New London - This was a day of remembrance, a day when we were supposed to somehow frame the events of 23 years ago, when we endured tragedy and heroism, sorrow and inspiration.

But after all the tributes, there were a mere handful of places that offered true perspective. And one of them was the emerald green soccer lawn of Connecticut College, where the people who serve and protect us, the cadets of Coast Guard Academy, were playing a game for the Whale Cup. This was Conn vs. Coast Guard, women’s soccer, another rendition of the Route 32/Mr. G’s Bowl.

The young people of Coast Guard who protect us, whose days are filled with so many things more important than sports, reminded us all over again that a byproduct of freedom is the ability to play a game. Win or lose, not life or death. And this was one place, one moment in time, where “never forget,” the haunting slogan forever tethered to Sept. 11, was respected and admired.

“I was just thinking about it today. We're playing Coast Guard and they represent our country so much and defend us,” Conn senior Claire Mulvihill said. “We really appreciate being their neighbors. So I would say it is super different than playing any other team on Sept. 11 - and they're right down the road from us.”

Just as Mulvihill grew up right down the road from Ground Zero, in West Caldwell, N.J., about 16 miles from the towers. Mulvihill was not yet born by Sept. 11, 2001, evidence of how long it’s been since our lives changed forever - and why days of remembrance can still run like a current 23 years later.

“I said to the team yesterday that if you think about our campuses, we're kind of like at the opposite ends of the spectrum if you will, but we're really good neighbors,” Conn coach Norm Riker said. “We respect everything that they do for us, but their college experience is much different than ours.

“We've really spent a lot of time as a program, but also me here in a class I teach, trying to share the Coast Guard story. We try to get our campus to understand their life and the sacrifices of the Coast Guard Academy.”

Riker teaches Essential Fitness and Wellness, aimed at exploring the importance of fitness and healthy lifestyles after college.

“We bring the Coast Guard over because they do their PFE (Physical Fitness Exam) and we then do the physical fitness exam in the class,” Riker said. “We have coach Parsons (Coast Guard men’s soccer coach Chris Parsons) who lectures in the class, explaining the whole day in the life of a Coast Guard Academy cadet. The different things they must do to graduate, the kind of life cycle on campus. Our students are just blown away. I think they walk away really respectful and in awe of what the Coast Guard cadets do.”

There was just something so earnest and real in their words of the Conn folks, all the way to a pregame public address announcement on behalf of everyone on campus thanking Coast Guard and its cadets for their daily diligence. It’s never been more important than now in a fracturing world. It was certainly more genuine than so many of the perfunctory Sept. 11 epistles all over social media reminding us to "never forget," to be patriotic and pensive again for the requisite time.

Then they go back to hating everybody and everything tomorrow.

Maybe once - just this once - we can channel our inner Norm Riker and inner Claire Mulvihill and simply be thankful for our neighbors. The people who protect us. And not just on Sept. 11. But every day. Just as Riker teaches in his class.

“It’s a special place,” Coast Guard coach Susan Grant said of Coast Guard. “Like they're serving their country, they've given up a lot to be where they're at, and we're proud of them for that. There are everyday reminders of what they do.”

And on one special, solemn day every year, a reminder to us all to be grateful.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.