At 8:00 am on September 11, 2001, the top story on the local news radio station Michael and I wake up to was the fact that maybe possibly that day Michael Jordan would announce that he was returning to the NBA as a player for the home town Washington Wizards. I remember remarking to Mike that it must be a slow news day, can't they come up with anything else besides Jordan?

At 8:50 am, I was in a cab heading toward the Library of Congress when the same station reported the first WTC crash. I remember the newscaster remarking that this made the Jordan story seem pretty darn irrelevent. We were pulling up to my destination when they added the news of the second plane. I remarked to the cabby, "That has to have been on purpose!" paid my fare, and went to my meeting. I was upset, but didn't realize the import until a bit later, when I heard about the Pentagon (and soon thereafter saw it) and the nightmare of the day set in. The rest, as they say, is history.

So today, we come full circle: Jordan announced a two year deal with the Wizards. He's taking a salary of only $1 million per year (ranking him in the bottom quarter of the team in compensation). Oh yeah, and he's donating his entire first year's salary to Sept. 11 victims' charities. Jordan may be the king of hype, but he's also full of class.

UPDATE: Even if his team is a little cheezy. They've already revamped the logo banner on their website to include a picture of Jordan next to the team name.