Jason Bodnar: Play Ball, bring on the healing

Even though I didn't see it, I haven't been able to get the image out of my mind.

There he was, running down a suburban New Jersey road, a six-foot, 200-pound, balding man.

There he was, nearly 50 years old, moving at speed that's barely more than a trot, wearing black shorts and an almost entirely black shirt.

There he was, carrying a miniature American flag.

He is my father, circa last Saturday afternoon, as described to me by my brother. And he is a prime example of how athletics can facilitate collective healing, solidarity and recovery from the tragic events of a week ago.

Cars beeped as they passed by him, the running man with that American flag and those nearly all-black clothes.

I didn't see it, but I can imagine the patriotism and community some of those people in those cars must have felt, something that must have felt like one giant hug.

It's ironic, considering my father wore almost-all-black by accident. It's ironic, considering he only had the flag in his hand because he saw it on the ground on the side of the road and couldn't leave it there, but didn't want to stop his run short.

It's ironic and partially accidental, but it's still emblematic. He looked like he was making a statement through the medium of sports.

And that's what a lot of people will be doing this week. It's what people who played last weekend did.

Penn football assistant coach Andy Coen may have had his game canceled on Saturday, but his brother Tom, a head coach for a New Jersey high school team, played. And Tom looked at the game as an act of patriotism.

"To play this game and to play it under the stars and stripes is a great privilege," he said. "It's important for us as we continue to try to restore some type of normalcy."

Other players and coaches have talked about playing as almost a counterattack, an act of defiance aimed at the people responsible for what happened in New York and Washington.

Sports have almost become a rallying cry now. To play has become noble and patriotic and completely unpetty.

And the symbols, they'll be prevalent.

Moments of silence, flags at half-staff, emotional renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner," prayer, special patches and buttons and stickers on uniforms. They are and will be everywhere.

But people have started to get back to the lives they led before what happened last Tuesday. The issue isn't on everyone's mind all the time, at least not anymore. The symbols aren't quite everywhere.

So yes, in many ways, sports will go back to being what they were prior to last week, and while competing, the thoughts of players and coaches will be almost entirely focused on the game/match/meet at hand.

But that's OK. And it doesn't mean sports will be trivial.

People will still draw meaning from these athletic contests, whether intended or not. Sure, they might see relief fund collection cups, and memorial candles, and flags of all sizes -- all things deliberate.

But they'll also see the accidental, and they'll misinterpret, but they won't find false meaning -- only false intent.

And that's not a bad thing. Bring on an image of Donovan McNabb rushing for a game-winning touchdown, an American flag draped across a stadium wall in the background. Bring on an image of a random athlete in an I-love-N.Y. shirt. Bring on an image, any image, from an Army or Navy football game.

Bring on an image of a guy in almost-all-black, running and waving his mini-American flag when the passing cars beep.

Bring on the healing.

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