There are certain events that remind us that there's more to life than sports.
Last Friday, a plane carrying the Marshall football team was grounded after smoke was reported as coming from the engine, according to ESPN.com.
This minor malfunction wouldn't normally be national news unless you knew of the darkest moment in Marshall's history.
On Nov. 14, 1970, a DC-9 aircraft transporting the Marshall football team crashed just short of the airport runway in West Virginia as the team returned home from a game with East Carolina. The weather conditions were terrible for flying, and the plane flew into the side of a mountain, killing all 75 passengers, including most of the football team, coaches and staff. The rebuilding effort after the tragedy is the inspiration for the movie "We Are Marshall," which is scheduled to open Dec. 22.
There were many eerie similarities between the two incidents:
n Marshall's sports information director in 1970 was Gene Morehouse, who died in that crash. His son, Keith Morehouse the sports director at WSAZ in Huntington, W. Va., was aboard the plane Friday.
n The opponent was East Carolina in both incidents.
There weren't enough similarities to rival the Kennedy-Lincoln theories, but there was a hint of déjà vu for those who remember the crash.
The good news was that no one was injured this time. The team eventually made it to North Carolina, and lost 33-20 to the Pirates.
But it does remind you that life can be short.
Game of the year
Ohio State against Michigan. Judgment day. An over-hyped rivalry.
Whatever it is called, there is no denying that this Saturday's showdown between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan will be the game of the year.
The rivalry is one of the oldest in college football. It is also one of the few heated rivalries that don't take place intrastate. But it has all the ingredients of a traditional college football rivalry.
The hatred runs deep, but oddly enough, in the 102 games played, the teams have never entered the matchup undefeated.
For Ohio State, this will be its second No. 1 vs. No. 2 game of the season. The Buckeyes 24-7 convincing win at Texas anointed them the front-runners for the crystal football.
There is no arguing that OSU's offense is the most talented in the nation. Troy Smith alone would still put it among the top five.
But throw in Ted Ginn Jr., Antonio Pittman, Anthony Gonzalez and their tremendous offensive line, and the offense appears to be unbeatable.
But this wouldn't be Ohio State-Michigan if the game were to be won on talent alone.
No, this rivalry is won with emotion, and how you react to the pressure situation.
"It's a tremendous feeling. You can feel the electricity and the energy and you can't quantify it, but you can feel it," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said at his weekly media luncheon. "I remember my first game as an assistant, thinking I was preparing for just another game as a coach, and then all of a sudden you got into the environment."
And this year that environment belongs to the Buckeyes and the Horseshoe, but I think the better team belongs to the Wolverines. Michigan's duo of quarterback Chad Henne and running back Mike Hart seem to have the chemistry that makes up for the slight deficiency in talent compared to Smith and Co.
But like in most evenly matched games, the more prepared team usually prevails, and after listening to both coaches speak at the weekly media gatherings, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr appears to be the more geared-up coach.
"You appreciate the preparation that goes into it: The study, the long hours," Carr said this week. "You appreciate the practices where you know that guys are paying attention, they're focused. And they're doing everything they can to get ready to play their best game."
The Wolverines will do that in a game like last year's Rose Bowl.
Michigan 35, Ohio State 34
