Listen to the sports world’s reactions in the days, months & years that followed 9/11

Hear powerful stories from Mike Piazza, Herm Edwards, Brian Cashman, Mike Francesa and more, as they remember the impact 9/11 had on sports.

by:
Matthew Fanizza
September 1, 2021

As we approach the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, SiriusXM is presenting 9/11 & Sports: 20 Years Later, a 13-episode podcast series looking back at the impact of that day’s events on the world of sports and the reaction by leagues, players, and fans in the hours, days, weeks, and years that followed.

All 13 episodes are already available on the SXM App and can be listened to now here:

The episodes will also air multiple times on SiriusXM’s various sports channels now through September 11. See the schedule with those channels and their airtimes below.

In episodes that focus on the impact of 9/11 on different sports and leagues, listeners will hear from executives and owners who made the decisions to postpone sporting events and determine when it was appropriate to resume play, and the athletes and coaches who, after the initial shock of the attacks, would play a significant role in comforting citizens and sports fans around the country, and people who lost loved ones that day.

SiriusXM’s Steve Phillips, who was the New York Mets general manager in 2001, narrates three baseball-focused episodes that include interviews with former New York Governor George Pataki, former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, Yankees GM Brian Cashman, and former Yankees catcher Todd Greene, who caught the ceremonial first pitch from President George W. Bush prior to Game 3 of the 2001 World Series. Listeners will also hear from former Mets Mike Piazza, Edgardo Alfonso, John Franco, Bruce Chen, and Bobby Valentine, and former Atlanta Braves Chipper Jones and Steve Karsay, who were all part of the first game played in New York after the attacks.

In an episode looking back at the NFL in the period after 9/11, listeners will hear from the league’s former commissioner, Paul Tagliabue, as well as former Jets head coach Herm Edwards and offensive lineman Kevin Mawae, former Giants DB Jason Sehorn, Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and former defensive end Trace Armstrong, who was the president of the NFL Players Association in 2001.

Another episode looks back at the 2001 Army-Navy Game, played weeks after the start of Operation Enduring Freedom by cadets and midshipmen who would be called into combat after their graduation. Narrated by SiriusXM host Chris Spatola, who was himself a first class (senior) cadet at West Point in the fall of 2001, the episode features commentary from former Navy head football coach Charlie Weatherbie, former Army head coach Todd Berry, former Navy QB Ed Malinowski and former Army QB Chad Jenkins.

From the world of golf, listeners will hear conversations with former PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, former executive director of the European Tour Ken Schofield, and former PGA of America CEO Jim Awtrey, who made the decision to postpone the Ryder Cup, as well as the story of prominent amateur Jimmy Dunne, whose decision to attempt to qualify for the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Bedford G.C. on September 11, 2001, saved his life.

The NHL lost two members of its community on September 11, when L.A. Kings scouts Garnet “Ace” Bailey and Mark Bavis lost their lives aboard Flight 175 when it crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. They are remembered in another episode by Bailey’s widow, Kathy, and Bavis’ brother, Mike, as well as Wayne Gretzky, former Kings GM Dave Taylor and Bruce Boudreau, who was a Kings affiliate coach in 2001 and was scheduled to be on Flight 175 with Bailey and Bavis before his plans changed.

On a separate episode, SiriusXM’s Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo is joined by his former on-air partner, Mike Francesa, in a rare sit-down conversation between the two, to remember the events that took place across the sports landscape after 9/11.

Other episodes in the series feature former New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, whose friend and college roommate was lost in the World Trade Center, SiriusXM host and former Kansas City Wizards goalkeeper Tony Meola, who hails from the New York/New Jersey area, and recalls the decision to go ahead with their game in Peru on September 12, personalities from the WWE who participated in the first public sporting event in the U.S. 48 hours after the attacks, the impact on the world of NASCAR, and Glenn Colton, who in addition to his career as a fantasy sports host, is a lawyer who both worked at the U.S. Justice Department in the office responsible for leading the prosecution of one of the 9/11 hijackers and one who was privileged to play a small role in that effort.


Broadcast Schedule (all times ET)*


ESPNU Radio (Ch. 84)
September 11 at 10:30am

SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Ch. 87)
September 11 at 8:30am

SiriusXM FC (Ch. 157)
September 1 at 11am
September 2 at 12am, 8am, and 10pm
September 3 at 6am and 3pm
September 4 at 7am and 6pm
September 5 at 12:30am, 10am, and 9pm
September 6 at 7pm
September 7 at 9pm
September 8 at 7am
September 9 at10pm
September 10 at 3pm
September 11 at 6pm and 9:30pm
September 12 at 3pm and 9pm

SiriusXM Fight Nation (Ch. 156)
September 9 at 5pm
September 11 at 12pm and 4pm

Mad Dog Sports Radio (Ch. 82)
September 8 at 6pm
September 11 at 7am
September 12 at 7amMLB Network Radio™ (Ch. 89)
Episode 1 – September 8 at 6pm
Episode 2 – September 9 at 6pm
Episode 3 – September 10 at 6pm
All 3 episodes – September 11 from 3-6pm

SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90)
September 11 at 12pm

SiriusXM NBA Radio (Ch. 86)
September 11 at 1pm and 5pm

SiriusXM NFL Radio (Ch. 88)
September 6 at 10pm
September 7 at 6am
September 8 at 11pm
September 10 at 3am and 7pm
September 11 at 8am and 11pm

SiriusXM® NHL Network Radio™ (Ch. 91)
September 6 at 6pm
September 7 at 7pm
September 8 at 12pm
September 10 at 6pm
September 11 at 9am, 12pm, 5pm and 9pm
Plus various other airings

SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (Ch. 92)
September 7 at 7pm
September 9 at 1pm
September 10 at 12pm
September 11 at 8am, 6pm, 9pm, and more*Schedule subject to change


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