Wiffle ball cannot be cancelled

by Paul Shugar
Staff Writer

Sunday is here and no football. The calm silence of a football Sunday has been replaced by the hum of lawn mowers and the sound of water bouncing off the hoods as people wash their cars. Reflection in heavy doses is on the menu today, not Doritos.

There is no baseball either - minor league and exhibition games for other leagues are off. A tragedy that was unlike any the world has ever seen had occurred. Sports should be like any of Osama bin Laden's future vacation plans to America - canceled.

But as an American, you cannot help but feel a bit cheated. This country is great because of those simple things that often go under-appreciated. We have the privilege to sit on our couch all day Sunday cheering for a bunch of men tackling each other for a small, strangely shaped ball.

There are a lot more productive things to do with your time. The model stealth bomber is still mad about not getting completely built in eighth grade. I actually thought the Packers might be tuned in every Sunday.

The world does not need sports to distract us from the evil of the world. The world needs sports to remind us how good the world can be. A world where you can spend every weekend or every night watching your favorite team making memories.

I once heard a great sports reporter say we are in the art of making memories. That's what sports are about. Sports are something extra in your life to put a smile on your face. The world is in desperate need of that now more than ever.

Out of respect, sports had to take a day off, but other happier parts of life did not. Memories can be made with just two things - a Wiffle ball bat and a Nerf ball. It is fortunate that boredom often can lead people to Kmart where there are shelves of cheaply priced goodies to fill a day.

During a trip with a roommate, we found ourselves outside playing makeshift home run derby with other friends. Smiles were everywhere despite the after-effects everyone felt that were caused by the tragedy.

Whether it's watching an old ball player show how much he's still got his curve or how now he has too much curve, laughs and jokes fill the air when people chase balls or point the bat toward the bleachers (Lancaster Street).

With every connection, the oversized Wiffle bat sends the ball sailing almost as far away as the tragedy feels. Wiffle ball, like this tragedy, brings people together. We finally got to meet a couple of our neighbors when we explained their house was safe because we were using a Nerf ball.

The world, however, is no longer safe. When the game is over, or when you lose the ball in the high grass, you are going to have to go back inside to CNN and the reality that is our world. But for one fleeting moment the world seems to be innocent again.

Terrorists can disrupt the world, but they cannot stop the small things no matter how much they think they have turned America upside down. I just hope there is always a Wiffle bat out there in the world to help us remember that.

••-Shugar is a junior journalism major who makes sense of the world and this tragedy by shooting quite a few foul shots. E-mail him at azucar2442@hotmail.com. ••