Hi everybody.

I just wanted to share this short video (a minute long) as I fear it might have slipped under the radar for some of you, with soccer not being as big a sport in the US as it is worldwide.

Last night, England played France at Wembley, just days after the horrendous attacks in Paris. The English football association offered to cancel the game, which the French, to their immense credit, declined. The French football association offered every player the opportunity to not travel to London, which every player, also to their immense credit, declined - including those that had relatives and loved ones involved in the atrocities. That in itself shows a level of character that one would not often associate with professional sportsmen.

However, the entirety of Wembley singing the French national anthem (and make no mistake, the overwhelming majority of the crowd was English) is something that, to me at least, demonstrated the very best of sport - how it can bring people together in the toughest times. The outcome of the game itself was utterly inconsequential, in any terms you could care to describe, and rightfully so. Sure, the pronunciations may have been a bit off here and there, but that was besides the point. Truly a beautiful moment, and indeed one that soccer has not always been capable of or known for.

It was to me, in many ways, very reminiscent of President Bush throwing out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium during the World Series after 9/11, or indeed even Mike Piazza's home run not long after those events. A reminder that while we can all place too high an importance on sports on occasion, they also can be a truly uniting force and, for a brief, fleeting moment, the most important step to moving on from dark times.