9/11 clearly the worst American tragedy

By Chris Sweigart

It doesn’t take Albert Einstein to determine the worst tragedy in the history of the United States. You remember where you were when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers and Pentagon. That day, known forever as 9/11, seems like yesterday.

The events of that morning delivered a double whammy. First, thousands of lives were lost. That’s bad enough. Second, the world as we know it changed. The War on Terror began and America’s witch hunt for 9/11’s masterminds began. Since then, thousands more have died overseas defending freedom.

Certainly, if 9/11 never happened, our world would be much different.

Here’s how I’ll round out the rest of the top five:

2) Pearl Harbor—The original 9/11, except this one didn’t involve commercial airliners and happened in the Pacific. It’s the first time I recall America being completely blind-sided and thrust the U.S. into World War II, though we may have been on the brink of getting involved anyway.

3) Civil War—Good grief! It seems bloodshed dominates the top of this list. When our nation is torn against itself and brothers are killing brothers in mortal combat, that’s pretty darn tragic. The Civil War should have been fought democratically through debate.

4) The Great Depression—Many Americans lost everything they had. There were few jobs. There was little money. America was a very undesirable place to live. And this was less than 80 years ago.

5) JFK assassination—Like 9/11, this is two-fold. On one hand, you’ve got to wonder about what direction this nation had gone in had JFK not been gunned down on a Dallas street in 1963. The late 60s turned turbulent and rebellious. Would Kennedy’s presence in the White House prevented our full involvement in Vietnam? Would Civil Rights been handled differently, though LBJ did a meritorious job in that regard? Also, his assassination brought distrust among American people in regard to its own government. Some still believe the assassination was an inside job. If your president can’t trust the government, how can we? Then again, he may very well been killed as part of a Cuban/Russian plot involving Lee Harvey Oswald and a few other bad guys.

I thought about Katrina, which is undoubtedly the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history. But I’ll leave natural disasters to another category, for another day. Also worth mentioning are the Space Shuttle disasters.

Next week: Greatest sports moments in U.S. history.

What will happen to Beard-Eaves?

By Chris Sweigart

Auburn University may be on the brink of building a $92.5 million, 9,600-seat arena that would be the future home to its men’s and women’s basketball teams, but another question remains: what should happen to the existing Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum?

It may cost thousands, or millions, to tear the old coliseum down. Perhaps it would be best to keep the old building around for a while. It’s home to several classrooms and offices. It’s 1/5-mile running track along the concourse is popular among locals.

But should Beard-Eaves meet its demise, I can’t help but wonder how many parking spaces could be created in its absence. Parking is a premium.

There are many pluses and minuses to consider here and I’d hope university officials weigh them all.

Herring puts kids over NFL

By Chris Sweigart

Got a phone call Tuesday from former Auburn University and Opelika High football player Will Herring. Fresh off of mini-camp duty with the Seattle Seahawks, the rookie linebacker/defensive back was calling from West Palm Beach, Fla., where he was attending the NFL’s Rookie Symposium.

The cool thing about Will was he wasn’t calling to talk about his future in the NFL, his time at mini-camp or what he’s doing in West Palm Beach. He wasn’t the most important thing on his agenda. Kids were. You see, Herring and former Opelika running back SaJason Finley are organizing the third annual Back to the Dawg Pound youth football camp, which will be Saturday at Opelika High from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Will just wanted to make sure folks in the area and their kids knew about the free camp, open to kids going into the fourth through seventh grades, and how they could register for it.

Campers will be schooled in various techniques of the game from a number of Opelika football standouts now making names for themselves either professionally or in college.

Instructors expected to assist this year includes Herring, a four-year starter at Auburn who was recently drafted by the Seahawks; Finley, who played at Tuskegee; Melvin Oliver, a former LSU star now with the San Francisco 49ers; Tommy Jackson, a former Auburn University star now with the Atlanta Falcons; Clemson’s Jaquez McKissick; North Carolina State’s Jeremy Gray; The Citadel’s Andrew Rowell; Auburn University’s Tez Doolittle and Zach Clayton; Troy’s Jonathan Chandler; Alcorn State’s Ashton Burton; North Alabama’s Jamarcus Snipes; Jacksonville State’s Michael Willis; and Demius Frazier of St. Augustine College.

Parents wanting to register their child can do so through the Opelika Recreation Department at 705-5560. Thursday is the last day a child can register, but Herring said those who walk up Saturday won’t be turned away.

Found a great site for state politics

By Chris Sweigart

Can’t get your fill of Alabama politics? The best resource I’ve found on the Web isn’t a newspaper, television station or even the government itself. It’s a blog that’s grown into a wealth of very reliable and timely information. Doc’s Political Parlor features links from a number of state newspapers on their take of the daily activities in Montgomery and gives insight on its own opinions.

Be sure to check it out. The Web address is: http://www.politicalparlor.net/

Even The Cartoon Network isn’t safe

By Chris Sweigart

As a parent, I’m concerned about the words my son, Joseph, hears on television. Obviously, R-rated movies are out of the question. But Sunday, I was stunned to hear the words blared through my Sony’s speakers.

Watching the NASCAR race is generally safe. It was particularly interesting when TNT’s in-car radio peeked in on Kyle Petty to hear what he had to say to his crew. But Kyle wasn’t talking to crewmen. He was talking instead to God, praying for a safe race for everyone and thanking Him for the opportunities he has. TNT didn’t mean to eavesdrop on the prayer, but it was neat to hear this driver wear his faith on his sleeve.

Ten minutes later, Kyle wore his emotions on his sleeve. Not long after talking to God on national television without knowing it, Petty was smacked in the rear by Matt Kenseth. Wanting to hear Petty’s emotions, TNT listened to Petty’s radio again. This time, he wasn’t talking to God. This time, Petty dropped the F-bomb—loud and on national television.

Oops. Shouldn’t the network be required to delay its broadcast for 5 seconds to ensure profanities are not broadcast? The next time I crash Joseph in our NASCAR PlayStation game, he’d better not drop the F-bomb. Thanks, TNT.

Later Sunday night, Joseph was watching Cartoon Network. Safe, right? Then what in the world is the Cartoon Network doing showing the hideous movie School of Rock? First, it’s not a cartoon. Second, the movie stinks. Third, this movie—on what I assumed was a kids’ network—had a handful of vulgarities. The F-bomb wasn’t dropped, but there were several words that I can’t write in this blog that kids should not hear.

I guess it’s my responsibility to police The Cartoon Network now. Maybe networks should televise shows that do not require policing all of the time. It’s sad that so many these days do.