I just finished reading an ESPN article about the only college football game that will be played this weekend (which was played last night). I must say that I am impressed with the reasoning.
While I agree with the decision by the majority of sports organizations to cancel games through the weekend, I must say that taking a few hours out of the day to gather as a community, sing the national anthem, and enjoy a sports game together brings us one step closer to normalcy. Now, I understand that many games would have to be cancelled anyway, due to the unavailability of flights and other travel arrangements, but I imagine that there are many games where the teams are within driving distance (the Notre Dame/Purdue game comes to mind).
Personally, I don’t think the argument of “an 80,000 capacity stadium is an ideal target” is a good one. Because an 80,000 capacity stadium will ALWAYS be a good target. And the recent choices of targets this week (WTC, Pentagon, White House/Camp David, Air Force One) have been targeting more for the symbolism than for the body count.
However, I am not complaining. I think the lack of games even further emphasizes the severity of what happened. But after reading that article, and reading about how local firefighters and policemen stood on the field during the national anthem shows how an event like that can focus on what is important in this country. It focuses on the community, and the togetherness of the event, rather than the sport itself.
I dunno. It’s a very difficult decision, and I certainly agree with both sides. There are many pros and cons that have been weighed. I just think it’s a good time for a lot of people to step outside and decide to stop being scared.