I was planning on getting a lot of work done today. That quite frankly didn't happen. I have been distracted, as most people have been, by the sad events that struck the UCONN campus today.
Early this morning I new things weren't good. I got up around 7:00 am or 7:30 and saw a text message on my phone saying a stabbing had taken place. Then I logged on to facebook and my computer to find out a little more. I was not expecting it to have been anything too serious. Stabbing's are much different then gun shots. Stabbing doesn't make me assume death.
I logged on to facebook and saw that Alex Polito had said "RIP Jazz #6" or something to that effect. That shocked me. I made an inference that these two events could very well have been linked. I did more research on facebook to see what more I could find. I saw another person say that Jasper Howard had died. I was shocked and I kept investigating, knowing very well that Jasper Howard had been killed, but hoping it wasn't true. I couldn't imagine those facebook posts to be just some practical joke. Finally I saw that another football player had wrote that status and I immediately began to believe that the worst thing had happened. Someone was killed at on campus.
I called a football fan back at home at about 8:30 to tell them what I thought had happened. Then I called my mom to tell her.
I texted Willis and she said that Desi Cullen had told her that Jasper Howard had died.
I thought of the soccer team and coaches out in DePaul. I almost texted them early in the morning to give the coaches a heads up about what had happened. I sort of feared that they might be sitting in a hotel lobby and then would see on the news that a UCONN football player had died as breaking news on sportscenter. I didn't think that would be a good thing. However, I decided that I wouldn't text the coaches anything until a news agency reported it. I knew the news wouldn't pick it up unless someone reported it.
The courant finally ran the story. I had checked in on the website every 10-15 minutes waiting for the official word. I texted the coaches after that time. Shortly after it was on sportscenter. It appeared as if Hannah Storm was holding back tears when she announced that.
I checked for updates throughout the day. Every 15-30 minutes I'd check the courant.
Around 10:30 I took a ride around campus to see what the center of campus was like. Hillside road was closed. Police were everywhere. There were large Police trucks, and the student union was closed. I'd never seen anything like it on campus before.
I saw some of the Press Conference and I was impressed by Desi Cullen and Randy Edsall. Both of them had really difficult things to do...Especially Coach Edsall. As a coach you have to talk up your program to parents and explain to them why UCONN Football is such a great fit for their son. It must be tough to have to call that same parent and say that their son had died. It's tough under any circumstance but I think even tougher when you are such a part of a university, the way Jasper Howard is. Edsall had to identify the body, tell the parents and tell his team. That makes all the school work I have to do this week seem like nothing.
This day has been sad and dreary. Shocking, and speechless too. I tried to do work. I got some done. I don't think what happened has really, fully sunk in yet. My thoughts and prayers obviously go out to his family, but I can't pretend to say that I actually knew Jasper Howard. I don't want to confuse people. I never met him and I can't imagine what this would feel like had I actually known Howard.
My memories of Howard were of his amazing interception vs UNC last year and his punt return for a touchdown last year vs Syracuse. I thought that he was a great player with a great future. I thought that UCONN's defense would be great because we still had Jasper Howard at corner. I thought he could replace Darius Butler. I thought he was a tremendous athlete and a tremendous find for the program. He had a lot of upside and he was one of my favorite players on the team to watch. It is sad to see him go.
I think his UNC interception made a ESPN College Football promotional highlight. I also remember always seeing him in the South Dining Hall last year. I always saw him. Seemed like a nice guy. He was also in my Political Science class when I was a sophomore. I know he got an A on one of the tests because the teacher announced some of the best grades.
Again my thoughts and prayers go to his family and future child. We will come out of this better and stronger. I also hope that the 200-300 people who were outside speak up and talk about what they saw. If they heard or saw something they have a moral obligation to make sure that we can close the case.
Here is a video in his tribute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_TnjBM8cxI
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