The only thing people talked about yesterday was U.S. Airways Flight 1549 (which was captained, we have since learned, by the unstoppable hero, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger) and its emergency landing in the chilly Hudson River.

Because of the world we live in — fast technology, Twitter, camera phones, etc — people knew about the incident immediately after it happened. And because it happened in the middle of New York, people saw it too. One of those people was Vince Carter.

“I was just sitting there, looking out the window — dead even where the plane hit,” Carter said before tipoff Thursday night, still incredulous over the US Airways crash he saw hours earlier.

“No, I was up — I was just sitting in the bedroom, and. . . .I thought I was watching TV. It landed like it was a movie. It hit like nose first, and you could (hear) the impact. Couldn’t believe it. Just couldn’t believe it.”

Carter’s first call was Nets trainer Tim Walsh.

Naturally, Carter expressed his shock to Walsh. (”You’ll never believe what I just saw!”) And even more naturally, Walsh, who happened to be near a television, knew what Carter was talking about (”I think I can guess.”) There are a few problems with this recap.

First of all, if Vince actually watched the plane land, how was Walsh already watching on television? Oh, right. Because Vince stood there like it was the 73rd game of a non-playoff season and stared blankly. Either that or had to wait for his popcorn to finish cooking in the microwave.

Secondly, if you ever see a plane land in a river, your first call should not be to your friend/trainer. It should be to, oh, I don’t know, M–HERF–KING 911, MAN! Seriously, is there any athlete — maybe other than Pacman Jones or Michael Vick — that you’d least want watching your plane crash with the hope that he would call someone for help? Because I’m having trouble thinking of anyone.

Link via True Hoop