9/11 and I-AA football

[Lehigh Football Nation]

OK. It's the fifth anniversary of 9/11 today, and I want to hear about howthe events of that day affected your team. I'm looking for how closely it affected your team, your recollections, everything. (Caveat: I'm going to use this in a I-AA.org piece.)

Note: This is a genuine endeavor, not a piece filled with humor. 9/11 affected folks around the I-AA world, and that's what I want to reflect.

Thanks in advance.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

OK. It's the fifth anniversary of 9/11 today, and I want to hear about howthe events of that day affected your team. I'm looking for how closely it affected your team, your recollections, everything. (Caveat: I'm going to use this in a I-AA.org piece.)

Note: This is a genuine endeavor, not a piece filled with humor. 9/11 affected folks around the I-AA world, and that's what I want to reflect.

Thanks in advance.

My Frosh year at Temple. I remember comming back from class in the morning, about 9:30 am to turn on the TV and see the second tower fall. A lot of Temple students have ties to the NYC metro area and it was uimaginable what some of them were going through. I'll never forget the the F-16's flying over Philly that day as well as the national gaurd rolling down broad street. I remember Lehigh was suppose to play Penn that Saturday but the two schools decided not to make it up when the NCAA extended the season a week.

[blukeys]

Delaware was suffering thru a disastrous season which was Tubby Raymond's last as Head Coach. The inadequacies of the team had nothing to to with 9-11. Instead they had much to do with not starting the right quarterback for the the team assembled and talent available. 9-11 caused the cancellation of the Delaware - West Chester Game which should have been a win even with the offensive mismatches we had that year. The net effect was that Tubby retired with 300 wins instead of 301. We were not a playoff team with the offense we had in September although we were a decent team by November (New QB).

I was at the first majpr sporting event hosted after 9-11 which was a Winston Cup Race at Dover. Security was intense and unbelievable we had law enforcement who believed that the race with 160,000 in attendance was the next target and they WERE REALLY SERIOUS. I was working at a booth selling programs for my High School Sports Boosters. The event was unreal. Most Nascar events bring a sense of solidarity but this one was not to be believed. I got so many thank yous for selling a program that was grossly overpriced. There were red white and blue lapel pins on 80% of the attendees. When the C-5's from Dover AFB did their flyover they got a standing O. All of us were in tears. It was a great time to be an American.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

I was at the first majpr sporting event hosted after 9-11 which was a Winston Cup Race at Dover. Security was intense and unbelievable we had law enforcement who believed that the race with 160,000 in attendance was the next target and they WERE REALLY SERIOUS. I was working at a booth selling programs for my High School Sports Boosters. The event was unreal. Most Nascar events bring a sense of solidarity but this one was not to be believed. I got so many thank yous for selling a program that was grossly overpriced. There were red white and blue lapel pins on 80% of the attendees. When the C-5's from Dover AFB did their flyover they got a standing O. All of us were in tears. It was a great time to be an American.

I had tickets to that race and couldn't go. I still regret it to this day as it was one of the most emotional sporting events ever from what the people that were there say. That was the only Dover race i've missed from June 1990 to present. I'll be there in 2 weeks.

[Wmbgskip]

That was two weeks into my freshman year at W&M, and we first heard something was going on in my second class on Tuesday morning (Biological Anthropology). In a sadly ironic coincedence, the attacks actually happened during my first class of the day, "Math of Powered Flight."

All sports the following weekend were cancelled and rescheduled, with the football team's game against Villanova being moved until the Saturday after Thanksgiving. That was an unbelieveable game, that ended up being an elimination game to make the playoffs. It was also Brian Westbrook's final game, when he set the new NCAA All-divisions yardage record. We couldn't stop him, but took the rest of Villanova's offense pretty much out of it, and ended up winning 47-44 to claim a share of the A-10 title and make the playoffs.

http://www.tribeathletics.com/story.php/526/
^--Game Story

--Skip

[jimbo65]

Fordham was scheduled to play Columbia the following Saturday(as coincidentally they are also doing this year). After some initial hesitation about postponing the game, the game was rescheduled for Thanksgiving Day morning. The admittance fee was waved at FU and the spectators were encouraged to make on the spot donations to one of the many charity drives associated with 9/11. I attended the game which was well attended. FU trounced CU (41-3 or something similar)to finish with a winning record. I believe 2001 was the sophmore year for Eakins, Dudley and Watson. Fordham now plays Columbia each year for the Liberty Cup which I believe relates to 9/11.

As a sad side note, FU lost three students and @30 alumni on that awful day.

[WYOBISONMAN]

If I remember correctly, NDSU was scheduled to play the Maine Black Bears and that game never took place. It was cancelled and the Bison and the Bears have yet to meet in Football.......

[Eaglegus2]

Fordham was scheduled to play Columbia the following Saturday(as coincidentally they are also doing this year). After some initial hesitation about postponing the game, the game was rescheduled for Thanksgiving Day morning. The admittance fee was waved at FU and the spectators were encouraged to make on the spot donations to one of the many charity drives associated with 9/11. I attended the game which was well attended. FU trounced CU (41-3 or something similar)to finish with a winning record. I believe 2001 was the sophmore year for Eakins, Dudley and Watson. Fordham now plays Columbia each year for the Liberty Cup which I believe relates to 9/11.

As a sad side note, FU lost three students and @30 alumni on that awful day.

My brother-n-law played for Fordham U. He is an officer in Special Opps. He had frinds for FU that he knew that was lost and his best friend a fireman on that day.

[walliver]

I've always felt that 9/11 ruined Wofford's football season. We started the year with a good outing against Clemson, leading the Tiggers twice in the first quarter and seemed to have momentum going into the Georgia Southern game. 2001 was supposed to be the year when we stood up and beat the one or more of the big three. After 9/11, the GSU game was moved to November, Charleston Southern was dropped from the schedule and we picked up a money game against Lou Holtz's Gamecocks. The season just wasn't the same after 9/11 and we ended with a losing record. I am still mad at the infidels for what they did.

I remember a night game later in the year when a jet flew over the stadium. The jet was several miles high, and Gibbs Stadium is probably not high on Al Qaeda's hit list, but I found myself watching the jets lights until it was well past us. A number of people sitting around me were doing the same.

Security at Wofford wasn't much different, but was high when we played at Carolina. All bags were searched for weapons. All bags that is except for my daughter's diaper bag which went through untouched:D .

[Fordham]

Fordham was scheduled to play Columbia the following Saturday(as coincidentally they are also doing this year). After some initial hesitation about postponing the game, the game was rescheduled for Thanksgiving Day morning. The admittance fee was waved at FU and the spectators were encouraged to make on the spot donations to one of the many charity drives associated with 9/11. I attended the game which was well attended. FU trounced CU (41-3 or something similar)to finish with a winning record. I believe 2001 was the sophmore year for Eakins, Dudley and Watson. Fordham now plays Columbia each year for the Liberty Cup which I believe relates to 9/11.

As a sad side note, FU lost three students and @30 alumni on that awful day. Good recap that brings back those horrendous memories. The one thing that really sticks out to me is that I believe that when they originally decided to go keep this game as scheduled it was the only I-AA or higher game that was going to be played. It sparked a Sports section headline article in the NY Times about the decision making that went into keeping the game (I think it was written right after they finally decided to postpone it). It was a really poor decision, I believe, to have waited so long but I don't know or remember the specifics of why there was a dilemma or why they thought it should be played. Nonetheless, whether through the outcry that it was too soon or just having common sense finally settle in, thankfully they postponed and it was played as you said around Thanksgiving.

I know it's a natural that two NYC based schools would play annually in a game designed to pay homage to those who gave all on that day but I can't help but wonder if the debate around the late decision to postpone played a key role in having us establish the "Liberty Cup" game or if it would have happened anyway. Regardless, I'm glad they did it and I'm looking forward to watching the Cup game be played this weekend.

People here can correct me if my recollection is wrong but that's how I remember it. I really can't believe it's been 5 years already. A day and an event I still think about constantly - the line "never forget" isn't anywhere near an option, even I wanted it to be. God bless those that were effected more directly than I was on that day and afterwards (the news of the health effects on those that were involved in the recovery efforts has been in the news alot lately) and to those who gave all and to those who serve for us now. Very emotional day up here right now, as I'm sure it is elsewhere.

[nmatsen]

I was a junior at Northern Iowa. We were supposed to play at Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 15th, for this small town Iowa boy it would be my first time on an airplane. I was nervous as all get out. That was a game that would not take place, neither would the flight. I was relieved that I was not flying now but all it did would delay the innevitable. I heard about the news during a Tuesday morning lift, no one in the weight room knew what was going on. We found our way to the coaches office and it seemed too terrible to be true, watching planes fly into skyscrapers was enough to bring this 300 pound man to his knees. After our game was canceled we had to find a replacement game as the next week (Sept. 22nd) was our bye week. That would have only left us with 10 games. A I-A school out of the MAC came calling as they had the same bye week, the Ball State Cardinals. The previous year the Cardinals had been very successful and seeings how we had already taken a 45 drubbing from Iowa State earlier that year everyone was a bit apprenhensive to get excited. Afterall another loss and our season was all but over. We flew to Muncie Indiana that day, a beatiful Saturday afternoon. We beat the I-A Ball State Cardinals that day on a last second field goal, we went on to lose 2 games the rest of the season, one to Illinois State and their 1-10 season, the other at Wash Griz on a blistery cold Saturday afternoon in December to see who would be making the trip to Chatanooga. It was coach Farley's first year with the team and I believe that he was named coach of the year. As odd as it sounds I can't think about 9/11 and not think about football. It is sad to say that 9/11 occurred during the best 4 months of my life. Ironic isn't it?

[Pard4Life]

This was a very terrible event and all those who were affected and perished should be dutifuly remembered. However, I feel the extent to which the media and government is publicizing the 5th anniversary is significantly overblown. For the past three weeks, the television and newspapers have constantly published and broadcasted stories, dramas, documentaries etc. relating to that day. CNN has non-stop coverage. For the past week in New Jersey, the Ledger has had something everyday across the front page relating to 9/11. Yesterday was taken to the extreme.. the front page of every section, including Sports and low-traffic sections such as Business, had 9/11 material.

Is this non-stop coverage and 9/11 coverage from all angles truly necesary? Nearly all of us were affected by the tragedy and have acknowledged the sacrifices of those made. In no way possible can people ever forget something as horrific as seen in NY, PA, and DC. There should definetely be memorial events and rememberance. But the media is reminding us at every moment of these events and is making as seems as if these events happened in 2006. How can healing and education occur when it is being portrayed that the world stopped on 9/11/01? We cannot foster understanding of the event as if it is always being lived in the 'now'.

People have moved on and should move on. Through my family, we know people who were severly affected by 9/11 through either being directly at the foot of the towers or actually working in the building. They too want to move on with their lives and rebuild and reconcile what has been lost. Presistently being bombarded by the 9/11 tragedy message does nothing to aid that process.

Also, on the more political side, I think the government and those in power purposefully want to remind us forcefully what occured in order to maintain the 'state of fear'. After all, the more one lives in fear, the more one is willing to submit to the authority that has the power to combat the source.

But back to the origonal topic, Lafayette's game vs. Princeton was postponed. The cancellation still puzzles me, considering no flights or long travel was needed. Nearly every high school in northern NJ, some within an eyeshot of NYC, still played high school games Friday and Saturday... including mine, where you could easily smell the smouldering rubble. I think playing was a more powerful healing statement than not playing.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Pard4life, I appreciate your viewpoint on this. The thesis for my piece actually will be hitting some of the notes you describe in your post - namely, is it a bigger statement to play or not play? Are the MSM overblowing things? Is it political? Do sports truly heal? Am I playing into the politics by even writing about it? All hopefully will be covered.

[JoltinJoe]

jimbo is correct that the "Liberty Cup" between Fordham and Columbia is played each year now in memory of the alumni/students of the schools lost that day.

I'd only add that among the 36 Fordham alumni lost that day were two former Fordham football players, Nick Brandemarti, '01, and Kevin Szocik,
'97.

Edit: LFN, the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia ran this news feature on the Brandemarti family's observance of the 9/11 anniversary, which someone posted on the Fordham board.

Familes Chose Different Ways to Remember 9/11 (http://cbs3.com/video/[email protected])

[JoltinJoe]

God bless those that were effected more directly than I was on that day and afterwards (the news of the health effects on those that were involved in the recovery efforts has been in the news alot lately) and to those who gave all and to those who serve for us now. Very emotional day up here right now, as I'm sure it is elsewhere.

I think that a "Responders' Compensation Fund" -- akin to the "Victims' Compensation Fund" set up after 9/11 -- needs to be established. Maybe one the celebrities involved in the establishment of the victim fund can get the ball rolling on soliciting contributions to address the health issues faced by the responders. To date, they have been ignored.

[gophoenix]

The events didn't really affect me except that I worked in a part of town for a petroleum supply company and the national guard rolled in to surround the local oil reserve (largest on the east coast).

Other than that, 9/11 is what stopp the planned first game in our new stadium.

[roberb7]

Not 1-AA, and not my team, but...

2001 was Simon Fraser's last year of four-down football; they had to switch to playing Canadian schools because all of their NAIA opponents joined the NCAA.

They had a game scheduled against Pacific Lutheran the Saturday after 9/11. I was planning on going. I have a family connection to Pacific Lutheran, but also, SFU had never beaten PLU. If I remember correctly, the record was 0-17 since SFU's founding in 1960. Since the decision to switch to three-down football the following season had already been made, this was to be SFU's last shot at PLU for a long time.

Well, the game was cancelled. Pacific Lutheran will be undefeated against Simon Fraser for a long time to come.