Because of my close association with the athletes from WSU who went down 40+ years ago, these stories always bring back memories I'd rather not have. Every time something like this happens, it takes some healing time before I can bring myself to express my feelings.
I'm just going to copy and paste my response on the RedBird Forum
It's taken me a long time to be able to express my sympathy for the families and friends of those who went down. It's not just the families and friends who are feeling the pain. It's the academic community - and the entire community.
From my Fr year to my Jr year, I lived in the dorms with the Wichita State football players who went down.
That was over 40 years ago, and I still have trouble responding to tragedies like the one RedBird fans suffered.
If you were friends of any who went down, your memory of the last encounter you had with them will be both a beautiful and a haunting memory. Beautiful because of the joy they brought to you and haunting because that was your last chance to share that joy with them. Those feelings aren't going to leave you the rest of your life.
Let's celebrate how those who have gone enriched our lives, and how our lives were made better by them. Let's feel the pain that they can no longer do the things that made them the great people they were.
Then let's go and continue the good works they started on this Earth but didn't have a chance to finish.