I know a lot of you were touched by what happened and I have it on good authority that the families of the victims deeply appreciate everything that’s been done, written or said about their loss.
But this isn’t your tragedy.
I don’t want to come off like a jerk, which is going to be hard, considering I am a jerk, but I want to make this clear — this isn’t yours. As traumatic as this has been for all of us, it’s not about me or you or anybody but those family and friends who will forever bear the heart-shaped void left by the passing of their loved ones.
Who’s the worst of the bunch? That’s right, your friend and mine, the media. Television, newspapers, radio — guys who stand on street corners shouting things — all of them are quickly forgetting the real story and focusing on peripherals.
Case in point, my friend and spiritual leader, Josh Crutchmer. He would have been on that plane had he accompanied the Cowboys to face CU.
Was he lucky? I guess. He didn’t go because he had other things to do and I thank God for that every time I see him.
I guess it’s an interesting story and one I wouldn’t mind hearing about … later.
Don’t think this is a dig at Crutch, because I’m pretty sure he agrees with me. News stations and papers were chasing after him, not two days past the plane crash, trying to get him to talk about the situation.
Crutch talked to one TV station and approached me afterward. He couldn’t fathom these reporters trying to make the story about him. They didn’t want to hear his sympathy or that he knew and cared deeply for some of those who died. They wanted him to talk about how lucky he was to “escape death.”
Again, nothing against Crutch, but I don’t know that death was chasing him.
He didn’t get on a plane, and while that fact has been the only bright spot in this devastating week, it’s not the real story.
I find (quite often, disturbingly enough) that when something is said well, anything else starts getting redundant. I’ve loved reading the letters and the columns dedicated to our fallen 10, but I also know that they’re restating the pain we all share.
The media found the real story, the pain and loss we share in the shadow of their deaths, and accurately reported on it. Then they got greedy and decided they needed more.
Poor Tom Dirato lost his friend and broadcast partner, not to mention nine other individuals he knew and cared for, and he’s had to answer endless questions about why he was spared.
I’m glad Dirato lived and it does make for a good story. I just wish they had enough sense to give the disaster some time instead of milking it for every angle possible within a two-day period.
People died, people that were loved and will be missed. That’s what happened.
The only tragedy that belongs to the rest of us is if we forget what the real tragedy is.
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