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November 9, 2001/Cheshvan 23, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 9
Thank youEditorialWhat transpired Sept. 11 shook us to our core. And then - numbness. With time and patience and effort, we are recovering the ability to feel again. But there's a price. We have had to come to grips with terror, frustration, heartache, pain, anger.The recompense is having the opportunity to celebrate, rejoice and embrace again. The World Series has played a role in helping us remember how. There is power in baseball competition. It generates feelings, reactions and emotions long dormant. Baseball fans claim their sport is a microcosm of life. The series between New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks - and their fans - provides powerful illustrations of the truth of that assertion. The games remind us of what we can accomplish when we choose to depend upon our fellow human beings. We learn to taste defeat without losing hope. We refuse to give up, believing we can transform defeat into victory. We triumph. We despair. We triumph again. We must learn to lose graciously. We must learn to win even more graciously. In a World Series delayed by national crisis into the waning days of fall, the New York Yankees had their shining moments. So did the Diamondbacks. As time goes by, we'll remember less and less the Yankees' homeruns in the bottom of the ninth in Games 4 and 5 and more and more veterans Tony Womack and Mark Grace embracing young Byung-Hyun Kim on the pitcher's mound, offering him support and compassion when he needed it most. Whatever our team allegiance, whether or not we are ardent fans, we witnessed baseball at its best. The bonus is that the spirit of both teams has helped us recover our faith in ourselves. And we cannot forget trumpeter Jesse McGuire, who throughout the post-season shared with us his emotion-filled, passionate renditions of "The Star Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America." His focus as he prepared to play, and his jubilation as he finished, were inspiring. The World Series has given us back a bit of confidence in humanity. It has offered us a chance to heal, to regain our optimism, enthusiasm and confidence. Thank you, Yankees. And thank you, Diamondbacks. |
