Both UVA lacrosse teams, men's and women's, should be gearing up for their runs in the upcoming NCAA tournament.
Instead they are dealing with the aftermath of a senseless act of violence.
Men's 4th year player George Huguely has been charged with the horrific murder of 4th year women's player Yeardley Love. No weapon was used, which makes his act all the more chilling.
The facts are starting to come out and one can read them all over the place. (I suggest The Hook, one of C'Ville's weekly papers.)
Here are some of the facts...Huguely admits to going to Love's apartment, punching a hole through her bedroom door, forcing his way in, and shaking Love, hitting her head against the wall repeatedly.
So what is the sports angle of all this? Well, how do the teams deal with this? How does the women's team honor a fallen teammate? How does the men's team honor a fellow-student athlete who was taken by one of their own team? Do the teams consider ending their season, and not compete for an NCAA championship which they both have good chances at winning?
Every year there are a few student athletes around the country who pass away but that is usually because of traffic accidents or sometimes because of an underlying health condition. Never has their been a situation like this, where one student-athlete murders another, from the same school, in such brutal fashion.
Putting a patch on their jerseys doesn't seem fitting, given the nature of what happened. Cancelling the rest of the season might be a nice gesture, but then again, so would competing and winning in Love's honor.
I guess that's the point...this situation is confusing and I simply don't know the answer. Nothing seems like it would be good enough, or in proper taste. The decision of what to do will be left to the coaches, teammates, and athletic director Craig Littlepage, and I don't envy them at all.
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