed. Still doesn't.
I never made it into work that day, as all the Staten Island bridges were closed, and the Staten Island Ferry wasn't running to Manhattan. But Squawker Jon did. He was called in early by our boss after the second tower was hit, and worked all day, putting up stories on the web site about the horrors. Back then, it was expected that maybe 10,000 of our countrymen were dead. We also didn't know at first about Flight 93.
The next day, I went back to work after a very long commute into the city. You could smell the burning Twin Towers from West 33rd Street. That first evening back, there was an emergency evacuation of the building. I remember a big, burly guy from the sports department barreling past me on his way down the stairs. People were scared out of their minds then, and rightfully so.
Some of that time after 9/11 is a blur. Other things I remember clearly, like walking around town and seeing all the handmade "Missing" signs. Or seeing Staten Island firefighters in formal dress over and over, them attending yet another funeral. (My borough lost close to 300 citizens, a good portion of them firefighters and police officers raising their families in Staten Island). The sound of bagpipes. You couldn't get away from thinking about 9/11 every minute, especially working at a daily newspaper. While we didn't lose anybody we know, we lost almost 3000 of our fellow New Yorkers. I think I might have cried every day for a good two months afterwards.
(Note: After reading this, Squawker Jon reminded me of the anthrax attacks on media companies during that time, and how we were all afraid to get the mail at our office. That's something I had kind of blocked out over the years!)
But there were moments that we cheered, like when watching the defiant, passionate "Concert for New York" on TV. Even Yankee fans like me rooted for the Mets to beat the Braves that Friday night (although I knew things had changed forever when I saw Chipper Jones get hugged by Mets players!)
Then there was the Yankees' playoff run, with even some Red Sox fans cheering for New York. My memories of the World Series that I like to remember are President Bush throwing out the first pitch for a strike in Game 3, Challenger flying into Yankee Stadium that night. And, of course, the Yankees going deep against Kim two nights in a row to win Games 4 and 5. And the gut punch that was Game 7 of that World Series just seemed cruel, although it did put a smile on Squawker Jon's face!
In the months following the horrors, we all kind of waited for the other shoe to drop. People were scared, and sad, and angry. The latter is something I think has been forgotten since 2001. There's been a mountain of news coverage this week, most focused on the sadness back then, and very little about the anger many of us felt back then. I remember how filled with rage I was that those bastards attacked us. This morning, when I saw Google's "Remembering September 11" link today describing the day this way: "The events of September 11, 2001 changed the lives of so many people around the world," and never mentioning that it was a terrorist attack, not just some random sad thing, I got ticked off all over again. Spare me the euphemisms, please.
We also don't do enough remembering of those who lost their lives in the wars after 9/11. The closest thing to a memorial that they have now is Section 60 of Arlington Memorial Cemetery. I went there with my brother on Christmas 2007, to see our father's grave there -- he had died on September 10 that year. I held up okay after seeing our father's tombstone for the first time, but completely lost it when I saw the graves of those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them in their teens and early 20s. In addition to thinking about those who lost their lives in 9/11, today I'm remembering those who lost their lives after 9/11 in service to their country.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
I woke up that Tuesday morning in 2001 around noon. At the time, I worked nights as a web editor for the New York Daily News. That night was a particularly late evening at work, as the Giants were on Monday Night Football, and I worked until after 3 a.m. or so, and didn't get to sleep around 5. When my clock radio went off that morning, there was a reporter on the news talking about being on the site of the World Trade Center. I didn't know what he was talking about; even in my groggy state, I remembered that the anniversary of the 1993 attack on the building was in February, so I couldn't understand what the report was about.
Then I got up, looked at my computer, and saw on the Daily News home page that the Twin Towers were destroyed, and the Pentagon hit. How could the World Trade Center be destroyed? How could the Pentagon have been attacked? It seemed like a nightmare too bad to be true; I thought I was having a bad reaction from having taken a Tylenol P.M. the night before or something. Even after talking to several friends on the phone asking what happened, I didn't quite believe the Twin Towers were gone until physically walking up Staten Island's Richmond Terrace until I could see the skyline. When I saw two huge plumes of smoke where the Twin Towers used to be, the horrific truth was confirmed, and my jaw dropped.
I had moved to Staten Island the year before when I started working at the News, and one of the things I cherished was seeing the skyline every day on my drive to work. I used to make sure and look for the Twin Towers each time I passed it by. Now I would never see those buildings again. For years afterward, I couldn't even bear to look at the skyline, finding it too sad. Come to think of it, the New York City skyline has never looked quite right to me since the World Trade Center was destroyed. Still doesn't.
I never made it into work that day, as all the Staten Island bridges were closed, and the Staten Island Ferry wasn't running to Manhattan. But Squawker Jon did. He was called in early by our boss after the second tower was hit, and worked all day, putting up stories on the web site about the horrors. Back then, it was expected that maybe 10,000 of our countrymen were dead. We also didn't know at first about Flight 93.
The next day, I went back to work after a very long commute into the city. You could smell the burning Twin Towers from West 33rd Street. That first evening back, there was an emergency evacuation of the building. I remember a big, burly guy from the sports department barreling past me on his way down the stairs. People were scared out of their minds then, and rightfully so.
Some of that time after 9/11 is a blur. Other things I remember clearly, like walking around town and seeing all the handmade "Missing" signs. Or seeing Staten Island firefighters in formal dress over and over, them attending yet another funeral. (My borough lost close to 300 citizens, a good portion of them firefighters and police officers raising their families in Staten Island). The sound of bagpipes. You couldn't get away from thinking about 9/11 every minute, especially working at a daily newspaper. While we didn't lose anybody we know, we lost almost 3000 of our fellow New Yorkers. I think I might have cried every day for a good two months afterwards.
(Note: After reading this, Squawker Jon reminded me of the anthrax attacks on media companies during that time, and how we were all afraid to get the mail at our office. That's something I had kind of blocked out over the years!)
But there were moments that we cheered, like when watching the defiant, passionate "Concert for New York" on TV. Even Yankee fans like me rooted for the Mets to beat the Braves that Friday night (although I knew things had changed forever when I saw Chipper Jones get hugged by Mets players!)
Then there was the Yankees' playoff run, with even some Red Sox fans cheering for New York. My memories of the World Series that I like to remember are President Bush throwing out the first pitch for a strike in Game 3, Challenger flying into Yankee Stadium that night. And, of course, the Yankees going deep against Kim two nights in a row to win Games 4 and 5. And the gut punch that was Game 7 of that World Series just seemed cruel, although it did put a smile on Squawker Jon's face!
In the months following the horrors, we all kind of waited for the other shoe to drop. People were scared, and sad, and angry. The latter is something I think has been forgotten since 2001. There's been a mountain of news coverage this week, most focused on the sadness back then, and very little about the anger many of us felt back then. I remember how filled with rage I was that those bastards attacked us. This morning, when I saw Google's "Remembering September 11" link today describing the day this way: "The events of September 11, 2001 changed the lives of so many people around the world," and never mentioning that it was a terrorist attack, not just some random sad thing, I got ticked off all over again. Spare me the euphemisms, please.
We also don't do enough remembering of those who lost their lives in the wars after 9/11. The closest thing to a memorial that they have now is Section 60 of Arlington Memorial Cemetery. I went there with my brother on Christmas 2007, to see our father's grave there -- he had died on September 10 that year. I held up okay after seeing our father's tombstone for the first time, but completely lost it when I saw the graves of those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them in their teens and early 20s. In addition to thinking about those who lost their lives in 9/11, today I'm remembering those who lost their lives after 9/11 in service to their country.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Osama bin Laden, the Mets, and the Phillies
I hope you will indulge me with a (mostly) non-baseball post regarding the news that Osama bin Laden is no more.
I was watching Channel 11 news last night, and at around 10:40 p.m. or so, one of their anchors made a very strange announcement: That President Barack Obama would be addressing the nation with a national security announcement, and that it had nothing to do with Libya.
My very first thought was that it was something to do with Osama bin Laden. Here's what I wrote on Facebook last night:
"Just saw that President Obama is about to make a national security announcement in around 15 minutes. Could it mean that Osama bin Laden has been nabbed?"
A few minutes later, news started trickling out that not only was Osama found, but that he was dead. President Obama said, "Justice has been done." My response to the news was a lot less eloquent. "Ding, dong, the &^%$# is dead!" I wrote on Facebook.
In flipping around the dials last night to watch the coverage, I heard about Philadelphia Phillies fans (and Mets fans in the ballpark) united as one, chanting, "U-S-A! U-S-A!" So I watched some of the game. It used to be that when breaking news came out during sporting events, fans who brought radios to the game would spread the word (when I was at the Pine Tar Game, that's how we first heard what George Brett was flipping out about.) Now word spreads via smartphones.
Squawker Jon and I were wondering what the Phillies and Mets players were thinking, as the chants went around. Apparently, they were the last people to know in the ballpark.
I normally wouldn't have been watching the end of a 14-inning Sunday night Mets-Phillies game to the bitter end. But I did actually catch the end of the game, and saw the Mets win.
I have lived on Staten Island for a decade. When I first moved here, I used to love gazing the Twin Towers when walking to the Staten Island Ferry. Then I saw huge plumes of smoke where the buildings used to be. Now, I see the Staten Island 9/11 memorial. This morning, I will stop there again, and pay my respects to those who were murdered on September 11, 2001.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
I was watching Channel 11 news last night, and at around 10:40 p.m. or so, one of their anchors made a very strange announcement: That President Barack Obama would be addressing the nation with a national security announcement, and that it had nothing to do with Libya.
My very first thought was that it was something to do with Osama bin Laden. Here's what I wrote on Facebook last night:
"Just saw that President Obama is about to make a national security announcement in around 15 minutes. Could it mean that Osama bin Laden has been nabbed?"
A few minutes later, news started trickling out that not only was Osama found, but that he was dead. President Obama said, "Justice has been done." My response to the news was a lot less eloquent. "Ding, dong, the &^%$# is dead!" I wrote on Facebook.
In flipping around the dials last night to watch the coverage, I heard about Philadelphia Phillies fans (and Mets fans in the ballpark) united as one, chanting, "U-S-A! U-S-A!" So I watched some of the game. It used to be that when breaking news came out during sporting events, fans who brought radios to the game would spread the word (when I was at the Pine Tar Game, that's how we first heard what George Brett was flipping out about.) Now word spreads via smartphones.
Squawker Jon and I were wondering what the Phillies and Mets players were thinking, as the chants went around. Apparently, they were the last people to know in the ballpark.
I normally wouldn't have been watching the end of a 14-inning Sunday night Mets-Phillies game to the bitter end. But I did actually catch the end of the game, and saw the Mets win.
* * *
I have lived on Staten Island for a decade. When I first moved here, I used to love gazing the Twin Towers when walking to the Staten Island Ferry. Then I saw huge plumes of smoke where the buildings used to be. Now, I see the Staten Island 9/11 memorial. This morning, I will stop there again, and pay my respects to those who were murdered on September 11, 2001.
What do you think? Tell us about it!
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