COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. ? The games should continue uninterrupted.

Myles Brand, president of the NCAA, did the right thing by not stopping the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. The NCAA hockey tournament appears safe, too.

In the next few hours or days, this country could be in a war half a world away. That does not mean life here should cease. Sports are not our lives, but they are a large part.

Bud Selig, Major League Baseball’s commissioner, should follow Brand’s lead. Flying to Japan was a stretch as the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners were supposed to do. But anything happening here should carry on as normal as circumstances will allow.

In the sports news business, we like to look for comparisons because they give perspective. For instance, we put up Barry Bonds’ numbers next to Babe Ruth’s to see how good Bonds actually is.

National radio show hosts want to balance our armed forces’ impending assault on Iraq with the terrorist attacks of Sept.11, 2001. ESPN’s Dan Patrick, a powerful voice in this business, believes the sports leagues in this country should do as they did the days following 9/11.

That thinking is wrong.

When U.S. citizens awoke that Tuesday morning, we were blindsided. We were sucker-punched in the gut. We had no clue our lives were about to change.

But we reacted the right way. Commissioners postponed sports until we could straighten our thoughts and emotions. A little more than a week later, Americans yearned for sports. We sought that diversion. We were tired of watching planes crash into buildings.

Football and baseball games provided relief. They also supplied a forum for many in this country to unite.

This is different.

Last night this country fell asleep knowing what could happen today. If it fails to happen today, this country will sleep tonight knowing it could happen tomorrow.

We will not be sucker-punched, again.

We are better prepared and because of that, we will go to work. We will keep abreast of what is happening around the globe. We will watch Kentucky win the men’s NCAA Tournament and Tennessee the women’s. We will watch as Colorado College wins its first national hockey championship in 46 years. We will watch Opening Day.

We will watch because that is the way it should be. That is normal. It is the way many of our soldiers would want it.

Staff Sgt. David Pace, 40, of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Carson, is days from deployment. He does not want to see sports stopped or even delayed.

“Absolutely not!” Pace said. “Nothing should change here because we are over there. Everything here should go on normal as always.”

Chris Allen, 36, also a staff sergeant in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, echoed Pace’s words. He does not want to see the NCAA Tournament or any other sports postponed because of war.

I told both soldiers about Brand’s earlier comments toward possibly suspending the tournaments. In an Indianapolis meeting Monday, Brand said, “… we have to be respectful of our men and women in uniform …”

Both soldiers said they understand the would-be gesture. But their opinions hold firm.

“I don’t think they should stop anything, just keep going,” Allen said. “If they want to show respect, then keep playing the national anthem the way they do.”