I’ll Never Forget How Sports Helped Us Come Together After 9/11

There are moments in history that we all remember right where we were when they happened and all of us alive during the 9/11 attacks will remember where we were that day.

I was in a teacher workroom at JFK Elementary working as an intern for class credit during my junior year of high school.

They rolled in the TV that we all used to watch movies on during classes to watch the continued coverage and it was a day of complete sorrow.

As we all saw the scenes from New York City and around the northeast, I do recall wondering if this was the start of the war on our own soil.

Thoughts that I never thought I would have to have to live in the United States of America all began because of those horrific acts of terrorism.

Once the following days ensued, you knew we were going to eventually find those that orchestrated the terrorism and bring them to justice.

That said, we all knew it was going to be immediate and so many people were hurting so bad and many felt fear that another attack would follow.

Amid all that fear, sadness, and uncertainty, one thing that helped this country begin to move forward after 9/11 was sports.

There were many moments that I will remember from those weeks after that tragic day, but when Major League Baseball's World Series took place in New York with the Yankees facing off against the Arizona Diamondbacks, we got a moment none of us will forget.

During Game 3 of the World Series, President George Bush walked out onto the mound wearing a bulletproof vest under his jacket, gave a thumbs up to the crowd, and threw a perfect strike down the middle.

I get teary-eyed and chills thinking about it now as if it was a metaphor to the rest of the terrorists throughout the world that the USA wasn't to be messed with and even though we lost so many lives, the lives left would galvanize for the betterment of the United States.

Bush would later talk about how he had no idea how it would go and how many advised him against it because of their fear for his safety, but it was a moment we needed and he delivered.

Whether it was the World Series in New York, college football on campuses all over the USA, NFL games being a symbol for patriotism, or every high school game that Fall, it felt like sports was an escape for all of us to come together.

This country will never be the same after the events of 9/11 and many things have helped all of us move forward, but one thing was clear then and is clear 19 years later, sports helped us heal.