Mets honor Times Square vendors who helped thwart terrorist attack

You know, it is very easy during this era of alleged rape, tasering, Tiger Woods and Rick Reilly still writing inane columns to become incredibly cynical about the sports world. That is why it is so refreshing to come across a story like this — and as a blogger, you hold onto them when you are lucky enough to see them like grim death — lest you completely lose your mind.
Granted, this story is only tangentially related to sports, but it’s close enough. Before Friday night’s game at Citi Field, the New York Mets honored four individuals — two of them vendors who ply their trade in Times Square — for their contributions in helping thwart the attempted terrorist attack earlier last weekend in New York City.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers Frank Formato and Paul Casquarelli were also honored during the pregame ceremony. But pictured above standing with Mets manager Jerry Manuel are Duane Jackson and Lance Orton, Sr., both veterans of the Vietnam War and currently Times Square vendors. Formato and Casquarelli performed their civic duty by alerting authorities to the SUV that was suspiciously parked in the area where they were working.
From MLB.com:

“If this is what I have to do to get a message across for safety and for veterans, because there’s a lot of veterans who work in the Times Square area, and they’re the unsung heroes of Times Square,” Orton said. “I’m not the only one that watches.”

Orton couldn’t help but notice the suspicious vehicle, still running and beginning to smoke, parked next to where he sat down to rest his leg.

Immediately, he knew that something was wrong and sought out local law enforcement with Jackson.

“I saw it and I acted,” Orton said. “A lot of people now want to say, ‘I was there’ or ‘I saw the car, too,’ but I acted and that’s the difference.”

Of course, we could get into how men like these two individuals are the “real heroes” and that instead of worshiping men who play children’s games we should instead focus our attention and admiration on people who demonstrate heroism while going about their everyday lives, but that would be both naive and pointless. We will continue to look up to our professional athletes, despite those who sully the reputation of their colleagues with their irresponsible, self-centered and with alarmingly increasing frequency, criminal behavior.
But it’s nice that those same people and the same organizations we love to condemn at a moment’s notice take the time to recognize the heroic efforts of those who aren’t quite as fortunate as they are.
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Mets honor Times Square heroes [MLB,com]