That’s how many Americans were killed on September 11, 2001. That’s over 500 more than the number of deaths at Pearl Harbor. It’s the most deadly attack our nation has ever been hit with from a foreign enemy.

Image credit: Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images via Boston.com

I’m sure you, like me, remember exactly where you were when you got the news. Maybe you were driving in the car or at your desk at work. For millions of us, we got the news from a teacher at school…while we were surrounded by our closest friends.

Being a sports fan is an awesome, yet often confusing experience. The most awkward moments often come when we realize that sports, at the end of the day, just don’t really matter that much.

Don’t get me wrong, I think sports are important. Like it or not, there are few things in this country that can universally lift us up or bring us down like athletic events. Just ask viewers of last week’s Women’s World Cup Final, who shared the agony of that defeat, or spectators of Jason Lezak’s amazing comeback in the Olympics, who rejoiced in unison.

But there are always those weird epiphanies – usually following a tough loss – where we realize that sports just really don’t matter. As awesome as it was to watch the Dallas Mavericks beat the Heat, Jeter chase 3,000 hits, and Phelps break all those records, none of those events would even come close to making a list of our nation’s 100 most important moments.

To be honest, the first time I ever had one of those moments was on September 11, 2001. To my undying shame, I have to acknowledge that the first thought I had that day was, “Oh great, they better not cancel our soccer game tonight.” When you’re 14, life is only as important as the next big event in your own schedule. But as the day stretched on, and we all crammed into the English room to watch it unfold on those tiny televisions, we all realized that something much bigger than sports was happening.

I will never forget that day.

I don’t think any of us ever will.

And that is precisely why the NFL should not be opening up its season on September 11 of this year.

As amazing as this sounds, it’s already been ten years since terrorists attacked us. Ten years since 343 firefighters courageously ran into buildings that had been hit by airplanes. Ten years since 184 innocent people were brutally murdered at the Pentagon. Ten years since some oft-forgotten heroes took down Flight 93 in the middle of a field in Pennsylvania – preventing a tragedy of unknown proportions from happening in Washington.

It’s the most important anniversary of all. Personally, I think that September 11 should be a National Holiday. But regardless, we should spend this September 11 doing one thing: honoring the Americans that died.

Image source: Trempealeau County Trunk

As much as the lockout turned me off to the NFL, I’m not asking everyone to boycott it. It’s our nation’s most popular sport, and it will be for a good long while. I love watching the greatest athletes on earth play one of the most exciting games on earth. I will be cheering on Peyton Manning and my beloved Colts as hard as ever this year.

Just not on September 11.

Did you know that they are reopening the World Trade Center that day? They are setting up a memorial for all to see. There will be television specials, parades, and ceremonies. These are things that we as Americans should be viewing that Sunday.

Instead, I fear it will all get lost in the eleven hours of football.

It seems a little ironic that instead of honoring 2,977 Americans that died, most of us will be honoring a group of humans that took four months trying to figure out how to split up $9 Billion.

Nevermind, that’s not ironic; that’s just sad.

And to be honest, it’s probably a fact as well.

There is a time and a place for sports in this country. And you know what? There is a time and place for sports on this September 11.

If you were to ask yourself, “If there was a sport that I remember from Fall of 2001, what was it?”

That’s right, it was baseball.

I remember exactly three sports moments from that year:

1. I remember Jason Sehorn and some of the other Giants’ players crying into the camera and begging the NFL to cancel that week’s games. “Nobody’s thinking about football right now,” they pleaded. The League kind of complied…and postponed the games until the end of the year.
2. I remember the bald tenor singing “God Bless America” at Yankee Stadium. I got chills then, and I get chills now just thinking about it.
3. I remember President Bush, just a few days after the attack, striding out to the pitcher’s mound – clad in a bulletproof vest – and telling the world, “Do your worst, but America won’t back down.” I remember him firing the ball across home plate, not just lobbing it up there hoping to avoid embarrassment. I remember being inspired like I never was before, and quite frankly, never have been since.

Yes, sports held an important place in our country’s heart during that difficult time, and I think it could do the same this year.

What if instead of trying to absorb an entire day’s worth of football, we were treated to resounding Patriotic marches, songs, and television memorials all morning.

Then, at 1:35 ET, George H.W. Bush could throw out the opening pitch in Washington, DC, to start off the Nats-Astros game.

Shortly after that, President Obama himself returns to his hometown of Chicago, and at 2:10 ET, he commences the White Sox-Indians game in his own way. Around that same time, Jimmy Carter could throw out the first pitch at the Braves-Cardinals game.

Then, less than an hour later, George W. Bush could start things off in Texas before his Rangers play the Athletics.

Then, in the night capper, President Clinton could throw out the first pitch in New York City, just miles away from where it all started as America watched the Mets battle the Cubs.

In a matter of seven hours, we could have every single one of our living presidents throw out meaningful first pitches all across the country. We could truly honor the 2,977 Americans that had their lives brutally stolen from them.

Look, I don’t think we need to boycott the football season because we are mad at the players and owners. I’m not advocating a “protest out of principle.” Football is important to many Americans, and it definitely has its place in our society.

I’m simply saying that the NFL needs to do the right thing here. It is the most popular sport in our country – by far. That won’t change if they miss one Sunday in early September when most of us should be caring about something far more important. In fact, it might even go as far to recapture some of the good graces that the sport has lost with its fans over the past few months.

Even so, they probably won’t. “The show must go on,” and they will beat the money cow until it dies.

I really am looking forward to following this season closely, and I will definitely end up being sucked in soon, especially after Manning leads the Colts out to another hot start.

Just not until September 18.

It made me think about just how much pressure is on people of President Obama’s stature when they step onto the mound to throw the first pitch.  I know, I know…what he deals with in the White House and as The Most Powerful Man in the World is far more important and pressure-packed over the long haul.  Still, this ‘aint reading off a teleprompter.  This is a physical action, one that is relatively difficult, which is being done in front of millions.  And as the President, you have an image of greatness to uphold.

Bouncing a ceremonial pitch certainly does not project an image of greatness.

I expect President Obama to do well tonight, mainly because this isn’t his first rodeo (as “we” say down here in Texas). Obama threw out a first pitch during the 2005 playoffs, and seems to have the right mindset about the whole process:

Obama is no stranger to the pitching mound.  In 2005, his first year as a senator from Illinois, Obama threw out a first pitch at a White Sox playoff.  The devout Sox fan admitted afterwards that he was feeling the pressure.

“Had I thrown a one-hop, I think, whatever aspirations I had, they would have shown that clip over and over again,” he said in an interview with the Springfield State Journal-Register that year.

“I was more nervous than I was before the Democratic National Convention” the year before, he said.

So he understands the importance of not bouncing the ball, which is his first step to success.  Now he just needs to warm himself up properly and do his best Mark Buehrle impression and exhibit pinpoint control.  (Actually, he doesn’t even need to be pinpoint…just somewhere in the area of Albert Pujols’ mit. He could settle for John Danks’ control.)

Update: Well, he didn’t bounce it…but he came close. It was a nice save by Albert Pujols. Follow the link to watch the video of Barack Obama throwing out the first pitch at the 2009 MLB All Star Game.

But any president throwing out a first pitch will always, for me, harken back to the greatest single presidential first pitch of all time.  And I’d imagine that nearly everyone reading this knows exactly which first pitch I’m talking about, even if the headline and pitcture didn’t give it away at a glance.

Back in 2001, not long after the horrors of 9/11, George Bush threw a perfect strike in Yankee Stadium before Gam3 of the World Series.  This was, almost undoubtedly, one of the high points of his 8-year term in office.  

I’m not trying to get political here, just stating facts: as a nation, we all were behind President Bush then, and his steely resolve in the face of the terrorist attacks inspired a nation. His ability to throw a perfect strike before Game 3, with the world watching and with admitted nerves, was a symbol of his ability to be a steadying and rallying force in the months after 9/11.

What happened in the ensuing years is for everyone to have their own opinions on, but what happened that night proved that George Bush was capable of Rivera-like clutchness at a time when our nation needed it, even if only symbolically.  And it’s fitting that such a moment would come for Bush on the baseball field.  He used his tenure with the Texas Rangers to propel himself into the Texas Governer’s mansion, and we have never had a more unabashed baseball fanatic in the White House.  

So forget politics for a moment and just watch the video below.  It’s a great behind-the-scenes look at the build-up to Bush’s first pitch at the 2001 World Series, and the strike he fired with the lights shining bright.  

Now hopefully President Obama can do White Sox fans and America proud tonight by piping one similarly…right down the middle.

And now some other links from around the web to carry you through the rest of this beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Then it’s back to work for me, then to the airport to pick up KVB, who will be spending a week down here in Dallas.  Get ready for a podcast…

Who Will Shoot the Three? — (by The Zoner at Pippen Ain’t Easy)

Senator Hatch Wants BCS Investigated — (The World According to MoonDog)

15 Horrible Places to Be High — (Hail Mary Jane)

Top Ten Reasons Tony Romo Split from Jessica Simpson — (Gunaxin)

Tribute to Cinema’s Best Slugging — (Screen Junkies)

MLB All Star Game: Making Memories — (Josh Q. Public)

Browns, Maiava Agree to Deal — (Orange & Brown Report)

Former UT Kicker James Wilhoit is now Coach Wilhoit — (SEC Rivals)

A.I.: Memphis or Miami? — (My Sports Rumors)

How moods trigger the panties your GF wears — (Regretful Morning)

The Future for Ric Bucher — (Zoner Sports)

Really Interesting Bob Gibson Take — (Sharapova’s Thigh)

Why the AL West is better than people think — (Dallas Sports Fans)

ESPN’s New Ombudsman: Don Ohlmeyer – (Real Clear Sports)

Bob Costas Didn’t Think Judge Sotomayor Was an All Star — (Hugging Harold Reynolds)

‘Cause it’s root, root, root for that guy’s girlfriend — (Great Moments in Christory)

Thoughts and Observations on Cubs’ 1st Half — (The Friendly Blogfines)

* – George Bush photo credit: ESPN.com