The Daily Grind

As most of us get ready for the official NFL season to begin today, I wanted to take a moment to reflect what 9/11/01 meant to me. I lived in Astoria, Queens which is located pretty close to the Twin Towers. The night before I was out with my roommate drinking. We talked about the Yankee/Red Sox rivalry and how they had a series coming up. We talked about a friend who was sleeping on our couch for the last 3 months and who was leaving the next morning. We talked about his new girlfriend and the girls I was trying to score dates with. It was just another night of trivial banter. What seemed like important conversation that night would change drastically in 8 hours.

Instead of rehashing the events of the day, I look and remember the aftermath. I remember seeing Manhattan streets lined with people giving blood. I remember flags adorning everything. Taxi cab drivers of middle east descent proclaiming their love for our country with USA decals on their taxis. I remember how the jukebox in the bar I worked in turned off for about a month as the news on television became our soundtrack. I remember the first joke on television on 9/11 made me laugh in a way I have never laughed before. A laugh of exaltation. I remember a city of millions unified. The terrorists ideal goal to cause panic and fear had backfired. We had anthrax scares days later, and NYC residents took that in stride. We watched the names of people killed become faces and personalities. We realized for a condensed period of time that trivial situations were just that. Our mortality, now matter how scary was real. Life needed to be celebrated and appreciated. Yes, 9/11/2001 was a day of inhumane actions. The results of that day injected quite a bit of humanity and compassion into our lives. We are told that if we forget the evils committed, they tend to be repeated. I hope we remember the good deeds we committed that day, month and year. Those are what makes us a stronger society. Lets enjoy the trivial things as we remember the important ones.

I am giving out 3 plays today instead of 1. Good luck everyone in hopes of having a winning NFL season!

Bills -5
San Diego -8.5
Washington +3


51-48-2  -$31.00 ($100 A PLAY)