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The American flag is draped across the field for the national anthem before the game against the Houston Roughnecks on March 1, 2020, at Globe Life Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n
File photo \/ The Shorthorn staff<\/p>\n
Sports are seemingly tied hand in hand with the story of Sept. 11, 2001.<\/p>\n
Some who worked in the World Trade Center who weren\u2019t at work that Tuesday said they were running behind, having gone to bed late after watching the New York Giants play on Monday Night Football. <\/p>\n
After the attacks, the New York Yankees and Mets sported hats honoring first responders as greats like Derek Jeter and Mike Piazza helped heal a hurting nation by doing their jobs amid uncertainty about safety. <\/p>\n
For many, their first time being checked by a security team was while entering a sporting event, a response by athletic organizations to the possibility of further terrorism. <\/p>\n
Twenty-five years later, UTA head coaches reflected on the tragedy. <\/p>\n
Shereka Wright, women\u2019s basketball head coach <\/p>\n
In the fall of 2001, Wright was a sophomore playing basketball at Purdue University. The semester before, Purdue made it to the national championship, and Wright was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team as a freshman. <\/p>\n
On that Tuesday morning, while Purdue was still preparing for the season, Wright walked into her political science class and witnessed the attacks. <\/p>\n
\u201cI remember hearing a lot of other students saying, \u2018Oh my goodness, what has just happened?\u2019 and didn’t really know anything until I actually walked into class and we had the TVs on,\u201d Wright said. \u201cAll you can see is buildings and fire and people running for their lives and just in disbelief of what was happening.\u201d <\/p>\n
She said any player who had family in the area was told to reach out to their loved ones and make sure they were safe. There were worries about coaches whose recruiting trails went through the northeast. Wright didn\u2019t say anyone on the team was personally affected, but she said she does remember being shaken. <\/p>\n
The attack came against a country her father made a career out of helping defend. Walter Wright was a retired command sergeant major in the U.S. Army and led an ROTC program in St. Louis. She went to high school in Copperas Cove, Texas, because her father was stationed at Fort Hood. <\/p>\n
Shereka Wright said that as the moment\u2019s significance dawned on her with each new piece of information, she reflected on the importance of talking to loved ones, just in case the day comes when they don\u2019t return to be greeted again. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s what really humbled us as a country,\u201d Wright said. \u201cDid we check on our loved ones? Did we say goodbye? You can lose somebody at that very moment that you didn’t probably even expect, or if a conversation happens because you’re mad at somebody, you just never know that that may be the last time that you see someone.\u201d <\/p>\n
John Sauerhage, UTA cross-country head coach <\/p>\n
It was just a few days after the UTA Movin’ Mavs Cross Country Challenge, a cross-country meet at Vandergriff Park. The Maverick men had a fourth-place team finish, while the women had a runner finish fourth. <\/p>\n
Sauerhage and the team had their usual early-morning practice that Tuesday. The coach, at that point in his seventh season leading UTA\u2019s running programs, went home and made breakfast. <\/p>\n
As he stirred his scrambled eggs, Sauerhage was watching NBC\u2019s \u201cToday\u201d show, where he witnessed the unthinkable. As the crew discussed the first plane, the second one came on-screen and proved everyone\u2019s worst fear. <\/p>\n
\u201cAll hell broke loose, basically, and then I was just glued to the TV, almost like a \u2018you drop your coffee mug\u2019 type deal,\u201d Sauerhage said. <\/p>\n
Sauerhage said he then witnessed as everything turned from discussion about the difficulty of getting those still in the towers out to the worst-case scenario for those still trapped when the buildings fell. Then came the news from the Pentagon. And then from Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n
The absence of air traffic over Arlington that day was jarring, he said. The planes that were always coming through the city to either land at or leave the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport were nowhere to be seen after the American airspace closed and all flights were grounded. <\/p>\n
The cross-country team didn\u2019t compete or practice for the rest of the week. They would meet two days after the tragedy. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe all said a prayer. We talked about if you need to go see somebody, talk to somebody, do that. But this, it was very guarded reassurance to the student athletes that we’re going to try and move forward,\u201d Sauerhage said. \u201cWe’re going to try our best to not let terrorism take over our daily lives. We’re going to go about our business.\u201d <\/p>\n
Although he found it more convenient to meet recruits at the airport gate instead of baggage claim, Sauerhage said he\u2019s thankful for the heightened security. <\/p>\n
\u201cDon’t take anything for granted. Life’s short,\u201d Sauerhage said. \u201cBe a little suspicious of things, and yet don’t let it change how you go about your life. But keep your ears and eyes open on things. Just be a little more aware of your surroundings.\u201d <\/p>\n
@TyRoland06<\/p>\n