This is a glorious time of year for television and for all of you couch potatoes.

Let’s start off with my favorite, the sporting events. This is the only time of the year that all three of the major sports — baseball, football and basketball — overlap. For any sports fan, this is arguably the best time of year.

Because the world doesn’t revolve around sports like most of us believe, television stations also set up other programs that are exciting to watch.

Season premieres are getting under way, new sitcoms are stepping up into the prime time spotlight and the summer’s movies are taking over the premiere channels. Why would anyone want to leave the couch?

At the same time, this is one of the worst times in American history.

Sept. 11 never will be forgotten in our minds, yet still it seems that Americans are moving on. Of course we cannot truly forget about the tragedy that struck all of us, yet television provides a source of outlet to escape from the worries and stresses the event has inflicted on us.

No matter what station or sporting event you watch, you are constantly reminded of American pride. Left and right, commercials come on telling you that you should be proud to be living here. Why did it take such an event for us to be proud to be living in this great land?

I understand that now, more than ever, we have to stand by each other and maintain full trust in our government, but where was all of this patriotism before the Sept. 11 attacks? Why weren’t there ads and campaigns re-instating what it means to be an American all along?

I understand that most of you are saying we don’t need ads to tells us what we already believe. To you, I am saying — wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Most of us cannot remember what is right and wrong in daily life, so how can we remember why we believe in something?

We, as Americans, should never step down from this pride pedestal that we are standing on now. We must maintain this sense of pride that the media has drilled into our heads for as long as we can.

While watching your favorite show, don’t leave during the commercials. Sit down, relax and take in all of the patriotism that the media is bombarding you with. Enjoy the fact that your neighbor is feeling the same way about the country.

Participate in conversations with each other. Express your feeling and concerns about what is going on around you. You live in this world, why not try to figure out what is going on outside of DeKalb?

I truly hope that in ten years people will remember what happened. I also hope the same people will remember what it is like to be an American and how we all came together in this time of need.