Sports serve as outlet on anniversary

CHICAGO -- The colorful NL pennants that usually fly above the Wrigley Field scoreboard were gone, replaced by a lone American flag at half-staff.\nSongs such as "Let it Be" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" played during batting practice instead of the usual bubblegum pop music. And the electronic message board carried a simple message:\n"We Shall Not Forget."\n"I first felt guilty about coming here to celebrate," fan Geraldine Mrozinski said before the Chicago Cubs' game against the Montreal Expos. "But once we got here, it seems like the perfect place to be. Here, we'll commemorate it in the proper way."\nWhile the rest of the country marked the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with solemn prayer services and speeches, the games that ordinarily entertain and amuse us became another, very different sort of memorial.\n"Sports," Cubs catcher Joe Girardi said, "is an outlet for people."\nThe Meadowlands Racetrack and Monmouth Park were closed, and Belmont Park switched its regular off day this week to Wednesday instead of Monday. But most sporting events went on just as on almost any other day, despite the government's decision to raise the United States' security alert warning to "high risk."\nSecurity was tight at afternoon baseball games, and crowds seemed smaller than usual. At Turner Field, where the Atlanta Braves played the New York Mets in a day-night doubleheader, only about 1,500 people had arrived a half-hour before the first game.\n"It's a day that we'll all remember, but you've got to get on with it," Braves outfielder Chipper Jones said. "You've got to do what you do. And that's what we're doing. Twice."\nBut the day's serious tone was never far away.\nBefore the Dodgers-Giants game at Pac Bell Park, there was a tribute on the big screen on the center-field scoreboard reading "9.11.01 We will never forget," with a series of black-and-white photos from the events of one year ago.\nInstead of a ceremonial first pitch, the ball was placed on the mound by a man whose father died in the attacks. Members of the San Francisco Fire Department tossed wreaths of white flowers into McCovey Cove from a fireboat outside the park.\nAt the Pirates-Reds game, the first pitch was thrown out by 14-year-old Andy Moskal, whose father, William, was killed at the World Trade Center.\nFans at all games were given a T-shirt with an emblem featuring a red, white and blue ribbon, the major league baseball logo and the words "We Shall Not Forget." That same emblem was displayed on the outfield fences, the bases and the lineup cards.\nThere was to be a moment of silence at 9:11 p.m. local time at all night games, with a videotape in memory of those who died in the attacks. During afternoon games, the moment of silence and video came during the seventh-inning stretch.\n"We're here to play baseball, we're here to entertain and we're here to hopefully help people heal," San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker said.\nA U.S. flag flown at the World Trade Center a year ago was raised outside Lambeau Field. At the U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., seven white balloons floated into a gray sky as 100 athletes and officials surrounded the Olympic flame.\nThere were similar observances throughout the world. English horse racing held a minute of silence at Doncaster, Epsom and Hereford, and jockeys wore black armbands.\nAt Hereford, there was a three-minute ceremony of prayers and silence as the entire day's racing was dedicated to the bond-trading firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost two-thirds of its New York employees in the World Trade Center.\nRecord-holding jump jockey Tony McCoy donated his riding fees and prize money to the Cantor Fitzgerald UK relief fund, which was set up to support families of the 658 Cantor Fitzgerald employees who died.\nIn central England, officials observed silence at the Rockingham Speedway -- site of CART'S Rockingham 500 on Saturday -- beside an oak tree planted in memory of the Sept. 11 victims.\nCyclists in the Tour of Spain observed a moment of silence before Wednesday's fifth stage. The U.S. national anthem played while the flags of the United States, Spain and the European Union were raised -- all marked with black sashes.\n"Certainly it's solemn," said Chris Argall, who was at the Cubs' game with his wife. "It's sad to think about what happened a year ago, but it's time to move on. The time of grieving is over."\nBut not all fans and athletes were convinced that being at a game was the right thing to do.\n"I'm sure some of us would like to be playing and some of us wouldn't want to be playing. It all depends on everybody's own opinion of today's date," said Mets reliever John Franco, who stacked medical supplies at Shea Stadium after the attacks.\n"I would prefer not to, just to pay tribute to everyone."\nCubs second baseman Bobby Hill remembers being at the San Francisco airport last year, waiting for a flight to Chicago. Hill left the airport and walked a half-hour to meet his sister.\nIt was months before he got on an airplane again.\nHill can see why the games needed to be played Wednesday.\n"We helped get everyone going again last year. People were happy to see us playing," he said. "For that reason, I'm kind of glad to play."\nOne thing is changing at all venues.\nTransportation Security Administration decided to forbid aircraft, including blimps, from flying over sporting events as soon as the Federal Aviation Administration notifies pilots of the directive, said agency spokesman Robert Johnson. The prohibition will stay in effect as long as the nationwide terror alert remains at its second highest level.