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2B - September 12, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
Ten years after 9 11, sports
T wenty minutes before the catch over Notre Dame cor- the United States, the first night
midnight, Denard Robin- nerback Gary Gray. Touchdown. game in Michigan Stadium histo-
son dropped back in the A yellow penalty flag flewto ry appropriately began and ended
pocket and lofted a pass into the the ground behind Roundtree, with a wind-blown flag.
dark night sky. but it didn't matter. The game Four hours earlier, just as the
Roy Roundtree made a beeline was over. sun sank beneath the skyline
to the right sideline in the end- On the eve of the 10th anni- on the stadium's west side, an
zone. He turned, leapt and made versary of the terrorist attacks on NCAA-record crowd of 114,804
are still heartbeat of nation
rose to its feet, doffed its caps and
faced the American flagbeing
raised in the south endzone.
Each Big Ten school typically
has a flag fly at the top of the Big
House. But for this one night, the
stadium staff replaced each with
the nation's
flag - the
red, white
and blue. -
And the
bitter rivals
turned away
from each
other and
joined the STEPHEN J.
crowd and NESBITT
Michigan
Marching
Band in singing a rendition of
"God Bless America" before the
national anthem.
God blessAmerica,
Land that Ilove.
Stand beside her, and guide
her
Through the night with a light
from above.
A chorus of 114,804 in unison
as the 18 names of Michigan
graduates killed in the 9/11
attacks scrolled up the vid-
eoboards. It was humbling. It
wasbeautiful. Itwas inspiring.
And a decade ago, that
moment - the public and the
players together - didn't hap-
pen.
On Sept. 15, 2001, Lloyd
Carr's Michigan football team
was slated to face Western
Michigan at Michigan Stadium.
In the aftermath of terror
attacks centered on the East
Coast, the game was postponed
until the next week.
Sports, a topic of conversa-
tion any moment of any day,
have always been an escape.
And even they shut down.
Major League Baseball stopped
games for the first time since
the D-Day invasion in 1944.
America was gripped by fear.
People no longer felt as safe fil-
ing into a stadium, especially
one the size of the Big House.
Players felt Michigan Stadium
could be a target.
So for a weekend, it all fell
silent. Sports seemed trivial. The
heartbeat stopped.
But out of the uncertainty,
out of the fear, came a newfound
national unity.
When the Wolverines readied
for their postponed game against
the Broncos, Carr brought his
team out to the sideline to sing
"The Star Spangled Banner." In
previous home games, the team
had stayed in the locker room,
entering after the anthem was
over.
Off the football field, some
struggled to carry on.
Michigan men's soccer coach
Steve Burns, in his second year of
coaching, took his team to Louis-
ville for the weekend.
"It's important for healing
to begin and we need to return
back to normalcy," Burns said on
Sept.12, 2001. "Our players see
a good thing of being together
on the road - being able to take
a mental break, to lean on each
other and start the whole healing
process."
Two of his players knew
people whowere workingnear
towers, but they were fortunate
enough to survive.
Red Berenson, Michigan's
legendary hockey coach, knew,
two members of United Airlines
Flight 175, the Boston-to-Los
Angeles flight that was hijacked
by five al-Qaeda terrorists and
crashed into the South Tower of
the World Trade Centers.
He played with Garnet "Ace"
Bailey, then-Director of Player
Personnel for the Los Angeles
Kings, during his years with the
St. Louis Blues. Also on Flight
175 was Kings scout Mark Bavis,
who played golf with Michigan
assistant coach Billy Powers the
week before.
They were going to training
camp but never made it.
But Berenson didn't want
sports to cease. He wanted Mich-
igan to play the football game
that Saturday. He remembered
playing the Chicago Blackhawks
on the night of President John
Kennedy's assassination.
"(The fans) went crazy that
night like they wanted vengeance
of some kids," Berenson said.
"Sports can be a release for
that."
So when he saw the footage
of the catastrophe in New York
City, Berenson knew sports
needed to be at the forefront of
the recovery movement. His first
order of business was to send his
captains to the Red Cross, asking
how they could get involved with
donating blood.
The unity hasn't died. The
rivalries are just as fierce. The
intensity hasn't died down. But
in the softer moments, the times
of silence, America remembers
the past.
The feeling is different now.
Ten years later, sports are still
a game, but that game is a pillar
of the nation. It's one that won't
crumble.
"It's a show of unity, strength
and resolve to go back (to play-
ing) - the sooner the better,"
Berenson said in 2001. "We can't
spend the rest of our life looking
over our shoulders."
When Notre Dame wide
receiver Theo Riddick crossed
the goal line with 30 seconds left
to give the Fighting Irish its final
lead, a man in Air Force regalia
standing behind in the south
endzone threw his hands into the
air, jumpingup and down likea
kid.
Then came Robinson's pass to
Roundtree. The dagger.
The airman's shoulder's
slumped forward. It's just a
game, but it's his game.
Win or lose, it's America's dis-
traction.
- Nesbitt can be reached
at stnesbit@umich.edu or on
Twitter: @stephenjnesbitt.
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