Boston College Athletics
BC Weekly Diary With Bobby Thompson
October 02, 2001 | Men's Soccer
September 25, 2001
The last two weeks have put many things in perspective for me. The disaster at the World Trade Center has left many people realizing how meaningless one's everyday troubles are. It has left me realizing how meaningful one's everyday blessing are.
In prayer, I have asked now to obtain the strength to take nothing for granted and to love all of life's wonders. May family, friends and all my loved ones will soon know exactly how much I care for them. I will no longer put things off with the notion that I will have plenty of time to care for them. I won't hesitate to "Thank you" and I will not wait until "next time" to say "I love you." I will seize the day - Carpe Diem.
Life altering events such as the most recent act of evil affect every aspect of our lives. Our soccer team here at Boston College has seen this first hand. The team's spirits were shot completely by the report of the many dead and wounded on September 11, 2001. Nearly every practice that followed that week was filled with lackluster performances, and each player had lost his heart and his drive for the game. The first game after the tragedy saw a team shattered. We played our worst game in a quite some time, losing 2-0 to Hartford.
It was a time for reflection and a time for grieving. At the end of it all, I think that the rest of the team came to some conclusions that were similar to my own. At out last game against Virginia Tech on Saturday, our team's spirits had returned and we defeated them, 2-1, in a very competitive BIG EAST match. We fought to a draw through most of the game before Casey Schmidt finished off his fifth goal in five games to give us the victory we so desperately needed.
In the last two weeks, our team has been given a wonderful gift. Our spirits were taken away. The made each individual ask the same questions. How can life be so unkind? What makes life worth living if it can be taken away so quickly? Well, I believe that our team has realized once again why life is so wonderful and that something as simple as playing soccer with a bunch of good friends can be absolutely perfect.
One final note pertaining to the soccer season is that our team is now having lots of fun playing again ... and that makes us very dangerous.
