The High Court

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The American Story-A Time for Sports

This is no time for sports……….or is it?

By Darth Reagan

 

 

By the time this article is in print Hurricane Dennis will have made landfall on the Gulf Coast. I want to wish every person and family the very best in dealing with the preparation, impact and rebuilding associated with this devastating storm. 2004, was an extremely difficult year for all Floridians involved in the Hurricanes but volunteers from all over the state and country helped to make things right again in our communities. Thank you and please know that we are here, ready and able to help in any way possible.

 

And to England, I would like to send my deepest condolences and words of support to each and every Englishman. We, as Americans, are proud to be allied with you in the war on terror and will continue to fight with you to destroy every terrorist (coward) organization.

 

The past week has certainly been full of disappointing tragedies and misfortunes. We saw the brutal bombings in London by a group of cowards (terrorists) and now Hurricane Dennis has struck the U.S. mainland. During such times it makes it difficult to focus on sports because when compared to the value of life; sports truly seem trivial. In fact, I considered not writing an article for Monday’s High Court. However, I reconsidered because I wanted to send my best to everyone involved in the most recent tragedies. Also, as I thought of sports during these tumultuous times I couldn’t help but think of how important they have been in the past for keeping us moving forward as Americans.

 

Nobody will ever forget 9/11 and the enormous impact that day had on all of our lives. The cowards (terrorists) had struck us a heavy blow and murdered thousands of innocent Americans. The days to follow were extremely traumatic with all of the false alarms, tightened security and overall fears of the unknown. Then as President Bush addressed the Nation I remember feeling better for the first time. It was the first time I felt as if we could move forward, not forget, but simply take steps forward. We had identified the cowards (terrorists), were searching for survivors, mobilizing resources and we had a confident leader telling us we will overcome this together. He was right!

 

Even with the leadership of our President and the incredible resolve of all Americans there was still a tremendous void.  I remember the Monday night prior to 9/11 and the conversations I was having in regard to my beloved Florida Gators. They were slated to play our biggest SEC Rival, The University of Tennessee the upcoming Saturday. At that time one would have thought my existence revolved around us winning that ball game. Come Tuesday afternoon; I couldn’t have cared less if Florida ever played the game because it truly didn’t matter.  The talk was going back and forth in every professional league, and collegiate conference about trying to play the games. Thankfully, they chose not to have games that weekend. Again, compared to the value of life; sports are trivial!

 

However, as we saw in the days, weeks, months and years to follow 9/11, sports are integral to the value of our lives in America. Whether it was a Yankee ballgame with an operatic “God Bless America”, a College football rivalry with fans arm and arm singing the National Anthem or a high school football game with 200 loyal fans standing in observance of the American Flag, we as a nation were back! In America, we can’t play games all of the time and we can’t enjoy a sporting event all of the time. We raise families, we work hard and we defend our freedoms. But in between all of this we love our sports and will continue doing so for centuries to come. Sports are a perfect fit because it’s competitive, played with rules based upon honor and the harder a team works the better they become …..

Sounds a lot like America!

 

The High Court sends its thoughts and prayers out to everyone enduring Hurricane Dennis. 

(AP)