Solidarity The Overwhelming Feeling In Marathon Aftermath
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
There’s no use in trying to make sense of what happened in Boston Monday. It is truly an exercise in futility.
Whoever is responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing is or are, as WEEI’s Gerry Callahan put it, “sick, evil bastards.” Hopefully they will be caught and brought to justice.
In the meantime, the outpouring of love, sympathy and support for those effected by Monday’s tragedy continues to amaze. Here’s just some of what has been said and done thus far:
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST-The Boston Red Sox are planning to wear a uniform patch honoring the bombing victims. There will be a ceremony prior to Friday’s game at Fenway and the team will hold various fundraising activities.
-Meanwhile, down in the Bronx, the Red Sox arch enemies – the New York Yankees – showed their support for the city of Boston by holding a moment of silence for the bombing victims before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. They also played “Sweet Caroline” following the third inning of Tuesday night’s game.
-New Patriots WR Danny Amendola has pledged to donate $100 for every reception he makes this season and $200 for every dropped pass he has this year to the relief effort.
-Amendola’s new boss – Patriots owner Bob Kraft – has announced that he will match $100,000 in donations made to the effort to help victims of the bombing with their recoveries.
-Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers had this to say about the reaction to the bombing. "Being in the city, the one thing I will say, you're just really proud to be part of Boston," said Rivers. "I saw people who didn't work for the police or anything like that, directing traffic, showing people where to go. I just thought the spirit of Boston was phenomenal last night. In a tragic event, it either separates you or brings you together. It clearly brought the city of Boston together, which was awesome."
-Former Red Sox and current Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona had this to say about what happened. “I’m not sure you have to have roots in Boston to care about that,” he said. “Obviously I do, as you (media) guys do, too. It just seems when you turn the TV on, it’s hard for everybody. Whether it’s personal or not, it seems like it gets personal. You turn on the TV and you hear left wing, right wing. I wish there were no wings. I just wish people would get along. I don’t understand it and I don’t pretend to. I hope there are people way smarter than me who are somehow, some day able to figure this out, so stuff like this doesn’t happen. It’s hard enough being an adult. Can you imagine being a little kid growing up now? It’s hard. It just makes you feel bad.”
-And, in one of the more touching tributes, Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Ben Revere stuck a piece of white athletic tape on the outside webbing of his glove Monday night which read, “PRAY for Boston.” Revere then went out and made an amazing over-the-shoulder diving catch (which you can watch here) in center field in the Phillies game at Cincinnati which made Willie Mays’ catch look like a routing fly ball. That defensive play of the year brought a lot of attention to Revere’s message which was very well received by the city of Boston.
-In the city of Miami, a running club ran a 3.5 mile race on Tuesday wearing special bibs saying, “Miami runs for Boston.”
-And, in case you’re wondering about the future of the Boston Marathon, let there be no doubt as to what will happen in 2014. "We are committed to continuing that tradition with the running of the 118th Boston Marathon in 2014," Boston Athletic Association head Tom Grilk said on Tuesday.
