David Stowe 
This is in no way related to DFS, seasonal rankings, or whether you should start or sit a player for an upcoming slate. For those of you who are old enough to remember what happened that day 20 years ago, you will know that sports played an integral part in the days and weeks following the attacks that shaped our reality for the next two decades. I just wanted to take a few moments to talk about it as a remembrance and as a reminder.
I was a 17-year-old boy walking into my U.S. History class (late, as was typical of me at the time). Most of us in the classroom were oblivious as to why our history teacher had chosen to roll out the T.V. on the stand (you older folks remember that). As we were discussing the events in class and how it could affect our personal history the second plane hit and the class fell silent. We didn’t know the extent at the time but we knew things would never be the same. The following months and years are all in the history books and my life was shaped by those events. As just a few months later I chose to enlist and spent a decade of my adulthood deeply aware of the fight we were involved in. While impactful on its own, there is something that I wanted to talk about and that is how huge of an impact that athletic competition had on getting us out of our malaise and healing as a nation.
Everything was shut down in the days and weeks following. Schools, stores, flights, banks, stock markets, and sporting events. We were, in a way, paralyzed by shock. We were not certain that gathering in large groups would result in a repeat of recent events and did everything we could to prevent it. MLB postponed all games, The World Golf Championships, NFL, Major League Soccer, and NCAA all went on hiatus while we sorted it all out.
The return of competition was a respite from the events in the world and it was, in a way, a gigantic middle finger to the folks whose goal was to break the spirit of the population. The stadiums, courts, courses, tracks, and fields were all packed to capacity. If the goal was the break us, it undoubtedly backfired. We were unified towards a common goal that I have never seen up to that point in my life and have not seen since. An entire nation in lockstep. It was truly one of the most incredible things I have ever seen and I am sure those who were old enough to process it at the time would agree.
October 30th, 2001. Just 49 days after the terror attacks, we were waiting for Game 3 of the World Series between the Yankees and Diamondbacks. Backdropped upon things much greater than sports, we experienced a moment that regardless of your viewpoint politically was one of, if not the greatest moments in the history of sports. Wearing body armor under his coat President George W. Bush walked out onto the mound while the deafening cheers drowned out everything else. After a conversation with Yankee great Derek Jeter, The President chose to pitch from the mound and threw the most impactful first pitch in the history of baseball.
That pitch was more than just a pitch, and every game was more than just a game. As we came together to watch, cry, and remember, we began to realize that it was so much more than a game. It was a reminder and a promise that we would stand firm in the face of adversity and over time heal from the wounds suffered on that day.
I know that we are a generation removed from that day now and there is a disconnect in some regards when it comes to those who grew up in the aftermath but do not necessarily remember the world before. But it is our responsibility as those who will never forget to teach those who were not old enough to remember. Luckily, the connective tissue as a family with a common bond for love of sports allows us the opportunity to share these stories and remember the lives of those lost on that day and in the years following.
