By Charlie Leffler
When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon last Tuesday morning, the effects were felt by every person in the world. While many people around the country could gradually go back to their daily routine, this was not so for athletes. Due to the large number of fans that athletics draws, the sports world could now be considered a target for further terrorist attacks.
As a result, athletic competitions around the country were put on hold for the week, leaving athletes in a state of limbo. The situation left athletes with nothing to do but practice and continually hope that everything would eventually return to normal. Some were left with time to contemplate friends and family members who were close to the events.
When the football team’s game at Illinois was canceled Head Coach John L. Smith attempted to suppress his anger over the terrorist attacks and how we should react to them. “We let a few people… you don’t want me talking about that,” Smith fought down his anger.
“I learned as a young player that when you get hit in the gut and go down on the field you’d better climb your way off,” Smith said. “Don’t let them know that you’ve been hurt.”
Smith pointed out why he thought the games should still be played. “I see us getting back to normality,” Smith said. “Don’t let somebody bring us to our knees. ÔHey we hurt them.’ That’s exactly what they’re looking for isn’t it? You know, Ôwe got them to shut down the whole country.'”
Since next week was already a bye week for the football team, Smith was faced with the prospect of having three weeks straight without a game. Like the rest of the country Smith was at a loss as far as the future. “We can’t do anything about it other than just go on,” Smith said. But the reactions were not merely reserved for the football team. Cross country runner Billy Riggs is a graduate student and involved with Urban Planning. He had a cousin that worked in the World Trade Center who happened to stay home that morning.
“That was probably the most sobering event that’s occurred to me in my lifetime,” Riggs said. “I don’t want there to be any rash reactions on behalf of our leadership and our country. It’s a cycle of bigotry and hate that I don’t want to continue. I want to make sure that we aren’t being just as aggressive in the form of reverse terrorism. People are so emotionally tied to all of this, it’s hard to be rational and take the right step. We have some tough choices ahead of us.”
“To call all this a tragedy is really an understatement,” women’s head tennis coach Meg Peavy commented. “As a coach, I also need to be a counselor for the girls and help them keep things as normal as possible while allowing them to express themselves.”
“It was all so shocking,” junior Melisa San Martin, the captain of the women’s tennis team, said. “We shouldn’t lose perspective now of what’s really important, and I think that we’ll all become stronger and more united through this tragedy.”
Even though there have been no reports of any athletes suffering a loss in the terrorist attack, one coach has been drastically effected. The Courier-Journal reported that U of L men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino’s brother-in-law, Billy Minardi, worked on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower. Minardi is the brother of Joanna Pitino, Rick’s wife, and the coach’s best friend. After Pitino was unable to reach Minardi, he and his wife drove to New York.
On Thursday a false report was released on the Internet that Minardi had been found. He was reported to be alive but in critical condition in a local hospital. The story was not true and only served to upset the Pitino family further. As of this date, there has still been no word on Minardi.
The football game with Illinois has since been rescheduled for this Saturday, September 22. At press time, no time had been set for the game.
Additional quotes provided by Marian Hambrick and PK Bartley.
