There are certain times in life when whole communities take a collective gasp. Hopelessness seems inevitable when the foundation of everything we hold to be true is violently rocked and innocence is stripped away. But sometimes individual suffering and despair intertwine among so many people that somehow it turns to unity and strength. After the Gulf Coast region was destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in August and September 2005 the LSU football season took on a greater meaning as the Tigers became a rallying point for Louisianians desperate for a distraction. The Virginia Tech community finds itself in a similar situation this year. On April 16, Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho entered campus with a cache of weapons and brutally shot 32 of his classmates and peers in Norris Hall. The strength and unity that comes only from something so devastating has manifested itself at Virginia Tech in the form of big time NCAA Division I college football. After a time when what is really important in life became shockingly apparent, the Virginia Tech football team acts as an agent that both strengthens the Hokie community and champions their resolve to move forward. It may seem ironic that such a violent game can bring a community together after such a violent incident. But the unity it will take for the Virginia Tech football team to be successful in the ultra competitive atmosphere of college football acts as a parallel to what the Hokie community may feel. They too have had to rally to overcome adversity. While the football team’s struggle for success is trivial compared to the events of this past April, it still provides a diversion. For Virginia Tech, football can be something that resembles normalcy yet honors the victims of a tragedy previously unimaginable in Blacksburg, Va. The Hokie football team represents more than the dead, their families and that community. It represents something we all can understand – the human will to persevere. When the Hokies come to town Saturday, it will be with heavy hearts but steady hands because they know moving forward is the only way to truly beat that gunman. And as Virginia Tech fans cheer on the Hokies and as LSU fans cheer on the Tigers there is one fact that binds us all together, the fragility of life. Random acts of violence can happen anywhere at any time. So when the LSU Fighting Tigers and the Virginia Tech Hokies take the field Saturday night and the crowd roars like no other place in the country, be thankful you’re there to see it. There’s no doubt Virginia Tech fans are.
—–Contact Brian Hill at [email protected]