Samples: National anthem at Bruins game helps Boston, nation heal
By CHUCK SAMPLES
ISL Correspondent
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ISL Correspondent
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Boston is healing.
Yes, I know, I can’t say that with any legitimacy whatsoever. But it sure looked like it if you saw the pregame activities of the Bruins-Sabres hockey game last night.
Something unprecedented happened, and it didn’t take long to develop. Before the second stanza of the national anthem was halfway through, over 16,000 New Englanders were in full throat, urged on by the singer, quickly drowning out his voice in a collective surge of emotion the likes of which you rarely see.
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Look back at how American sporting events have framed large-scale world events over the past 15 years. There was almost a split prevailing mood immediately after 9/11, with a somber, borderline hesitance to proceed the baseball season juxtaposed against an almost patriotic defiance for the football games that followed.
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The mood after Osama bin Laden’s death? Pure, unadulterated exultation. Last night at TD Ameritrade was different. It was, at once, equal and indistinguishable amounts of reverence, passion, patriotism, anger…and hope.
It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. And it is a classic example of why people who dismiss the curative effects of sports need to take a step back and observe how a team or individual can rally an entire city, a region, or even a nation.
No location should go through what Boston did Monday, but let’s not forget that these atrocities happen elsewhere across the globe.
Regardless, justice will prevail. And in this case, Boston will heal.
