Columnist Dean Juipe: Sports play key role in our psyche

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002 | 9:54 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

At times it gets a little syrupy, of course, all this rehashing and analysis of what happened to America a year ago today.

There's a tendency to overstate the obvious, or, conversely, to dwell not so much on the lives affected or lost but on impertinent minutia. Many an honest attempt to convey a story or a personal account of the disaster and its endless repercussions winds up sidetracked on a spur that lacks a definable destination.

But there's no understating the critical role sports, as a collective entity, has played in the country's healing process and in accessing its strength of character.

Maybe it's a credit to the power of group therapy, but sports bring people together and provide a bonding not regularly available elsewhere. Perhaps, to some extent, this is the basis not so much for their very existence but for their unshakeable hold on our psyche.

It's especially evident this week, with seemingly every sporting event being preceded by a moment of silent reflection. If these games were not scheduled ... if we lived in a land where organized sports were on a perpetual hiatus ... a therapeutic mechanism would be lost and a reconciliation only further delayed.

Sports, by their incredible appeal, present an opportunity to meet your neighbor and share a portion of the fabric that binds the country arguably more than any regularly scheduled church or social function or spontaneous gathering. While it's oftentimes better to leave religion or even politics out of any office discussion, sports are always there on open display and any man's opinion is respectfully treated the same as any other's.

A nation's freedom can be measured by its relationship with sports. When an Iranian and an Israeli teamed, as unlikely as it seemed, to play professional doubles tennis on the international stage this year, those in power in Iran threatened to penalize their constituent while those in Israel -- and elsewhere where free choice is treasured -- embraced the improbable union.

America paused a year ago this week and by and large put its fascination with sports on temporary hold. But within a very few days the moratorium was lifted and the games returned, reminding not only us but everyone on the planet that we are neither easily beaten nor easily swayed.

Had Major League Baseball or the National Football League canceled their seasons last Sept. 11 as opposed to rescheduling only a few games, chances are we would not feel as secure in this insecure world as we do today. But the games resumed with only limited intrusions -- who can quibble at having your backpack inspected as you enter a stadium? -- and with them came a sense of normalcy.

Within that context we are aware that massive stadiums loaded with thousands of people might be seen as an inviting target for the next terrorist attack, of which there may be a certain inevitability. Yet the numbers show few if any of us avoiding such places solely on account of terroristic fears.

We continue to embrace sports not out of defiance, but, in all likelihood, a passionate need. Even in the troubled times that signify this era and maybe all others to follow, the breadth and popularity of sports, as much as anything else in this country, truly identifies who we are.