New York, New York

Not taking a risk, is risky.

I am breaking way from the sports theme for a bit. In light of news from New York. But, I hope you receive it just like it touches me.

Gotham - the Big Apple -New York, New York - big, bossy, bombastic and an All-American city.

The Empire State Building, Grand Central Station (see photo) and Central Park.

The Yankees, The Mets, The Jets, The Giants (if you count New Jersey), The Knicks, The Nets, The Rangers, The Islanders and then all the tradition of those great teams gone by... and the college teams, and even now a number of minor league teams dotting around the great city.

I love it. No, I adore it and dream of my next visit back. Maybe its like in the movie Hoosiers when the boys from Hickory looking up the seemingly cavernous Butler Fieldhouse and say, "Boy this barn holds a lot of hay!." The idea that there ain't much like this back on the farm.

I don't know if I ever want to reside in the Big Apple, but its a special place to me.

Today, I've been hearing the reports, apparently pretty believable, of a terrorist strike on the New York Subways. The strike was planned for February or March in 2003. If it happened, I would have been right there in the thick of it.

Crazy how life is a walk on a tight rope of danger. Then I thought, I would still enjoyed my time, I still would have visited. I'd done the same, had a strike happened.

New York has changed a lot since those first attacks on 911. People are more accommodating, they are more gracious and much much warmer.

But, New Yorkers are still a proud people. Their chip is still there, and they aren' t going to be intimidated or shaken by a momentary act of so-called bravery dictated by a mysterious figure who is in hiding. (That's some courage, right there.)

Bravery isn't mustering strength for a one-time action. Bravery is standing your ground because you are right and taking a change to live for it. Bravery is also knowing when you are wrong and admitting it. Bravery is having principles even if no one around shares them.