Gentlemen, hoist the colors!!!
Once again, it is that time…
…time to remember the fallen.
You would think that after all of this time that it would get easier. You would think that after all these years the scars would not sting quite so much.
Yeah, you would think so, wouldn’t you? But every time I pull out the video tapes of the specials produced about 9/11, every time I see the ESPN Specials about how sports responded, every time I see the NFL Films presentation of the FDNY Bravest Football team, Every time I look at the shrine I still keep up honoring those lost on that day – the pain, the rage and the frustration continue.
Pain for what we lost – our innocence.
Rage for what was done to us – we were raped.
Frustration for justice escaping us – Bin Laden is still loose.
But something else also returns this time every year – pride.
Pride in knowing that we have such heroes in this country that can run towards danger with the only thought of helping their fellow man. Pride in knowing that no matter your political affiliation, economic background, race, creed or color – they will be there.
No matter what.
Before the untimely demise of PCFootball.net earlier this year I had a tradition, a tradition that I have kept up for these past few years. About this time of the year, every year, I would reprint a certain column that I wrote and posted for the first time on May 31, 2002. I would like to continue this tradition here on my own blog, as I re-print that column here, on this day…
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 I first wrote that column over 7 years ago a lot has happened to our world, and to me. We went to war in Iraq at the cost of bringing Bin Laden to justice, we elected our first African-American President, and we seem more divided than ever along political, ideological, social and economic lines. I have since lost a job, sold a house, moved to a completely different state, got a job only to struggle in it then lose it later, all the while approaching the brink of economic collapse along with the country of my birth.
Yet, in spite of it all, in spite of everything that has happened to myself and to Wifey, I still believe that there is some good out there in this world.
That belief is justified every time I am reminded of the story of Flight 93.
It is justified everytime I check in on the fortunes of the FDNY Bravest Football Team – who since the writing of that column, have won the National Public Safety Football League Championship not once, but TWICE!!!
So once again the flags will come out, the candles will be lit, a tear will be shed, and we will all remember.
But who says that we have to forget?
Who says that we can only remember not only how terrible that day was, but also the heroism displayed on that day one day out of every year? Why can’t we remember them the other 364 days of the year?
Well in my own small way that is what I have tried to do on several occasions. I have been known to play a video game or two in my time, and one of those games has been Madden NFL Football for the PC. The last version for the PC that came out was Madden NFL ’08, and I made a very special roster and artwork to go with it. I re-created the rosters, uniforms, and graphics for most of the teams that play in the National Public Safety Football League, including the FDNY Bravest and the NYPD Finest. Since PCFootball.net is no more you can now find this roster at football-freaks.com if you follow this link to the actual page where you can download the roster and play it yourself if you have the game. I also made an update for one of the uniforms which you can get here. Usually around this time of year I take time out to update the roster, but this year between maintaining the blog and job hunting I haven’t made the time. So I figure I will set that project aside for next year, and simply play my own little tribute game using last year’s rosters. Every September 11th I always play Madden with those rosters and take the FDNY Bravest against the CPU controlled NYPD Finest in Giants Stadium – just like that one year.
I will do the same this year, and in so doing, I hope that I will pay tribute to those heroes who were members of the FDNY Bravest Football Team, who were lost on that day:
Steve Belson
John Bergin
Pete Bielfeld
Brian Bilcher
Sal Calabro
Andre Fletcher
John Florio
Chief Tom Haskell
Lieutenant Chuck Margiotta
Tom Mingione
Lieutenant D. O’Callaghan
Captain Tim Stackpole
Dan Suhr
Lieutenant Chris Sullivan
Mike Cawley
Tarel Coleman
Tom Cullen III
Tom Foley
Keith Glascoe
Billy Johnston
Lieutenant Pat Lyons
Durrell “Bronko” Pearsall
And after the game is done and after the final score has been tallied, I will raise a glass and carry on another tradition. After their games the bravest Football Team sing an old Irish Drinking Song taught to them by “Bronko” Pearsall – their fallen brother. So in his honor and in the honor of those fallen men and women in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, I will sing for them “The Wild Rover”:
I’ve been a wild rover for many’s a year,
And I’ve spent all my money on whiskey and
And now I’m returning with gold in great store,
And I never will play the wild rover no moreAnd it’s no, nay, never!
No nay never no more
And I’ll play the wild rover,
No never no moreI went to an alehouse I used to frequent,
And I told the landlady my money was spent
I asked her for credit, she answered me, “Nay”,
Saying, “Custom like yours I can have any day”And it’s no, nay, never!
No nay never no more
And I’ll play the wild rover,
No never no moreI took from my pocket ten sovereigns bright,
And the landlady’s eyes opened wide with delight
She said, “I have whiskeys and wines of the best,
And the words that I told you were only in jest”And it’s no, nay, never!
No nay never no more
And I’ll play the wild rover,
No never no moreI’ll go home to my parents, confess what I’ve done,
And I’ll ask them to pardon their prodigal son
And when they have kissed me as oft-times before,
I never will play the wild rover no moreAnd it’s no, nay, never!
No nay never no more
And I’ll play the wild rover,
No never no moreAnd it’s no, nay, never!
No nay never no more
And I’ll play the wild rover,
No never no more
To them I say: thank you ladies and gentlemen – you will never be forgotten.
Let’s Roll!!!
