Marshall plane crash, get over it

Old man, Hitler's dead and gone. Don't you have a grandkid's soccer game to attend or something?

 

Why do we celebrate the 4th of July? After all, do we really need to celebrate the independence of the United States of America every year?

 

Now that's one I'll never forgive or forget.

 

Wow. So many of the comments to this column are so heartfelt. I have no connection to Marshall and they are making me emotional. This guy obviously either was trying to make an egotistical statement knowing it would get a reaction or he is just plain clueless about that community. Starting off by saying it isn't meant for the community or alumni doesn't justify the rest at all. Are the students not part of the community? Anyway, I hope he learns from this and already sees the error of his ways and isn't sitting around somewhere today wondering what all the fuss is about.

 

Judging by this youngster's helmet and uniform, looks like he was a World War I soldier -- so he should really be over it by now.

 

There is an argument to be made that the plane crash has continued to define Marshall, but that's only because something more (good or bad) hasn't happened since then to associate with the school.
9/11 will always be big - but it is only one of many major things people associate with New York City.
Same with the San Francisco earthquake and fire (no, not the '89 one).

You take away the "We Are Marshall" from Marshall and what do you have? A school with no identity whatsoever.

 

Randy Moss and Jason Williams disagree.

 

I can't help but believe the author wrote this knowing that this was going to be exactly the result. I mean, even at 20, he's got to be smart enough to realize what that crash means to that community (my hometown, FWIW). This is the newspaper equivalent of shock jock. He's a troll. The only thing he will learn from this is that it's fun to rile people up and he'll revel in the attention. He'll be an intern for Howard Stern or Bill O'Reilly in no time.

 

Why do we need to remember Pearl Harbor anyway? Ben Affleck stunk in that film, but Kate Beckinsale killed in that dress...

 

Uh. No.
The crash is only part of Marshall's story. Part.
Before the crash Marshall had Cam Henderson (basketball).
After the crash - 20 years after the crash - after the program had been rebuilt (a program that suffered a ton of losing seasons) the school was a I-AA power, then THE dominant force in the MAC that produced more than its fair share of NFL talent (Moss, Leftwich, Pennington, Brown, Chapman, just to name a few)and got a lot of national exposure.
No Marshall is not defined by the crash. Or the program's rebirth.

The crash and its aftermath is part of the school's history. It's not like nothing has happened since then.

 

That pretty much says it.

Just a kid who doesn't understand something that is important to many people, and he happens to have an outlet to express that. Liked the first response, from Randy Burnside. Measured and informative. The rest were mostly attempts to sound more outraged and emotional than the others. It was as if Mark2010 or Drip posted there.

 

How can anyone be surprised at this, considering the kid grew up in an era where shock sells? Where Howard Stern made a career out pushing boundaries? Where you can put on any sports talk station and hear ridiculous hosts saying even more ridiculous things? Wanna' know the fucked up part? You could argue worked. Think that page got more than a few more hits than it would have had this guy ran a "hey, lets all remember to recycle!" op-ed?

Is it in poor taste? Yes. Is it in poor taste in a culture where Ann Coulter went after 9-11 widows and Bill Maher has said disparaging things about Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann? Not really. You can't bring people up in a warped environment then be shocked when they too turn out warped.