I was stranded at 7 a.m. in a Houston hotel last week -- waiting for the world to end or for an airport to open -- when something scrolled across the bottom of my TV set.

I jumped out of bed. Jumped out of bed and hollered, 'Finally! Good news!" The World Trade Center was gone, and sports were gone, and it occurred to me that Michael had come to save the day. That's what I was thinking. That's what I was singing. I was singing, "Where have you gone, Michael Jordan? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you ... Woo, Woo, Woo."

It was just like Michael, I thought. To come through in the clutch, to enter the building just as the other buildings in New York were relative dust. An entire country needed a pick-me-up, and here was Michael saying, "I will carry you. I am here for you. I will play basketball for you." The greatest athlete of the 20th century was going to bound into the 21st century, and no war or hate crime would deter him. He would play for the Wizards, and they would open their season against the Knicks, and so it would be Washington vs. New York -- how was that for irony? Washington and New York were the two cities trying to rebuild, and somehow Michael was going to come back and unite them, going to come back and give them a show. The way Marilyn gave those USO shows.

It was just like Michael, I thought. Timing is everything. Games were being cancelled left and right, as they should have been, but Michael was saying, just wait, just wait until October. I'll be there, he was saying, I'll be there with my Nikes and my six rings on. Sometimes we all need an escape, an escape from hard news and even harder news, and here came the only athlete in the world truly worth watching.

Don't get me wrong: Barry Bonds' home runs are very cool.

And Roger Clemens never loses anymore.

And the Seattle Mariners don't either.

And the Pack is Back.

And the refs will be back.

And the Arizona Cardinals are undefeated.

But all of these things pale next to the facelift Michael gives us. Michael's presence reminds us of our good old days, reminds us that our country, the good ol' U.S. of A., turns out the best of the best. Michael is one of our national resources, and at a time when the military is on red alert and at a time when we can't walk the streets at night, he gives us something to look forward to: A basketball game. With him in it.

So I jumped out of bed that morning last week. Jumped out of bed and hollered, "I cannot wait!"

Of course, I didn't have my contact lenses in. So I rushed straight to the TV to get a closer look at the scrolling news.

Oh my God.

I was wrong.

It said, "King of Jordan denounces attack" -- not "Michael Jordan announces comeback."

I guess I was wishing, wasn't I? Which leaves me with one thing to say: Hurry up, Michael. Please, hurry up.

Tom Friend is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tom.friend@espnmag.com.