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Thursday, September 18, 2008
Loomis remembers 9-11
Loomis remembers 9-11 AVP star recollects on a national tragedy By Ty Loomis / Special to avp.com What's up everyone?
I'm stoked that you are back in the action and reading my new blog! Let's quickly bring you into my life and get into my story... Mood: Proud Music: Reggae The Setting: Leaving my house in wonderful Corona del Mar and heading to John Wayne Airport Date and Time: September 11th, 2008 around 8am'ish Destination: San Francisco, CA Purpose: Since my partner Larry Witt and I did not qualify for the San Francisco event, we are obviously not playing in this tournament. Instead, I am here fulfilling my sponsorship obligations for Jose Cuervo by doing some appearances and promos in the downtown San Fran area. The majority of time I fly anywhere, I fly out of John Wayne Airport in Orange County (which is the greatest airport in the world). I drive to my dad's (Mike Loomis aka "The Mayor") place that is a stone's throw away from the airport, I pick him up at his place, drive to the airport, get dropped off, then he always picks me up from the airport when I return. My pops is a stud! As I was entering John Wayne Airport around 8 a.m., I took the fork in the road towards the Departures and noticed that there wasn't a soul traveling today. I was shocked, as usually John Wayne Airport is a busy place in the morning, as a lot of successful business people and celebrities have important hands to shake and baby's foreheads to kiss, in hope of closing that next million-dollar deal, booking a reality show or their next movie role. The airport was absolutely empty! Huh...why was it like this? Ohhh...I quickly remembered that it was September 11th, which happened to be the seven-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Are Americans really scared to travel on this day? Still? Wow...that is really shocking to me! It didn't bother me, as I was running a little late for my flight anyways and didn't have to wait in ANY lines at all! It was now time to board my flight on United Airlines, in which I recently earned Premier status...stoked! I now get the privilege of boarding my flights first, I usually get the seat of my choice (exit row window), and I frequently get upgraded! As I board the little United Express puddle jumper plane, I had to duck my head by a half a foot when entering, as these planes are built for super small people, the type of people which you can pay a $1 to see behind the doors at your local carnival. I say hello, smile and give the cute flight attendant a "high five" as I enter, walked through the six first class seat and noticed that all of the seats have pillows and blankets, in which I know my "economy seat" will not have. I glance at the first class overhead bins and notice one lonely pillow sitting there all by itself! I move quickly in my attempt to snag the pillow! Booyah...I did it...I grabbed the last pillow! If there is one thing that I will be greedy with on airplanes now, is my pillow snagging from first class. It is sad that all of our airlines in the United States have sacrificed all of their simple luxuries (meals, pillows, TV and etc), but everyone is still suffering from the rising prices of fuel. I can now enjoy my window seat to the fullest with my paper thin pillow that I have to fold four times just to make a little fluff to cushion my head. Also, since it was 9-11, my flight was empty and there was not a passenger sitting next to me. That means that I can turn my long legs sideways and stretch them out. Beeeeeuatiful! Before the plane even took off, I was in a dead sleep and out cold for an hour and a half, until I felt the plane bounce on the runway a few times before we landed. For the past few years I have flown on 9-11 and have had the most pleasant traveling experiences of my life. Thinking about it more, 9-11 is probably the safest day in the year to travel. Once I arrived at the San Francisco Airport, I grabbed my bags, asked for directions to the BART Train and headed to my hotel. As soon as I got to my hotel, I checked in my room, I kicked my feet up on the bed, and turned on the TV (a standard male procedure...actually that is rule 3.25 in the book of Man Law). As I was scanning the channels, I ran into MSNBC. MSNBC was paying tribute to 9-11 by showing the actual newscast as it happened on that tragic day. I started watching the program at the perfect time, which was right after the first plane flew into the 1st tower. I remember this moment like it happened yesterday. My college roommate Jeremy Koop came running into my room, screaming that the World Trade Center has been attacked. I had no idea what he was talking about until I assumed my position on the couch and watched replay after replay of the plane crashing into the first Twin Tower. I couldn't believe my eyes and thought I was deep into a terrible dream. I remember that empty weird feeling like it was yesterday. Do you remember where you were? Do you remember how you felt? Were you directly affected by this tragic event? I am not the type of person that preaches for our freedom or holds anti-war protests like Bill Walton when he was a rebellious student at UCLA during Vietnam, but my perspective on freedom, peace and the war on terrorism had changed drastically in the past two years. I recently returned from a two-week trip across Europe visiting the US Army and Air Force Troops with Angie Akers, Brooke Hanson and Jeff Nygard. Along the trip we met some amazing troops and their families, which gave us all a new level of respect for our freedom, supporting our troops and the war on terror. If you could see first-hand what these troops and their families go through on a yearly basis, you would have this respect as well. When I start writing my blogs, I write about what is on my mind at that moment in time. And this time it was September 11th. Usually I like to blog about my random adventures on my beach cruiser through Corona del Mar, a little beach volleyball, or my random stories on the road trips with the AVP, but this time I felt the need to reflect on the most tragic event in the history of the United States. Hopefully this blog will help remind you not to take your life for granted and help you appreciate your life as a citizen of the United States. It shouldn't take a terrorist attack or a tragedy for you to be proud of your country, to support your troops, to appreciate your freedom and to wave your flags. These are things that you should appreciate every single day as an American. Thanks to all the troops that I met in Italy, Germany and Kosovo for inspiring this blog! Good luck in your deployments in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq! Be safe and we will see you all upon your return to the states! Ten Four...over and out! -Ty Loomis Ps: Check out all of my new pictures that Angie, Brooke, Jeff and myself took while visiting the US Troops! They can be viewed in my picture albums at www.myspace.com/tyloomis. Enjoy!
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