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by
Joe - jgand@pcfootball.net
9-4-04
It
is almost that time of year again…
…time
to remember the fallen.
Time
to remember the brave men and women of the NYPD and the FDNY
for their sacrifice that they made on September 11th,
2001.
I
only wish that the RNC could have remembered them with as much
class as the DNC had. If the RNC wanted to pay tribute to the
victims of 9/11 then that’s fine. Let them have a moment of
silence for reflection and prayer and then get on with
business. What the DNC did showed a lot of class. It was
simple, dignified, and it wasn’t used for political gain.
What
the RNC started out with was just fine, but then it
degenerated into a ploy to get votes. To keep bringing up 9/11
at a political convention the way the RNC did was a slap in
the face to every widow, orphan, parent, lover and friend who
lost someone on that day. It was disrespectful to their
memories and it was like spitting on their graves.
If
you want to honor the dead by honoring their memory with a
tribute or a moment of silence then fine. But if you keep
bringing up the specter of that day in order to say “see,
this is why you should vote for us”, then all of the victims
of that day died for nothing. If all they are to you are a
political commercial instead of human beings who were
butchered, then their deaths were in vain.
Having
gotten that off of my chest, time to re-print a certain
column…
I
still remember where I was. I don’t think I will ever forget
where I was when I heard the news.
I
was getting ready for work in my living room, sitting in front
of the TV watching SportsCenter as usual. ESPN News broke in
with a special bulletin, with some news that The
World
Trade
Center
in
New York
had been attacked. They wanted us to turn to ABC News for more
details.
I
didn’t think much of it and I thought that it wasn’t a big
deal because they didn’t give out very many details. I
continued to watch SportsCenter as I put my shoes on, and I
saw it down on their sports ticker. They usually flashed the
scores from the previous night’s games, but on this
September morning they flashed something that I will never
forget –
WTC
collapse after…
…planes
crashed into towers…
…tune
to ABC for more details.
The
first thing that I thought was "What?" "WHAT?!?
NO FUCKING WAY!!!"
I
grabbed the remote and punched the buttons to switch to ABC as
fast as I could…
…and
that’s when I saw it…
…a
huge cloud of dust in the place where the Twin Towers once
stood.
It
was at this moment that my wife decided to come out of the
bedroom. The first thing she saw was the look on my face. She
kept asking me what was wrong and my mouth could barely form
the words. "The
World
Trade
Center
in
New York
was attacked. Both of the towers have collapsed. They’re
gone."
She
came in and watched the TV with me, and we both sat there,
dumbfounded as they replayed the collapse of Tower 1. Neither
one of us could believe what had happened. But there was more
– a plane had crashed into the Pentagon as well. Not only
that, but there was another plane still out there, and it was
a plane that was supposed to be on its way to the West Coast!
Specifically LAX!
Since
I live in the
Southern California
area my mind raced as I tried to think of all the targets that
terrorists could possibly hit out here. The most obvious was
the Boeing plant at the
Long Beach
Airport
just a few miles down the street from where I live. The next
one was TRW, just a few miles away from where I work! Both
companies are defense contractors, and they would have made
some pretty good targets. I called into work to get some
advice on whether I should come in or not because we didn’t
know if we were going to be safe. I was told to come on in.
I
went in and kept a radio at my desk so that I could get the
latest news and pass it on to everyone else at the office. As
the day wore on we gradually heard the story. About how the
planes were hijacked and deliberately crashed into the towers.
We also heard of the fourth plane that had gone down in a
Pennsylvania
field, and how they weren’t sure if it had been hijacked or
had gone down on its own. Later we would hear the stories of
how the passengers had decided to fight back, and paid for
their bravery with their lives.
We
all know the story that followed – the rescue effort that
turned into recovery. The clean up of what became known as
"Ground Zero" which was just completed yesterday.
The deployment of troops to
Afghanistan
to find Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Queda network. W’s
stirring call to arms before a joint session of congress. The
donations that poured in to
New York
and the tributes that followed.
So
I know what you are thinking. What does any of this have to do
with PC Football?
Nothing…
…and
everything.
Recently
there was a football game played – a real football game. But
these were not NFL players that took the field. No, these were
true heroes. These were the players from the FDNY Bravest
Football Club and the NYPD Finest Football Club. Both of these
teams met in the 30th annual "
Fun
City
Bowl" on May 19th. The game was originally
slated for
St. John’s
University
, but because of the demand for tickets it was moved to Giants
Stadium in
New Jersey
– directly across from Ground Zero.
The
game itself was a penalty filled affair. These were not
NFL-tested veterans on the field. These were cops and
firefighters that played football because they loved the game.
But more importantly, they played to honor their lost
brothers. Lost in the rubble of the
Twin
Towers
, but never forgotten in their hearts. This fact was in
evidence before the game, as the "Bravest"
recognized the surviving family members of the 22 team members
out of the 343 firefighters who were lost on September 11th.
Group after group of parents, widows, and children were
escorted to midfield to receive the player’s framed jersey
bearing a plaque inscribed "Forever a hero on our
team." The NYPD was fortunate not to lose any team
members that day, but they did honor the 23 fellow officers
who perished on 9/11.
In
the end the NYPD prevailed 10-0 to record their 9th
straight win over the FDNY, and take a 21-9 lead in the
series, but none of that mattered. What mattered was that they
had come together to raise money for 9/11 charities, and to
honor their brethren.
That
is what I have tried to do recently.
I
made a new roster for Madden 2002. I created the FDNY Bravest
and the NYPD Finest and put them into their own file. I used
the teams that were created by Bly Gilmore on MaddenMania,
which evened up the Maniac and Instigator rosters, and moved
those players onto the FDNY and NYPD rosters. I had intended
to change the names of the players on both teams to reflect
the rosters for the fire and police teams. I was able to find
the actual roster for the FDNY, but I am unable to fine the
roster for the NYPD. I have included the file for the FDNY,
which contains the FDNY names, along with positions, numbers,
height and weight.
If
anybody out there can find the NYPD roster and wants to make
the changes, I invite you to do so. I also ask that if you do
find them, if you could share them with the rest of us who
have the rosters, we would be very grateful. In this way we
can all pay tribute to those men who gave their lives on that
terrible day every time we play with these teams.
I
know that is what I will be doing every time I play with those
rosters.
Since
Madden 2005 may or may not be out before September 11th
this year, I may not have time to create the FDNY and NYPD
rosters for that title. However, I will update the rosters I
already have to reflect the current rosters for both teams for
Madden 2004.
And
while I have you here, let me give my congratulations to the
NYPD Finest football team, for becoming the 2004 National
Public Safety Football League Champions. They defeated the
Phoenix Thunder 9-6 to win their 4th NPSFL
Championship.
Way
to go guys. Stay strong.
Until
next time…
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