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| Play Ball |
| Feeling hopeful in an unlikely place |
| The 2001 World Series was a healing time for Americans because it allowed people to share a moment filled with hope each evening right before the game. Each evening the traditional singing of the National Anthem was accompanied by hundreds of banners in the stands with U.S. flags and patriotic slogans. More and more people drew near their TV sets to observe the National Anthem ceremony with a renewed spirit of reverence and relevance because word was getting around. Every night the last line of our National Anthem was punctuated with a fly-in to his trainer's padded wrist by a Bald Eagle named Challenger. "For the land of the free, and the home of the brave" Night after night we knew what was about to happen as we sang that line, and the stands erupted in an escalating roar. The camera swung to the other end of the stadium and focused on a beautiful winged picture of flying determination making this way toward his trainer. Flapping his 84-inch wings, effortlessly pulling on the wind, taking in everything left and right, but destined for the spot to where he was directed, was Challenger, our national symbol. After landing on the protected left arm and swallowing a bite of fish, Challenger slowly looked left and right and then directly into the camera with the pinched and focused stare of George Patton himself. He extended and shook one wing and then the other, and then placed them slowly but solidly behind his back like a tensed and ready warrior standing at "Parade Rest." This made us feel incredibly good. My fellow bird watchers agree that their greatest thrill is to observe a Bald Eagle approaching along a mountain ridge. You can recognize him two or three miles away by his size, by his slow flapping and by his absolutely flat wing pattern while gliding. It always stops and changes you somehow to have witnessed such combined power and grace. And then ... to see a Bald Eagle stop and change a World Series game night after night is awe inspiring, especially when you understand the character of the bird. The only known bird unafraid to fly in a storm, his spirit is our spirit. This bird watcher and Viet Nam Era veteran is reassured to see him and the response he draws from Americans. As long as we maintain that kind of spirit, I am convinced we will always be okay. And any bird who can make a whole stadium full of die-hard New York Yankee fans forget about baseball for even one minute deserves to be ... National Bird! |
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