gene mock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
This essay was forwarded to me. I'm sorry but I don't know the author.
I'm sure someone will let me know. Regardless, I thought it was excellent
and wanted to pass along to you.
gene
/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/
The Love of the Game
"Look to your hearts for games that can't be canceled"
There's a game this weekend.
A big game.
Bigger than the Super Bowl. Bigger than the World Series. Bigger than the
Final Four.
The biggest game ever.
And you're invited.
To sit in the front row.
To pull up to the stadium in a stretch limo, light a cigar with a crisp
one-hundred-dollar bill as you stride through the VIP gate, then take your
own private elevator upstairs to the skybox of your mind.
To forget the debate about whether or not it's appropriate to play games
this weekend, so soon after the terrorist attacks of Tuesday, Sept. 11,
2001.
To force yourself to take a brief, quiet moment and go to a place where the
images and sounds of terror cannot harm you. This weekend, mentally revisit
your hallowed ground. Go. Don't be afraid. They're waiting for you.
At the corner of Michigan and Trumbull. At 161st and River. At St.
Catherine's and Atwater. At 1060 West Addison.
At Fenway. South Bend. Augusta. Camden Yards. Soldier Field. Chavez Ravine.
The Stick. Pebble Beach. The Forum. Churchill Downs. Indy. Daytona. The
Garden. The Stadium.
Welcome to The House That You Built:
It's Willie Mays, his back to the plate as he hauls in Vic Wertz's drive on
a dead run.
Jerry West hits that 63-footer against the Knicks one more time.
Cal Ripken Jr. takes his victory lap at Camden Yards after 2,131.
Bart Starr sneaks over the goal line against the Cowboys in the Ice Bowl.
A.J. Foyt weaves through the smoke and chaos to win at Indy.
"The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the
pennant!"
Secretariat thunders home in the Belmont.
Kareem's skyhook.
Nadia's perfect 10.
Torvill and Dean's Bolero.
The Intimidator in your rear-view mirror.
Ali. The Champ. The Greatest.
The Game. The Drive. The Play.
What the heck is the band doing on the field at Cal-Stanford?
"Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!"
Reggie's three homers on three pitches in the Series.
Flutie's Hail Mary.
Franz Klammer's gravity-defying run in the downhill.
The Fridge, diving over for a TD in the Super Bowl.
Borg-McEnroe. Connors-McEnroe. And toss in Sampras-Agassi.
Arnie, Jack or Tiger walking up the 18th fairway.
Michael Jordan beating the buzzer to win the championship.
The Mick, Sammy or McGwire crushing one into the upper deck.
And Jim Craig, with Old Glory draped over his shoulders, looking for his
father in the stands at Lake Placid.
"Do you believe in miracles? YES!"
Believe in miracles this weekend, and fill your own stadium to capacity with
your own sights and sounds and memories.
Believe, and it just might be one small way of honoring the memory of those
who died in New York, and Washington, and outside of Pittsburgh.
Believe, and you'll hold a ticket to the best game in town.
Because no matter how many planes are hijacked and crashed, this game will
not be postponed.
No matter how many buildings are blown up, this game will not be canceled.
No matter how many of our innocent fellow citizens perish at the hands of
gutless cowards, this game will not be taken away from us.
This game is called freedom.
And you've got a front-row seat.
Play ball.
