How Long It's Been: Everything Stopped for At Least a Week

September 13, 2001

It's been a while since I posted. Mainly because hardly anything is happening in sports. The coronavirus has put pretty much everything on hold, and we won't even know for how long for a while yet.

World War II resulted in travel restrictions, which hurt sports a little, but not a lot of sports cancellations -- at least, not in this country.

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy led to people staying home and doing nothing but watch the TV coverage of the funeral proceedings for 4 days -- but there were still NFL games played that Sunday.

The closest parallel is to the 9/11 attacks. Everything, from sports to the New York Stock Exchange, was shut down from Tuesday morning, September 11 until Monday morning, September 17. Some things for a little longer.

This will be longer than that. Much longer. It's looking like it will be at least a month. It may be 2 months. It may be longer than that. We just don't know.

What was it like during that weeklong shutdown after 9/11? How does it compare with now? And how much has the world changed in the 18 years and 6 months since?

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We didn't know how bad it would be. The front page of the New York Daily News on September 13, suggested 10,000 people had died. It was quickly revised to 5,000, and then, when records were checked to see who was in the Twin Towers and hadn't been found alive, and checking against duplicate entries, down to 3,000, still the worst one-day loss of life on American soil since the American Civil War.

This time, the loss of life is likely to be far worse. As of this writing, on the evening of March 15, 2020, there have been 1,629 people confirmed to have the disease, and 64 of them have died. But it will go way up. Hundreds. Thousands. Perhaps millions. We can only guess at this point. And that would have a deeper effect on our national psyche than the all-at-once blow that the 9/11 attacks were.

On 9/11, people whose loved ones hadn't yet been found pretty much knew that those people were dead. Many people were missing for only the 1st day and later found alive, but anybody still missing as the sun rose on September 12 wasn't going to be found alive. (As far as I know, nobody has yet been proven to have used the attack as a convenient way to fake their death and run off with money or an illicit affair.) That time, as Yogi Berra might have said if he'd become an investigator instead of a baseball player, even within the uncertainty, there was certainty.

In addition, we don't have the particulars as to who is going to die. We have already seen some prominent people stricken, including husband-and-wife actors Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, and the current Mayor of Miami, Francis X. Suarez. But there is, as yet, no indication that any famous person will die from it. Surely, some will.

Among the notable people who died as a result of the 9/11 attacks were television producer David Angell, conservative TV legal analyst Barbara Olson, and hockey player turned scout Garnet "Ace" Bailey. (No relation to the old-time hockey star Irvine "Ace" Bailey.)

In this current crisis, we're addicted to our TV sets, our smartphones, the Internet. In 2001, smartphones were few and far between, a lot of us still hadn't really figured out the Internet, and for those of us in the New York Tri-State Area who still didn't have cable TV, WCBS-Channel 2 was the only station we had left. They still had their antenna on top of the Empire State Building. Everybody else had theirs on top of 1 World Trade Center. So we had one channel, and the same damn thing on, for an entire week.

And that's all we watched: Images of the carnage, updates from police and fire department leaders, politicians making statements, pundits speculating about America's response to al-Qaeda and its allies. The parallel to the 4 days after the JFK assassination was made.

But distractions were few. No sports. No regular TV programming. At least now, we still have new TV content, although some production is being shut down. We won't see the effects of that for a few weeks. If life otherwise returns to normal in, say, 2 months, it'll be like an extended TV Summer, or maybe a writers' strike, as happened to shorten the TV season a few years back.

The sports that were frozen were different. The Houston Astros were still in the National League, on their way to winning its Central Division for the 4th time in 5 years, and no one was accusing them of cheating. The San Francisco Giants had not won the World Series in 47 years, the Boston Red Sox in 83, the Chicago White Sox in 84, and the Chicago Cubs in 93. The Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the team now known as the Los Angeles Angels had never won a World Series. The Astros, D-backs, the Angels, the Colorado Rockies, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers had never even been in one.

The New England Patriots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints, the Seattle Seahawks had never won a Super Bowl. The Bucs, Saints, the 'Hawks, the Carolina Panthers had never even been in one. The Philadelphia Eagles had won NFL Championship Games, but not a Super Bowl. The Arizona Cardinals hadn't been in an NFL Championship Game in 54 years, and that was 2 cities ago. The Colts had won a Super Bowl, but not since moving from Baltimore to Indianapolis.

The Miami Heat, the Dallas Mavericks, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors had not yet won an NBA Championship. The Heat, the Mavs, the Cavs and the Raps had not even reached the NBA Finals. The New Jersey Nets had won ABA Championships, but had not yet reached the NBA Finals.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings, the Washington Capitals and the St. Louis Blues had not yet won the Stanley Cup. The Lightning, the 'Canes, the Ducks, the new Ottawa Senators, the San Jose Sharks, and the Nashville Predators had not even reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Montreal Expos had not yet become the Washington Nationals. The St. Louis Rams and the San Diego Chargers had not yet moved back to Los Angeles. The Oakland Raiders had not yet moved to Las Vegas. The Houston Texans had not yet begun play.

The Nets had not yet moved to Brooklyn. The Vancouver Grizzlies were in the process of moving to Memphis. The Seattle SuperSonics had not yet become the Oklahoma City Thunder. The original Charlotte Hornets had not yet become the New Orleans Hornets or the New Orleans Pelicans. The Charlotte Bobcats had not yet begun play, nor become the new Charlotte Hornets. The Atlanta Thrashers had not yet become the new Winnipeg Jets. The Vegas Golden Knights had not yet begun play.

There were 11 MLB teams, 17 NFL teams (more than half), 13 NBA teams and 7 NHL teams that have since moved into new venues. Every New York Tri-State Area sports team except the Knicks and the Rangers has done so.

The holders of the World Championships were the Yankees, the Baltimore Ravens, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Colorado Avalanche. That's a lot of purple. Lennox Lewis was the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World -- and remains the last man to be so. Manchester United held the Premier League title, Liverpool the FA Cup, and Bayern Munich the UEFA Champions League.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America, Greece, Italy, China, Canada, Britain, Russia, Brazil and Korea. The World Cup has since been held in Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.

David Ortiz was a mildly interesting slugger for the Minnesota Twins. Tom Brady had thrown exactly 3 passes in regular-season NFL games, completing 1. Drew Brees and Eli Manning were still in college. Aaron Rodgers, LeBron James and Megan Rapinoe were in high school.

Cristiano Ronaldo was 16 years old. Lionel Messi and Sidney Crosby were 14. Colin Kaepernick, Steph Curry, Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg were 13. Kevin Durant was about to turn 13. Mesut Ozil, Alex Morgan, Patrick Kane, James Harden were 12. Jose Altuve and Mike Trout were 11. Kawhi Leonard was 10. Aaron Judge was 9. Mookie Betts and Bryce Harper were about to turn 9. Paul Pogba was 8. Giannis Antetokounmpo was 6. Patrick Mahomes was about to turn 6. Gleyber Torres, Connor McDavid, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson and Sam Darnold were 4. Christian Pulisic was about to turn 3. Nico Hischier and Kylian Mbappe were 2. Zion Williamson was 1. Jack Hughes was 4 months old.

What were the current managers and head coached of the Tri-State Area teams doing then? Barry Trotz of the Islanders was the head coach of the Nashville Predators. Adam Gase of the Jets was an assistant coach at Louisiana State University. Mike Miller of the Knicks was an assistant coach at Kansas State University. David Quinn of the Rangers was an assistant coach at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Aaron Boone of the Yankees was playing for the Cincinnati Reds. Jacque Vaughn of the Nets was about to start playing for the Atlanta Hawks. Chris Armas of the Red Bulls was playing for the Chicago Fire. Ronny Deila of NYCFC was playing for Odds Ballklubb in Skien, Norway. Luis Rojas of the Mets was playing in the farm system of the team now known as the Miami Marlins. Alain Nasreddine of the Devils was playing for the minor-league Hamilton Bulldogs. Joe Judge of the Giants was playing at Mississippi State University. And Walt Hopkins of the Liberty was in high school in Sparks, Nevada.

The idea that two people of the same gender could legally be married, and have all the legal benefits of marriage, was considered ridiculous. But then, so was the idea that corporations were "people," and entitled to the rights thereof.

George W. Bush had been "President" for less than 8 months, and the idea that his time in the White House would be dominated by terrorism would have been considered ridiculous. Indeed, while many Americans had heard of Osama bin Laden, few had heard of his organization, al-Qaeda.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, and their wives, were all still alive. Barack Obama was a State Senator in Illinois. Hillary Clinton was in her 1st year in the U.S. Senate from New York. Donald Trump was about to open the 72-story Trump World Tower, then the tallest all-residential structure on Earth. Derek Jeter would be one of its tenants, although he would later move out.

The Governor of New York was George Pataki. The Mayor of New York City was Rudy Giuliani, and running to replace him were a dedicated Democratic public servant, Mark Green, and a playboy Republican billionaire, Michael Bloomberg.

The Governor of New Jersey was Donald DiFrancesco, filling in the expired term of Christine Todd Whitman, whom Bush had appointed Director of the Environmental Protection Agency. (And Republicans wondered why we called Bush "stupid.") Running to replace DiFrancesco were former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler, who was so conservative he made the new "president" look like George McGovern; and Woodbridge Mayor and former State Senator Jim McGreevey, who seemed very popular with the ladies, and he seemed to reciprocate their feelings. If we only knew...

There were still living veterans of World War I, the Mexican Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution, and the Baltic and Irish Wars of Independence. There were still living survivors of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the General Slocum fire of 1904, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and the sinkings of the Titanic in 1912 and the Lusitania in 1915.

The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, had just been named Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The Prime Minister of Canada was Jean Chretien. The Prime Minister of Britain was Tony Blair. The British monarch was Queen Elizabeth II. (That hasn't changed.) The holder of the Nobel Peace Prize was Kim Dae-jung, then the President of South Korea. There have since been 3 Presidents of the United States, 5 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.

Major novels of 2001, later turned into movies, included John le Carre's The Constant Gardener, Ian McEwan's Atonement, and Yann Martel's Life of Pi. There were, as yet, only 4 Harry Potter books, and only 3 installments of A Song of Ice and Fire. The 1st Harry Potter film would not debut until November, and no one had yet tried to turn ASOIAF into a TV series or a film.

Major films of the late Summer and early Autumn of 2001 included Original Sin, The Princess Diaries, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jeepers Creepers, The Musketeer, Rock Star, Zoolander, Mariah Carey's Glitter (a film considered so bad it was nicknamed "Flashdunce"), a high school reworking of William Shakespeare's Othello titled O, and the baseball film Summer Catch. Some of these films' box office would be hurt due to their release close to September 11.

Television shows that had recently aired their final first-run episodes included Nash Bridges, Diagnosis Murder, Baywatch, Walker, Texas Ranger, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Moesha, Xena: Warrior Princess, Star Trek: Voyager, Moesha, and, after 33 years, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Also, Seven Days, whose "Go back a week in time to prevent a horrible occurrence" premise would have been cruel to maintain in the time after 9/11.

Recently debuted were My Wife and Kids, The Weakest Link, Trailer Park Boys, Six Feet Under, Witchblade, and The Amazing Race. However, some shows saw the attacks stop -- or, if premiering afterward, prevent -- their momentum, including the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise and the Bonanza tribute Ponderosa. This also applied to Kim Delaney's post-NYPD Blue legal drama Philly, and the superhero spoof The Tick.

On the other hand, some new shows did just fine, possibly due to their premise, including the Superman reworking Smallville, with its theme song "Save Me" by Remy Zero; spy series Alias and 24; law-enforcement dramas Crossing Jordan and Law & Order: Criminal Intent; and the sitcoms Scrubs, According to Jim, Reba and The Bernie Mac Show.

On Smallville, Tom Welling was soon to debut as Clark Kent -- but not as Superman. George Clooney's disastrous appearance in Batman and Robin was still the most recent version of the Caped Crusader. Tobey Maguire was filming his 1st appearance as Spider-Man, and Pierce Brosnan his last as James Bond. Paul McGann's one-shot was the most recent version of Doctor Who.

No one had yet heard of Omar Little, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Bluth, Rick Grimes, Wynonna Earp, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan, Michael Scott, Don Draper, Katniss Everdeen, Walter White, Jax Tller, Richard Castle, Leslie Knope or Sarah Manning.

Khloe Kardashian, Rob Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington were in high school. Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, Rihanna and Emma Stone were in junior high. Louis Tomlinson was 9; Jack Gleeson, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj and Zayn Malik were 8; Ariana Grande, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Justin Bieber were 7; Kendall Jenner, Sophie Turner and Abigail Breslin were 5; Maisie Williams was 4; Kylie Jenner was 3.

The Number 1 song in America was "I'm Real (Murder Remix)," by Jennifer Lopez, featuring Ja Rule. It replaced "Fallin'," a spectacular debut single for Alicia Keys, whose title (if not subject matter) became problematic after the Towers fell.

The last big event in New York before the attacks was a tribute concert for Michael Jackson at Madison Square Garden. The next big event in New York after them was The Concert for New York City, which included ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who, Elton John, David Bowie, Eric Clapton... and Billy Joel, who showed up drunk, saw all these British rock legends, and said, "What's with all the teacups? Where are all the Americans?"

There were plenty of Americans, including James Taylor, John Mellencamp, Bon Jovi, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, and Backstreet Boys. Bruce Springsteen didn't show up, but Melissa Etheridge played "Born to Run" and her own "Come to My Window" -- and, both times, her microphone cut out, but the entire crowd sang along anyway.

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $1.45 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 34 cents, and a New York Subway ride $1.50. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.53, a cup of coffee $2.02, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $5.57, a movie ticket $5.66, a new car $21,478, and a new house $207,800.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day before the attacks at 9,605.51. When the market reopened on 9/17, it understandably had what was then its biggest one-day point drop, to 8920.70.

The tallest buildings in the world were another set of "twin towers," the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The world's 1st self-contained artificial heart had recently been implanted, but the patient lived only 5 months. Most people now had mobile telephones, but not yet smartphones. Wikipedia, the iPod and the Xbox all debuted that year, before the attacks. However, there was, as yet, no Skype, no Facebook, no YouTube, no Twitter, no Wii, no Tumblr, no iPhone, no Pinterest, no Instagram, and no iPad.

Baseball and football resumed 1 week after the attacks. Yankee Fans claim that the team's 2001 postseason run, with its stunning home runs leading to a World Series Game 7 heartbreak, lifted the New York Tri-State Area up out of its grief. Met fans claim that their 1st game back, with a game-winning (but not walkoff) home run by Mike Piazza over their "arch-rivals," the Atlanta Braves. meant more. Met fans are, frequently, not very smart.

In the weeks leading up to the attacks, there were racist riots in Bradford, Yorkshire, England. A G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy was interrupted by anti-globalization protesters. A Palestinian terrorist killed 15 people at a Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem. Terrorists killed 252 people on a train in Angola. Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, deposed as the last Tsar of Bulgaria as a child, became the 1st former monarch ever to be elected by the people of his former country as their head of government. He served one term, and left of his own accord.

In America, Congressman Gary Condit, Democrat of California, was questioned in the murder of Chandra Levy, a former aide of his. He was cleared, but the scandal cost him his re-election the next year, and the murder remains unsolved. Roy Moore, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Alabama, erected a monmuent to the Ten Commandments outside the Court building, apparently ignoring his own violations thereof, not to mention the monument's violation of the 1st Amendment. The federal government dropped its antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft. And singer Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas. These are the things we considered to be important before the 9/11 attacks.

In the weeks after them, terrorists took advantage of the fear the nation was feeling to mail letters laced with anthrax to members of Congress and media outlets. America attacked Afghanistan, for protecting bin Laden, beginning the War On Terror. President Bush established the Office of Homeland Security, and signed the overreaching USA Patriot Act.

Dorothy McGuire, and Isaac Stern, and former Arsenal manager Bertie Mee died. Kaia Gerber (model and lookalike daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford), and LaMelo Ball, and Bukayo Saka were born.

September 11, 2001. As Franklin Roosevelt said of another day 60 years earlier, a date which lives in infamy. And the last time the whole world, including the world of sports, seemed to stop for several days.

It lasted about a week. The coronavirus has already "stopped the world" for longer than that. For how much longer? For now, we have no idea.