I don't usually get caught up in all the typical nonsense that surrounds these 9/11 tributes that are done every year. However, this year, because of certain circumstances and controversies that have unnecessarily overshadowed the day, and because 9/11 falls on a pretty loaded sports Saturday this year, I'll simply say this:
As someone who witnessed the second plane explode out of the back of Tower Two from 6th Avenue and 18th Street in New York; as someone who had to fight through mobs of people covered in white ash; as someone who smelled smoke from the burning towers in his apartment for over a week; as someone who remembers the day after the attacks, walking through Manhattan and watching bicyclists riding through the eerily deserted streets wearing gas masks to protect them from the asbestos in the air, it is my personal feeling that the best tribute anyone can give is not raising a flag on 9/11 day. It's not singing the National Anthem louder, or tying ribbons to your mailbox. It certainly is not burning books, changing the logos on your football helmets, or having a long moment of silence.
The best tribute one can give is to, quite simply, not be afraid.
Enjoy your sports Saturday, and Go Colts!