When the games stop

Who took a bite out of the Big Apple?

It boggles the mind that such devastation could be dealt to New York City by a single, organized terrorist force; in one fell swoop paralyzing the world’s last superpower. I remember the times I’ve walked the streets of New York, and marveled at how its buildings pricked the sky, and how the deafening the buzz of life was, twenty-four hours a day.

New York has been the most obvious target for terrorist attack or demolition, fictional or real. From King Kong climbing the Empire State Building to the Towering Inferno to Escape From New York to Godzilla causing the destruction of Madison Square Garden, the lady’s been beaten up more than any other place on earth.

Generally, the first thing that goes in events of calamity is any sports activity. In the hierarchy of human values, sports is a celebration of life, something we just can’t do in times of dire need.

Who can forget the hostage crisis that caused the death of 11 Israeli athletes and officials at the 1972 Olympics? It was the first manmade cessation of Olympic competition since the modern Games resumed in 1896. I was 7 at the time, but I vividly remember Jim McKay choking up as he reported the deaths.

Twenty-four years later, I inadvertently found myself in the middle of a terrorist attack as well. Strolling through Centennial Park for my only breather during the Atlanta Olympics, I heard an explosion that all but silenced the ongoing concert. The ground shook, and I almost dropped to the ground instinctively. In minutes, security had shut down the entire Olympic complex, and transportation stopped for hours. The next day, Centennial Park, which was free to the public, had been fenced in, and everyone entering was subject to inspection. We all know how being falsely accused for the bombing devastated the life and career of security officer Richard Jewell.

New York’s golf, Major League Baseball and NBA basketball schedules have been the most frequent victims of stoppage, ranging from earthquakes to the most recent acts of terrorism.

The repercussions of the attack on New York are immeasurable. The cost alone in human lives and morale cannot be quantified. Even here, the impact was felt. At the training of the depleted Batangas Blades the next day, Alex Compton, a graduate of Cornell University of New York, was unable to practice, Coach Nash Racela said his top guard was deeply affected by what happened in New York, probably to friends and schoolmates, and just couldn’t play that day. The Blades’ Stephen Antonio, a US Marine whose wife is also in military service, was likewise unable to attend, no doubt worried sick about his family.

These kinds of crimes against humanity are like a shot in the dark, or a bullet in the air. The ones who orchestrated them paid no mind to whom or what they would cause damage. All they wanted was that their message, however warped it may be, would be heard in the shockwaves around the world. Well, they got their wish. Now, I hope they get what’s coming to them, in spades.

Indeed, these are the times we must show our true spirit as unyielding, our true nature as persevering and prayerful, our true power as relentless pursuers of what is good, and true and right in man, terrorists be damned.

The games will go on, with a higher purpose, as a tribute to those who will never be able to play again.