As America Grieved, Sports Helped Console a Nation
Since the special exhibition “Comeback Season: Sports After 9/11” opened at the 9/11 Memorial Museum in June, museum visitors have gotten a chance to revisit the unifying power of sports in the days, weeks and months following the 9/11 attacks.
Major cultural moments such as Mets catcher Mike Piazza’s homerun during the first major sporting event held in New York City following the attacks are represented in the exhibition but are not the sole focus of “Comeback Season.” The exhibition also highlights moving artifacts found in the rubble of the Twin Towers or donated by family members.
The New York Times noted this blend of popular and personal stories that permeate the exhibition in a review of “Comeback Season.”
“But what makes ‘Comeback Season’ most compelling are not the easy-to-recall moments, but stories of lesser renown, like the miniature football that was recovered at the World Trade Center,” said The New York Times. “You can’t help but wonder if it was being tossed around by colleagues that morning before their workday began.”
Praising the juxtaposition of moments big and small, writer Richard Sandomir noted that “‘Comeback Season’ uses its massive space and muted lighting to simultaneously convey grand scale and intimacy, and to reinforce its sophisticated blend of broad and personal storytelling.”
Read more of the review here.
By 9/11 Memorial Staff
During the early morning hours of Aug. 7, 1974, 24-year-old French high-wire artist Philippe Petit took his position at 1,350 feet above ground on the edge of the South Tower. High above the streets of New York, Petit began the 131-foot walk between the Twin Towers with no net.
Hailing from Maspeth, N.Y., FDNY Lt. Kenneth (“Kenny”) John Phelan was true to his Queens roots, especially when it came to his unwavering loyalty to the borough’s beloved baseball underdogs, the Mets. His mother Helene recalls how at age five, her son once wore a New York Mets uniform – day and night – for a week straight.