GROUND
ZERO PLUS 1103 DAYS,--New York, NY, Saturday,
September 18, 2004--Socrates,
about 2400 years ago, casually stated: "The unexamined
life is not worth living."
I
felt the opposite last night when my wife suggested we watch
"Nine Innings To Ground Zero." I was tired of watching
reflections about September 11, especially when they were
commercially based.
Ignorance
is bliss, and I shunned the HBO documentary because I thought
it was a movie with actors and a plot. I figured I knew the
ending, which I consider to be the beginning of the Era of
Terrorism.
But
then torrential rain sobered me up.
Since
arriving in New York some five years ago I have become a New
York Yankee fan. What's interesting, is I am not a sports
fan. Frankly, I never watch any sports. The Yankees duel with
the Boston Red Sox tonight was my filet mignon.
We
hurried home from our daughter's school where it was New Parent's
Night. We offered our assistance to set things up, and then
dashed home to catch the game before the tail of the storm
Ivan lashed its failing fury on Yankee Stadium.
 |
President
Bush throws out the first ball |
We
caught about a half an inning before the rain delayed the
game. I grabbed the clicker and began to surf channels, trying
to avoid HBO because I knew my wife wanted to watch the show.
Nothing
was on except the History Channel's repeat of "True Story
About Pearl Harbor," a documentary we had seen so many
times I could tell you the name of the Japanese pilot who
is credited with sinking the U.S.S. Arizona.
I
paused on my way past HBO to take a peek. That was a mistake.
The show I had written off as "just another Nine Eleven
Promo" reached out and grabbed me by the heart and soul.
The film juxtaposes the games at Yankee Stadium with the recovery
effort going on simultaneously nine miles south at Ground
Zero in lower Manhattan.
I
sat mesmerized by the power of a game to lift millions of
people's spirits above the horror of Nine Eleven.
I
had forgotten the power of the Yankees and their role in providing
New Yorkers with Courage, Conviction and Right Actions that
benefit the Children's Children's Children.
 |
The power
of baseball and the Yankee's lifted the spirits of New
Yorkers..... |
 |
...and fans
everywhere |
As
I watched the power of the average people reaching out to
the Yankees--the young girl whose father was one of the pilots
who was killed thanked Derek Jeter for lifting her spirits--the
brother who lost two of his brothers rushing to Game Five
of the World Series as a symbol of moving on with life--all
these and other comments conspired to bring tears to my eyes.
I
realized that for New York City, and for countless thousands
ripped and shredded by the ravishing fangs and claws of Terrorism
that swept New York City that September, the Yankees represented
the Sentinels of Vigilance.
Despite
the Fear, Intimidation and Complacency that shadowed the nation,
the Yankees stood strong against all odds. The team was not
even supposed to be in the World Series. The Yankees play
that season was sub championship, but destiny had a reason
for them to be in the finals.
Millions
of New Yorkers watched the Yankees' miraculous come back play
against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium. As though
the Angels of Nine Eleven were rooting them on, they came
from behind to beat the Diamondbacks to the cheers and tears
of thirsty New Yorkers seeking a moment of respite from the
madness of memories that only days before eviscerated the
city's soul.
 |
I had
forgotten the power of the Yankees to bring back Courage,
Conviction and Right Actions..... |
As
the Yankees won, the smell of burning bodies from Ground Zero
wafted through the city, and any hope of finding someone alive
waned day by day.
 |
.....to
all New Yorkers in their time of need |
"Nine
Innings From Ground Zero" captured what I believe to
be the Spirit of Vigilance. Often, I am concerned that maybe
the Spirits of Vigilance didn't really rise up from Ground
Zero and form a Circle of Vigilance that September day that
I sat in the rubble and recorded the sight.
There
are moments when I feel as though there are no "real"
Sentinels of Vigilance, and that everything about them is
only a struggle to keep alive a spirit of belief that reality
reminds me is buried beneath millions of pounds of earth.
Then,
something like "Nine Innings From Ground Zero" appears.
The lens of the cameras captured the moment with such power
that the most severe critic of belief would have to agree
that there was some slim chance that such things as Spirits
of Vigilance do exist, if no where else than in the heart
and soul of a young girl whose father was the pilot of a hijacked
plane that smashed into the North Tower.
There
was so much in the documentary that moved me, I am unable
to capture them in words, except for one overall conviction.
 |
People
of New York were cheering instead of crying |
If
one watches the documentary, he or she will see the Spirits
of Vigilance in the middle of Yankee Stadium. The people of
New York were cheering instead of crying, rooting instead
of cowering, and filled with hope and belief instead of despair
and dismay.
There
was also the magic of the Yankees. The miraculous come back
plays that lifted the stadium off its foundations were inspired
by forces far beyond any one's comprehension.
Three
years later, the documentary reinforced that the Sentinels
of Vigilance are still playing ball. They are a team, seeking
to strike out Terrorism.
 |
The Yankees
made sure there was no Triad of Terrorism three years
ago with the help from their friends at Ground Zero
|
And
I am proud to be one of their fans.
You
can be too. Just take the Pledge of Vigilance and put yourself
on the roster of the Sentinels of Vigilance. They need your
bat to hit home runs against the Beast of Terror who throws
us all curves in the form of Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.
None
of the Triad of Terrorism existed in Yankee Stadium or three
years ago.
The
Yankees made sure of that, with a little help from their friends
at Ground Zero.
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