Out of tragedy comes truth
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
September 13, 2001
6:53 PM EDT (2253 GMT)
COMMENTARY
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Marty Smith
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Here I sit, some 24 hours removed from the most heartless terrorist attack ever to reach American soil -- my eyes flooded with tears, my mind overflowing with questions, my heart brimming with possibly the deepest sorrow I’ve ever felt, my soul full of utter hatred for the despicable animals who did this -- hoping I can somehow relay a pertinent message.
Racing is my life, and often times I take it entirely too seriously. I’m sure many of you are the same. Jobs consume us, and we too often forget what really matters -- family, friends, health, happiness.
So what if I got beat on a story? So what if that driver didn’t call me back? So what if my cable bill is late? So what if my haircut sucks? So what if my love handles look exponentially larger than they really are?
I still go home to my beautiful wife every day, and she still loves me. I still call my best friends and my father every day, and they still love me. I can still get out of bed every day, rub my eyes, open the blinds to gorgeous rays of sunshine and walk to the kitchen without impairment and eat a bowl of Frosted Flakes.
For that, I am lucky. Sadly enough, it took yesterday’s tragedy for me to consciously take a step back and realize it. Likewise for most of you.
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Kenny Wallace
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“I was thinking about this earlier this morning while I was cutting my grass,” Kenny Wallace told me Wednesday afternoon. “When you’re a little kid, you’re taught to learn the national anthem and you’re taught to learn what the American flag means.
"And after all these years, I’ve always known and always very much respected it, but it’s never been put to the test. This week it was, and I truly understand it now.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think something like this could happen. I’ve always made fun of Iran and all those different types of countries, but to think it could happen here just blows me away. I know this is going to pull us all together. It makes racing seem awful small right now.”
Wallace isn’t alone in his sentiments. Much of the racing world, and entire nation, feels much the same.
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Eddie Wood
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“Somebody had heard that a plane had hit that building, so Len and I came in and turned the TV on and while we were sitting here looking at that, the second one hit,” said Eddie Wood, sounding as if he was fighting back tears. “It was kind of like watching Lee Harvey Oswald get shot.
“That’s what it reminded me of. I saw that, too. I was young, but I saw it and I remember it. You can’t tear yourself away from the TV long enough to work. It just makes what we do seem so small and insignificant.”
It certainly does. All of sport seems trivial if anything right now. Major league baseball agreed, and acted by postponing all games through Thursday. On Thursday, the NFL scrapped their weekend games. And college football officials are contemplating postponement of their contests.
Should NASCAR have done the same? Yes. I'm glad they decided to move the race until the end of the season.
“I can’t believe they’ll race, to be honest with you,” Wood said before Thursday's announcement to postpone. “I vote not to race, if my vote counts. I don’t know how they’ll do it. We have two or three people going commercial, and they all have to go through New York to get there.
“I just can’t see it. As bad as it looks on TV, you know it’s a million times worse than what we’re looking at. We don’t see what’s really going on. We’re seeing everything from a faraway camera and it’s bad enough like that. Out of respect to the people and the families, I can’t see any sports going on this weekend.”
The major issue that faced the NASCAR community, aside from the respect issue Wood spoke of, was logistics. The Winston Cup Series is already in the midst of a 20-consecutive week stretch, so they’re already tired.
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Len Wood
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Wallace said it best Wednesday.
“When something like this happens, not everybody copes well,” Wallace said. “We racers are a tough group, we carry on and we focus. Normal society cannot just act like nothing’s wrong.
"I think it’s gonna really work on everybody and could cause some people to stay away from the races this week because they don’t feel like being happy.”
I don’t feel like being happy -- not even the slightest bit. Sept. 11 (9/11) brought forth the worst 911 in American history, and our lives will never be the same.
But I can be happy. I can be happy knowing America will recover from this. I can be happy knowing that I am loved. I can be happy knowing that my days are filled with laughter and my body abounds with health.
I can be happy knowing I’m alive. Some in this country weren’t so fortunate.
Oh yes, and I can be elated knowing I’m an American. Most in this world aren’t so fortunate.
NOTE: Marty Smith is a staff writer for NASCAR.com and the opinions listed here are solely those of the writer. If you wish to provide feedback to Marty, you can do so by writing him at marty.smith@turner.com.
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