Marathon bombings spark mixed emotions

By now, I'm sure everyone reading this has heard what happened at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

For those who may not know the details, a pair of explosions about 14 seconds apart turned the elation that always comes with the finish of the historic race into utter panic and created what many at the scene likened to a war zone. Three people -- including an 8-year-old boy -- were killed and the latest counts estimate more than 180 more were injured.

The explosions occurred 4 hours, 9 minutes into the race, some 2 hours after the winners crossed the finish line. After the explosions occurred, people could be seen running both into and away from the blast zones, with chaos erupting around what should have been a day of celebration.

I'll admit, my initial reaction when I saw everything unfold the way it did was one of complete shock. But once the shock subsided, the mix of emotions was one I rarely feel all at once. Obviously, there was some sadness over such a senseless act of violence that affected so many lives, but at the same time, I couldn't help but experience a tremendous sense of both pride and anger.

Why pride? That's quite simple, really.

Even before the initial smoke and flame from the blasts had cleared, a number of civilians and active military personnel could be seen ripping down barricades that separated spectators from runners to get to the victims in an effort to help. To top it off, those military personnel were part of a group that had participated in the marathon, having finished shortly before the explosions occurred.

The anger was spurred by something else entirely -- the senseless and cowardly nature of the act itself. It doesn't matter whether it was a foreign or domestic group or entity who planned and carried out this heinous attack; placing bombs in pressure cookers packed with shrapnel and hiding them in duffel bags is an act so cowardly and reprehensible, I can't even think of the right words to describe it.

I honestly can't even believe anybody would stoop to that level, but I suppose that's just proof that there really is true evil all over the world. But at the same time, I think it's absolutely wonderful how much people have banded together over these first few days in an attempt to move on and bring those responsible to justice.

Multiple reports indicated early on that an arrest had already been made in connection with the bombings, but that report was discounted entirely by federal officials. A photo of two men who are suspected of planting the bombs was released by the FBI on Thursday, but neither man has been identified.

The impact of this event has gone far beyond just the marathon and events surrounding it. All sporting events in Boston were canceled, including a hockey game between the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators on Monday and Tuesday's NBA game between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers.

The NBA has already publicly announced that the Pacers-Celtics game will not be rescheduled and no announcement of any kind has been made with regard to the Senators-Bruins game. No other sporting events were canceled elsewhere in the country, but security was stepped up considerably at a number of Major League Baseball Stadiums around the country Monday and Tuesday and those security increases don't appear to be something that will change any time in the near future.

Kauffman Stadium -- home of the Kansas City Royals -- will focus its security changes on merchandise vendors inside the stadium and the shipments they receive. Team officials said Tuesday that fans wouldn't likely see any notable changes in terms of stadium security.

I know we all get annoyed by security checks when we're trying to get into a stadium or arena of any kind to see our favorite sports teams play, but personally, I don't think I'll mind seeing increased security in the wake of this disaster. I get it when people say we shouldn't allow this sort of incident to force us to live in fear and I'm one of the most vocal in that regard, but there's a difference between not living in fear and inviting such an event to occur again, so I'm fine with heightened security measures like the ones being implemented at several professional sports facilities.

I absolutely refuse to be afraid when things like this occur because fear is exactly what those who do things such as this are trying to create. If people live in fear of such things happening again somewhere else or even worse, happening to them, the terrorists -- which is exactly what those responsible for this are, by definition -- win.

Well, I've got news for you. I will not be beaten.

I will continue to live my life in the aftermath of this tragedy in the same way I did before it occurred and even if it's only on the outside and for no other reason than to discourage those responsible for this from thinking they've accomplished their goal, I encourage everyone else out there to do the same.