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By demonizing pleasure, we set ourselves up for unfulfilling sex lives.
Opinion: Let’s talk about sex
Published March 27, 2024

Anxious athletes rocked by news from homefront

Minnesota defensive end Greg White spoke softly with an anxious look in his eye after Tuesday afternoon’s practice. He took a deep breath and sighed nervously before answering a slew of questions from the media.

As the seven o’clock hour approached, White, a native of Newark, New Jersey, had yet to speak to any of his immediate family members in the wake of the terror that occurred in New York City and Washington, D.C. less than 12 hours earlier.

“Like everybody else, I’m a little scared,” White said. “I haven’t talked to anybody today. It was real hard to watch all those people on TV today.”

White is one of a handful of Minnesota athletes who hail from the New York and New Jersey areas who, like so many others, were shocked and saddened by Tuesday’s events.

For defensive lineman Darrell Reid and quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq the emotions were more relief than worry following practice.

Reid, a Farmingdale, New Jersey native has an aunt who worked in the World Trade Center. Abdul-Khaliq also has one aunt working in the building and two other aunts who work right around the corner. None of the four went to work Tuesday.

“By the grace of God they didn’t go to work today,” Abdul-Khaliq, an Elizabeth, New Jersey, native said. “It’s terrible, though, for those who died. It’s just crazy.”

Added Reid, who got the news via two-way pager: “My initial reaction was panic. I thought, ‘No, this can’t be true.’ But I just kept getting breaking news (on his pager). I have a lot of friends with parents who work in the building. I was worried.”

Reid said he tried calling home 10-20 times before finally getting in touch with his mother who informed him everything was OK.

Abdul-Khaliq, who used to live in a house with a harbor view of Manhattan, will miss the landmark towers.

“(The Trade Center) is a great historical site,” he said. “Now when I go home and I don’t see it, I’ll always remember what happened and how it affected me and how I felt on this day.”

Defensive end Tony Dupree tried for three hours to call home to Jersey City, New Jersey, and get word on his family. Namely, Dupree was concerned about his older brother, Roedell, who works in Manhattan.

The elder Dupree was unharmed, but Tony did have a friend whose mother worked in the Trade Center.

“The first thought on my mind was my brother,” Tony Dupree said. “It’s hard to talk about it because it has really affected how my day went.”

The aftermath news was not as comforting for Minnesota wrestler Damion Hahn, a Lakewood, New Jersey native.

As of Tuesday evening, Hahn’s girlfriend back in Lakewood, Jennifer, had yet to hear from one of her Lakewood High School classmates who worked at the World Trade Center.

“We haven’t heard anything,” said Hahn, who also knew his girlfriend’s 22-year-old classmate. “It’s a tragedy. The first thing I did was call home. My parents said the whole area was in chaos. It is unbelievable anything like this could happen.”

Tuesday’s attack on the United States was an attack on soil so many citizens call home.

But for some, the term “home” meant something much more literal on Tuesday.

Brian Stensaas welcomes comments at [email protected]

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