Local educator savors "one moment in time"

Editor's note: The following is a submission by Kyle Carter, a Richland teacher who often contributes photographs and information on school events to The Daily Statesman. Following the Tuesday night Cardinals ballgame from Busch Stadium, which served as the annual "This One's for You" military network broadcast, Carter wrote his thoughts regarding opportunities that were presented through the American Armed Forces Network participation.

By Kyle Carter

Special to The Daily Statesman

It was a typical summer night. The St. Louis Cardinals game was playing in man caves, bedrooms, restaurants, living rooms and bars throughout Southeast Missouri on Tuesday night, Aug. 19. And like most nights, the undercurrents of the game were just as strong, or maybe even more so than most nights -- After his outing Monday night, what's wrong with Rosenthal? If he really is the "best left fielder in the game today" as he is tabbed by MLB Network's Prime 9, why does Matt Holliday still have problems catching fly balls? With the Brewers winning earlier in the evening, can the Cardinals defeat their inter-division rival and stay 2.5 games back in the Central?

However, for one of the very few times in the 27 years I've been watching -- the game really didn't matter, at least for a litle while.

Tuesday night was the Cardinals' annual "This One's For You" broadcast -- the only night of the year when the game is broadcast out on the American Armed Forces Network, and military personnel across the globe have an opportunity to watch a live Cardinals game, just like the fans at home do from the comfort of our own home.

As is customary, family members of many of the military men and women serving abroad are afforded a chance to speak with their loved ones -- live on the air during the game. Many express how happy they are to see each other and often share small talk about the game or about what is happening on the homefront.

During one of the middle innings -- the sixth or seventh -- however, a military family that included a wife, mother and three children were in the broadcast booth, and the soldier's wife said she hadn't spoken with her husband for more than seven months. She said that they didn't have the funds to be able to Skype or FaceTime. They had been able to text, but this would be the first time that the soldier's children would get to hear their father's voice since leaving for war.

The conversation, after a few pleasantries quickly dwindled into what one would expect from an elementary child missing their father -- "I love you daddy" and "We miss you" could clearly be heard through the sobbing and silence on both ends. It was clear when the inning ended that Fox Sports Midwest needed to break for a commercial, but no one wanted to initiate the break because it would mean ending the conversation.

Unlike cutting one of the amazing stories of Jackie Robinson in half from the legendary Vin Scully, or listening to Bob Gibson talk about going toe-to-toe with Sandy Koufax -- this was a child, no older than nine, that hadn't seen or heard from her father for seven months.

Immediately the responses began on Facebook, "Hard to watch the Cardinals broadcast right now," one said. Another wrote, "Game doesn't matter anymore, just glad she could talk with her dad."

And another -- "Many of us go to different schools, work for competing companies and even look forward to battling each other in sporting events, but certainly tonight Cardinal Nation showed its true heart in the outpouring of love and respect for this one family."

Even after coming back from the break, Cardinals color man Dan McLaughlin was unable to continue to speak without emotion. He spoke to the fact that sometimes we get so caught up in the day-to-day pieces of the game that we forget how important the small things in life are. He told his audience that it's hard for him to say goodbye to his kids when he leaves on a 10-game road trip, even knowing he'll be home in about 12 days -- and then here was a little girl that hasn't talked with her dad in seven months.

For just a moment, we got to see the Daddy Dan McLaughlin, not the broadcaster McLaughlin that we all know.

In a later inning he would go on to remind the troops that, "You are not forgotten. We don't always get to mention all that you do for us in keeping us free, but please know that you are never forgotten."

Caught up in the action of the evening, and even appearing in his own spot during the game, was Bloomfield native and Richland R-1 School graduate Cody Jones. Jones had a prerecorded message for his wife and children and then could be seen various times throughout the televised broadcast as the cameras would show the troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

At home in Bloomfield, watching the broadcast on the edge of their seats, were Jones' wife, Carlie, who is Richland Schools' full time nurse, and their three children, Ava, Austin and Gracie.

American troops were watching the game not only in Afghanistan, but according to Fox Sports Midwest's Twitter feed, in Japan, the Middle East and even in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Around the world, soldiers witnessed the Cardinals' walk-off win.

As tweets to the troops scrolled across the screen and Peter Bourjos scored on a hit-by-pitch, all was well with Cardinals Nation. The evening ended seemingly most appropriately, with a Cardinals win.

However, for one fleeting moment, on a school night when everything else was just as normal as could be -- for one moment the game didn't matter. No one cared about the score -- just that we, the fans, and even the Cardinals broadcasters could shout out, "Thank You" as loudly as we could to the men and women who are continuing to keep us free.