My Memory of September 11, 2001
I was just shy of my 28th birthday. I'd been at ESPN for 14 months. On Monday Sept. 10 I was working as a producer on ESPN Radio's GameNight show with Chuck Wilson and Chris Moore. We were covering the Giants/Broncos Monday Night game and were earnestly following Barry Bonds pursuit of Mark McGwire's home run record. At the time, I was a big wrestling fan and I had set the VCR to record Monday Night RAW each week. On Tuesday morning September 11, 2001, I awoke around 8am. I said goodbye to my wife, who was working her normal 9am to 5pm shift. I was working the 2pm - 11pm evening shift at the time. My normal routine on Tuesday's was to wake up, get a bowl of cereal and sit down and watch RAW from the night before. On this morning, I was having my breakfast, and stopped RAW to go upstairs to get something. When I came back down, NBC 30 was on and I saw the smoke in Tower 1. I didn't move from my couch for the next 4 hours. I was numb and couldn't believe what I was seeing.Reacting then was different than reacting today. There was no texting, no social media, no instantaneous reactions and thoughts from people all over the world through a mobile device. All I could do was just sit, frozen with fear and shock, watching the horrific events unfold. I finally reached out to my wife around 11am. She said they were all around TVs watching everything at her office. A little while later, I called my boss at ESPN to see what the plans were for our shows. A decision hadn't been made yet, so they asked me to come into the office until we knew what was going to happen. I arrived that day and the vibe at work was obviously one of sadness and shock. ESPN Radio made a decision (after Mike and Mike's show) to simulcast ABC News all day long. Thus, my show was cancelled and our bosses all sent us home to be with our families.I remember just wanting to be with my wife that night. Just wanting to be with the person I loved and being thankful I was able to do that after so many people in NYC were now unfortunately not able to have that same luxury. We sat on the couch, held each other and watched with sadness at everything that had transpired. I don't even remember if we spoke 3 words to each other. All we could do was embrace and try to take in this horror we were seeing.My faith was in its infancy at that time as I'd only been a christian for about 5 months and I remember constantly asking "God, how could you let this happen?" I remember seeking the bible and trying to understand that God allows us to have choices in our lives. We have the freedom to choose how we want to live. Do we choose life or death? Good or evil? Love or hate? That day, a few people chose evil. But our country stood strong and since then the majority of us have strived to overcome evil with good.I didn't know anyone who was in NYC that day but man did I feel a huge sense of loss. It was unlike any day I've ever experienced, and I'll never forget it. Today, I pray for everyone affected by 9/11. I pray for our country, our leadership, and most of all, I'm just thankful that I serve a God who is bigger than anything we experience on this earth. God Bless America!