Night Owl Cards

Sports, obviously, isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I think of 9/11. But the one sports figure I do associate with that awful day is Ed McCaffrey. I'm not going to go into a "What I was doing on 9/11" post. I did that last year . I mentioned McCaffrey then, too. McCaffrey's broken leg, suffered making a spectacular catch in a Monday Night Football game against the Giants, is the last sports memory I, and a lot of sports fans, had before 9/11 took over. McCaffrey is our last link to normalcy. On 9/11, I thought the events that I was experiencing were truly the beginning of the end. I really wanted to go back to the days of McCaffrey and Monday Night Football. Ten years later, I think I know what 9/11 was. It was humanity on display. Humanity can be horrific and selfish. Humanity can be uplifting and selfless. We saw all of that on 9/11. It was a day when everyone, everywhere felt truly human, in all that the word entails. Today, 10 years later...

Nine years. Nine years after those incomprehensible, inhuman acts, it's difficult for me to believe how united we were on that day. Today, we are running in a million different directions. We are fractured and divided and way too angry. But on that day nothing mattered except that we were Americans. Like everyone, for me, 9/11 began as a regular day. I was at work that morning. Our newspaper published in the afternoon back then, and the sports section was required to be printed before the news section of the paper. So I would get up an ungodly hour -- usually 4 a.m. -- to get to work early enough to meet deadline. Often, I would produce the section in a stupor, as the night owl is definitely not a morning person. That day was no different. I tracked down photos and stories from the Monday night football game from the previous evening. The big news was that Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey had suffered a leg fracture while making a terrific catch against the Giants. M...

On this day, I show a card featuring Barry Bonds and call it "awesome." Because that, my friends, is not letting the terrorists win. To those innocents lost on Sept. 11, 2001, I will never forget you. To those who lost loved ones, whether family members or dear friends, I will never forget you. To those who answered the call of duty and perished, I will never forget you. We live on in your honor that you will never be forgotten. God bless you all.