In a time of mourning for our country, sports have taken an understandable backseat to the horrific events that faceless plane hijackers did to us by taking away many of our loved ones.

Whether we knew someone that was directly affected by this incident or not, it should touch all of us. However, the reality is that there are some who are oblivious, or just plain ignorant to this whole incident.

Would this whole crisis be different if one of those planes held the members of the Chicago Cubs? Would it be different if a plane crashed into DeKalb High School? Or, if one of the passengers was your mother, your father or a dear loved one?

Even before I found out that my cousin, who recently moved to New York, was running for his life after volunteering to help injured victims around the World Trade Center, I had put the whole event into perspective.

Also, this type of death toll has never been seen before in the United States. There have been no numbers released as to the amount of carnage that has taken place. Even so, the significance of the massive number of deaths could never be put into proper perspective. What would a number like that mean?

When a husband doesn’t have a wife to come home to, when a little girl doesn’t have a daddy to hug, a number is nothing but a statistic.

Suddenly, the importance of attending NIU’s football game this weekend was put on the backburner. Huskie athletic director Cary Groth expressed that same feeling as she decided that NIU’s faceoff against Wake Forest this weekend would be postponed until Saturday, Nov. 24.

“In light of the tragedies that occurred Tuesday, along with the uncertainty associated with travel, we were not comfortable with putting either our student-athletes, or those from the other schools, at risk,” Groth said.

While NIU football coach Joe Novak will give the football team the day off in hopes for them to relax and reflect on all that has happened, he is congruent with Groth’s feelings

“I think it was the right decision [to cancel our game],” Novak said. “We are going to play the game later in the year. I just think out of respect it was a good decision.”

Fellow Mid-American Conference team Western Michigan is in a different situation than the Huskies. While the Broncos face intrastate opponent Michigan, the game is still scheduled to take place Saturday at 12 p.m.

While Ann Arbor is within driving distance of the Broncos’ campus,should this game still take place?

While taking to the air is not possible at this time, many teams can still transport themselves to get to their games by bus, if need be.

If NIU wished, they could take to the roads and drive to Wake Forest, but the ultimate concern for the Huskies is not to get to the game and rack up a W in the win column. Their reasoning is something with a little more meaning.

To take the day off and think about all that has happened, as well as pay homage to the departed that have left us tragically is what is truly important right now. That is why the weekend should be taken off.