I know where I was, you probably know where you were.  Take some time today and think about it.

It’s been six short years since we sat in front of our televisions, watching in horror as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center collapsed, killing thousands of innocent Americans. How could America ever rebuild from such a thing? Thousands of lives were taken, thousands of children no longer had mothers or fathers, and millions of people, myself included, went through that day in a stunned and somber state. Who could we turn to?

September 21st. The Braves flew to Shea Stadium to face the Mets in the first sporting event to take place in New York since the attack. Mike Piazza stepped to the plate in the 7th inning and launched a ball over the center field wall for a dramatic two-run home run that gave the Mets the lead in a moment that can only be described as euphoric (the home run is at about 1:25 in this video).

Then there was the fall classic, the 2001 World Series. The Yankees had made the World Series and faced the Diamondbacks in what would become one of the best World Series ever played. The emotional climax came in game three when President George Bush flew to New York to throw out the first pitch, something that hadn’t been done since Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Chants of ‘USA’ rang throughout Yankee Stadium and Bush gave a thumbs up to the crowd, a sort of symbol that everything in America would be ok and that we would rebuild. Game four culminated with Tino Martinez hitting an improbable game-tying home run off the unhittable Byung-Hyun Kim in the 9th inning and Derek Jeter hitting the winner in the tenth. The Yankees followed that performance with a Scott Brosius game-winning home run in the 9th inning the very next night off the same Byung-Hyun Kim.

And how fitting was it that the Patriots, the team that seemingly supplanted Dallas as America’s team during this time, would go on to the Super Bowl and defeat the powerful St Louis Rams. The wonder boy Tom Brady had led the Pats to a magical season in a script that couldn’t have been written by even the best writers in the world.? The Patriots were, at one point, 14 point underdogs in the game and won it on the leg of Adam Vinatieri with one of his patented game winning field goals.

It’s been six short years since September 11th. While we may not all agree with the actions taken to resolve this conflict, we can all agree sports was undoubtedly one of the biggest things that brought us back together. We are rebuilding. We are recovering. Never forget September 11th and God bless America.