Eventually, the Athletic Department shut down all operations for the weekend anyway, but the reversal did not invalidate its initial stance. The dignified and patriotic air surrounding Thursday’s Kentucky Wesleyan and Tennesee-Martin football game—the only one in the country to be played that night—suggested that it wasn’t necessarily too soon for American sport to resume somewhere. Perhaps the games could find a respectful niche in the real world in the immediate aftermath of chaos.

And yet, when Columbia and Fordham refused to cancel their football game until Friday, the day before the scheduled contest, one couldn’t help but feel repulsed. How could the two New York City schools even consider playing on with bodies still being hauled out of the debris across town?

Nothing profound or definitive can be said about the scheduling conflicts now. Sporting events across the country—and here at Harvard—resumed yesterday. For some, it was probably a welcome return to business as usual, a logical extension of President Bush’s request that we get back to living “as we always have.”

For others, it was probably still too soon. For some, this weekend might still be too soon. The sight of fans wearing blue with the crimson and white at Soldier’s Field on Saturday won’t allay all concerns about timing and mood. And what can one do but respect that?

At this stage, there really aren’t wrong answers.