One Sad Night in January
It was a cold Saturday night, the last one in January 2001; my senior year in college. I had been cleaning my dorm room that whole evening, preparing for a possible roommate to move in.
After four hours of folding clothes and sorting through drawers, I figured it was time for a break. So I wandered down to the lobby of West Hall at UCO. It was a little before 10:30.
I had already broken my New Year's resolution to eat healthy, but I figured it was never too late to start. To that end, I purchased a package of peanut butter crackers. I then noticed a knot of people waiting for a ride in the television area. For some reason, I wanted to go and watch MTV for awhile (I had unsubscribed to cable a few months before) before returning to cleaning. So I walked toward the couch.
There on the screen was a picture of a small turbo-prop plane. Below the picture were the words, "OSU Plane Crashes."
"Wha....?" I thought. I watched with increasing interest as the stunned news anchors relayed what they knew: About ten people were thought to be dead in a plane crash. The plane went down in Colorado about 6:40 our time. Mostly media folks, but a couple of players may have been on board. The sportscaster named a list of players that had been accounted for. Then someone mentioned that they thought that Bill Teegins (a beloved sportscaster, for those of my readers outside OKC) may have died in the crash.
"What!" I finished the thought that time.
And then I understood why the Channel 9 anchors looked so stunned.
And I ran upstairs back to my room. And turned on the TV.
The next hour passed by slowly, as I waited for the official statement by the OSU athletic director. I prayed against prayer that I was dreaming, that there was some mistake, that the plane would be touching down shortly. Yes, I cried a little bit.
Finally, the director released a statement. Sadly, Bill Teegins was killed. As were two players, Nate Fleming and Daniel Lawson; and Jared Weiberg, a guy who grew up with Lori and Amy (I found this out later).
The hardest part was watching Kelly Ogle and Jennifer Reynolds weep on camera. I have very seldom seen newspeople cry on camera. I saw it during the Oklahoma City bombing a few years before, and 9/11 a few months later. Of course, I started bawling at that point.
The next day was the Super Bowl. Before the game, Channel 9 (who aired the game that year) gave a tribute to Bill Teegins. Of course, I cried again.
How does such an event affect our lives so? Maybe because I felt like I knew him. Even though I never met the guy, I felt like he was part of my family.
Now I understood why so many people were brokenhearted when Princess Diana, Frank Sinatra, JFK, and other people died.
It's hard to believe it's been exactly four years since then. I feel like I can still remember it like it is just taking place. Hopefully, I will never forget.
God bless.
[Edited to add:] If you have time, please go visit Matt Nichols' blog (under "Matt" in the sidebar). He has a touching story about the plane crash as well.
After four hours of folding clothes and sorting through drawers, I figured it was time for a break. So I wandered down to the lobby of West Hall at UCO. It was a little before 10:30.
I had already broken my New Year's resolution to eat healthy, but I figured it was never too late to start. To that end, I purchased a package of peanut butter crackers. I then noticed a knot of people waiting for a ride in the television area. For some reason, I wanted to go and watch MTV for awhile (I had unsubscribed to cable a few months before) before returning to cleaning. So I walked toward the couch.
There on the screen was a picture of a small turbo-prop plane. Below the picture were the words, "OSU Plane Crashes."
"Wha....?" I thought. I watched with increasing interest as the stunned news anchors relayed what they knew: About ten people were thought to be dead in a plane crash. The plane went down in Colorado about 6:40 our time. Mostly media folks, but a couple of players may have been on board. The sportscaster named a list of players that had been accounted for. Then someone mentioned that they thought that Bill Teegins (a beloved sportscaster, for those of my readers outside OKC) may have died in the crash.
"What!" I finished the thought that time.
And then I understood why the Channel 9 anchors looked so stunned.
And I ran upstairs back to my room. And turned on the TV.
The next hour passed by slowly, as I waited for the official statement by the OSU athletic director. I prayed against prayer that I was dreaming, that there was some mistake, that the plane would be touching down shortly. Yes, I cried a little bit.
Finally, the director released a statement. Sadly, Bill Teegins was killed. As were two players, Nate Fleming and Daniel Lawson; and Jared Weiberg, a guy who grew up with Lori and Amy (I found this out later).
The hardest part was watching Kelly Ogle and Jennifer Reynolds weep on camera. I have very seldom seen newspeople cry on camera. I saw it during the Oklahoma City bombing a few years before, and 9/11 a few months later. Of course, I started bawling at that point.
The next day was the Super Bowl. Before the game, Channel 9 (who aired the game that year) gave a tribute to Bill Teegins. Of course, I cried again.
How does such an event affect our lives so? Maybe because I felt like I knew him. Even though I never met the guy, I felt like he was part of my family.
Now I understood why so many people were brokenhearted when Princess Diana, Frank Sinatra, JFK, and other people died.
It's hard to believe it's been exactly four years since then. I feel like I can still remember it like it is just taking place. Hopefully, I will never forget.
God bless.
[Edited to add:] If you have time, please go visit Matt Nichols' blog (under "Matt" in the sidebar). He has a touching story about the plane crash as well.
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