Twenty-four years later, and still a day no one would never forget. I like so many people, have vivid memories of that day, what my family and I were and what we were doing. t was just a normal Tuesday morning. The sun is shining, and it seemed like it was just going to be a normal school day or workday. However, within hours the entire mood of the day would change dramatically. By the end of the morning, nothing about the day would be normal.
For just a split second that morning, the whole world would stop in shocked silence. It would turn into a day of shock, fear, anger and heartbreak. For hundreds, people would receive calls that they had lost a parent, sibling, child, family member, friend or coworker.
For hundreds of others, people would receive calls that a loved one, family member, friend or coworker was injured and in the hospital. For hundreds of others, people would receive calls that a loved one, family member, friend or coworker was still missing. Still to this day, we can still remember where we were when we first heard what had happened and how we felt.
I can still vividly remember walking into school in the morning. My classmate Andrew Coraci came walking in and told everyone what had happened, and I can still vividly remember the shock and fear on everyone’s faces.
There then was an announcement on the loudspeaker, telling students and staff that anyone who had come in from Long Island or New York had to sleep overnight in the school cause all the bridges going into and out of New York and New Jersey had been closed.
Luckily, we lived in New Jersey, so I was able to go home that night. I was not able to see the images of what had happened until I got home later that day. My oldest brother Bryan had taken the train into New York early that morning to help his college roommate Brian move into his new apartment. As he walked up the subway steps, he could see and smell the smoke and heard all the chaos going on. He said it was like seeing a horror movie.
Luckily, he was able to reach his friend’s apartment without a problem. Cause the phone towers were down, we were not able to reach his girlfriend, now wife Deana till later in the day. They all elected to sleep on the floor of his friend’s apartment that night and was able to get home the next day.
My mother was home and out of work that day. She had received a phone call from a friend and thus had the television off that morning and my father had to call home from work to tell her to turn on the television and tell her what had happened that day.
My grandmother, my Dad’s mother had broken her hip in her home in the Bronx that day and thus needed to go to the hospital. She insisted on going to her favorite hospital In Manhattan but reluctantly had to go to a Bronx hospital cause of the terror attacks.
My Uncle Kevin was away on business and at the time he was in transit to Texas, however had to be put down in Tennessee when all airplanes were put down when the attacks happened.
We have a lot of vivid memories of that day. Luckily, we did not lose anyone on that horrific day. I can still remember that night we all hugged each other that night and thanked god all our family were safe and prayed for all those who had lost loved ones, those who were injured or were still missing.
In the aftermath, I loved how the whole country including the sports world paused to help heal the heartbroken, calm the frightened, care for the injured and lift up the spirits of the sacred heartbroken country.
When the sports world returned, Americans were treated to some great moments that still are remembered today. When the Mets returned home to Shea Stadium, they hosted their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves. In their first game at home since the attacks, they entered the bottom of the 8th inning trailing 2-1 when star catcher Mike Piazza stepped up to the plate with a runner on first base.
What he did would give Americans all over the country goosebumps as Piazza hit a go ahead two run homer which evidently helped the Mets win the game 3-2.
At the time, the Yankees meanwhile were in the midst of winning three consecutive World Series Championships and made another storied run back to their fourth consecutive World Series. This time the Yankees would be facing the Arizona Diamondbacks, an expansion team who was in their fourth year of existence.
Just a month after the September 11th attacks, Americans would be treated to one of the greatest World Series ever.
The Yankees lost the first two games in Arizona and returned home in need of a spark. In the first game back in the Bronx after the terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush made an iconic moment by throwing out the first pitch giving New Yorkers and Americans everywhere hope and a reason to believe that life will go on.
On the next night in Game 4, which ironically was being played on Halloween night, the Yankees entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-1 and were staring a 3-1 series deficit in the face. Just when everything seemed all doom and gloom and dark in New York once again, Tino Martinez hit a two out, two strike game tying two run home run sending the game into extra innings.
One inning later, in the bottom of the 10th, just before Derek Jeter stepped to the plate, chimes went off as the clock struck midnight. Which meant, for the first time, the World Series was being played during the month of November. Instantly people in the crowd hung up signs saying Mr. November. Moments later, Derek Jeter delivered another iconic moment as he hit a walk off home run, and he was given the title of Mr. November.
Later that night in Game 5, a similar script played out as the Yankees yet again trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the 9th and again down to their final strike and final out, Scott Brosius hit a game tying two run home run once again sending the game into extra innings. The Yankees would later get another walk off win sending the series back to the desert with the Yankees holding a 3-2 series lead. The Diamondbacks would win Game 6 in blowout fashion forcing a decisive Game 7.
The Yankees would find themselves in fine position to close out their fourth consecutive World Series title as they held a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 9th with Hall Of Fame closer Mariano Rivera on the mound.
However, the Diamondbacks would write a different narrative to this already unforgettable World Series as the Diamondbacks would rally for two runs off Rivera, including Luis Gonzalez hitting a game ending bloop RBI single with the bases loaded, giving the Diamondbacks their first ever World Series title and ending the Yankees quest of a fourth straight World Series victory.
Meanwhile in the NFL, the young underdog New England Patriots behind second year quarterback Tom Brady would make a surprising run to the Super Bowl and were a double-digit underdog against the St. Louis Rams who had a great offense and had won the Super Bowl in the 1999 season. The New England Patriots would take a 14-3 lead into halftime and would lead 17-3 after three quarters. This Super Bowl would also be remembered for the moving very emotional halftime performance by U2. While they were performing, an American flag was flown, and all the September 11th victims’ names were shown on the screen.
In the fourth quarter, the Rams mounted a furious rally scoring two touchdowns, tying the game at 17-17. With a little over a minute left, Tom Brady led the Patriots on a game winning drive setting up kicker Adam Vinatieri for a game winning field goal. Another iconic moment occurred as Adam Vinatieri kicked a game winning 48-yard field goal as time expired giving the Patriots their first ever Super Bowl Title These seemed poetically appropriate as it announced: The Patriots Are World Champions! Patriots owner Robert Kraft said it perfectly: “Tonight We Are All Patriots, And Tonight The Patriots Are World Champions.”
As the Vince Lombardi trophy was being presented, the moment sunk in that the team hoisting the trophy was wearing the colors of our country’s very beginning, a very special symbolic image, giving many Americans a very telling touching message that American will fight back and America will never die.
