Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Should Tech cancel their spring game?
What we think matters not because they have. The rest of the Hokies' spring practices have been cancelled, including this saturday's orange and maroon game and all other athletic events.
After the events of September 11, 2001, the country needed baseball to ease it's mind and to distract us all from the terror. The boys of summer took a week off, but their return culminated in one of the most exciting World Series in history, where not only the city of New York but the entire country (sans Arizona) rallied around the Yankees' playoff run. Living in Tempe at the time, the Diamondbacks' journey to the World Championship was an island of everything right about our country within an ocean of chaos. Conversely, the NFL cancelled its games on the following Sunday, with their primary fallback excuse being that the league's greatest mistake was playing games two days after the assassination of president Kennedy in 1963.
Would the spring game be too soon? Hokie football is king in Blacksburg, and an intersquad scrimmage- even if it was noncontact- would be a way for the locals to rally around the team and begin the healing process. It's hard for me to criticize from the outside, but I think cheering for a common cause with fellow sufferers would prove to be a bonding experience for so many sufferers. There were more folks than usual here in Richmond sporting Hokie gear today, although I'm not sure if it was their way of mourning or supporting. Either way, something so familiar as a loud and full Lane Stadium could be an emotional and moving ritual for all involved.
To the decision-makers in Blacksburg: I implore you that if the game must remain cancelled, at least reschedule it in the near future. Your students, faculty, alumni, and fan base need it.
