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           Today, the 10th anniversary of September 11, many will spend time with family, reflecting on their losses of that day in 2001. Others will head to memorial services being held in their communities and some will simply turn their heads to the television to watch the news coverage of remembrance events. However, despite all the many happenings centered on the anniversary of 9/11 that will capture the attention of Americans across the country, something else will dominate the focus of the 312 million Americans today. That which so many minds will leave off remembering 9/11 for is sports.
           Although many can consider sports as a unifying and exciting experience, bringing strangers together to cheer for one team in a thrilling display of competition, one has to ask: Is it right that more people are interested in sports than remembering a day that was so hurtful to our country? The response of all sports fans, including myself, would have to answer, “Yes, it is ok”. It was baseball that had given Americans some distraction during the direct aftermath of 9/11 and it was the start of football season that gave Americans something to look forward to. Sports are simply games played for enjoyment so many would argue that participating in sports or watching them on 9/11 can’t be condemned as a wrongdoing.
Sports are overall supposed to be a fun thing, so should we criticize its media exposure on this particular day? Being in college, most students live in a bubble, with no major attention given to the outside world unless it’s to turn on the television to watch a sporting event. Hard news, however, is almost always off the table. And to be completely honest, if the anniversary of 9/11 had fallen yesterday, on a home game and the first tailgate of the season, most college students wouldn’t have given a second thought to the fact that it was 9/11, as sad as that may be to admit. Given that, it would only be fair to say that is acceptable for the rest of the world to turn their televisions directly to a baseball or football game instead of news coverage of memorial services. Therefore, given the expected rate of audiences, why should channels like CBS or FOX not play sporting events in order to show 9/11 anniversary coverage?
It may seem that giving a normal amount of attention to baseball and football as standard to any other Sunday is a bad thing being that ten years ago, a horrible terrorist attack also occurred on this day. Unfortunately, Americans are human beings that like citizens of any other country have needs and want and cannot focus so much attention on something that happened what is becoming “a long time ago”. It was in sports that people originally found relief after such a terrible occurrence ten years ago. Sports, along with terrorist attacks, should not mark a weakness in our country, but simply a point of change and development.
Sports are an escape, an avenue to relaxation and satisfaction before embarking on another hectic work week or busy school schedule. And in reality, most of the major memorials and remembrance events happened in the morning and didn’t even conflict with many of the game times. Yet it’s important to note the distinction between 9/11 and sports, as it is an intriguing human characteristic that many more would consider watching sports rather than spending a day in reflection. But the fact that the football game between Chicago and Atlanta may be the only thing I turn my TV on to watch on September 11, 2011, should not be classified as a wrong decision over a right one and can’t lower my position as an American.