Healing Sago's Community

[MountainLaurel]

From ESPN of all places, but an excellent and affecting piece that is about so much more than high school athletics.


BUCKHANNON, W.Va. -- Something akin to normal: the flat white light of a high school gymnasium. A Thursday night wrestling meet.

On a blue mat laid across a hardwood basketball court, the boys of Buckhannon-Upshur High stretch and grapple, getting loose. The visiting North Marion squad jogs in a lazy semicircle, half the team sporting Mohawk haircuts. The 140-pound class is sponsored by Sam's Pizza. Heavyweights are brought to you by Strader Backhoe Service.

In the bleachers, parents and locals wear ribbons pinned to wool sweaters and broken-in baseball caps.

Ribbons, black like coal.

"In a way, these ribbons are silly," says Sheri Haver-Newbrough, 47, a resident of Upshur County. "But they're just to show the families that we support them. That if we could take their grief, we would."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hruby/060109

[davidinalameda]

1. I read this yesterday and about cried

[wallybarron]

2. Great article

Thanks for posting that. I would never have seen it otherwise.

Haven't read much about those 30 policemen guarding Hatfield and the governor. That's the first time I heard the governor bolted with Hatfield after the announcement.

[MountainLaurel]

3. Some threads last week

Mentioned that there was a SWAT team in the church just before the announcement that 12 of the men were actually dead.