The Livingstone College football team, eagerly awaiting its home opener three weeks into the season, must wait a fourth week before taking the Alumni Stadium field.
At a campus-wide assembly at Varick Auditorium on Wednesday, Livingstone President Algeania Freeman announced the postponement of Saturday’s Livingstone-Virginia Union contest. Tuesday’s terrorist acts against the World Trade Center and Pentagon hit close to home for Freeman, a former Pentagon fellow.
“In honor of those who died, and in respect to the families and friends affected by the tragedy, officials at Livingstone collaborated with officials from Virginia Union University and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in making the decision,”Freeman said in a statement.
The NCAA has been unable to agree on a course of action for its games at the Division I, II and III levels this weekend. Some leagues, like the Atlantic Coast and Big East conferences, have decided to cancel all games. Others, including the Southeastern and Big XII conferences, will play.
In the case of dozens of smaller conferences, the decision rests with the schools and the leagues. Freeman said individual colleges have authority to determine whether or not to play regular-season games.
The Blue Bears spent the early part of the week practicing for their first home game after two road contests. But head coach Greg Richardson said his team’s focus wasn’t directed solely at Virginia Union.
Several of his players hail from Virginia, including sophomore lineman Travis Wells, who has family living near the Pentagon. Wells’ father also works near the Pentagon.
“Travis came to me yesterday and said, ‘Coach, I’ll be late for practice. I can’t get a hold of my people,’ ” Richardson said. “I said, ‘Hey man, I’ll see you later.’ We have to be sensitive to that kind of thing.”
Wells came out to practice later Tuesday, a signal that he had reached his family. It didn’t make focusing on football any easier, though.
“The country now is in mourning for all those people that lost their lives. We have to think about those people and their relatives,”Richardson said. “I think right now it’s really important the country rallies around each other and what’s going on. Those kinds of events just make sports insignificant at this point.”
Richardson said he realizes that, by not playing, by allowing the disruption of the normal way of life, some will argue that the terrorist attacks have succeeded.
“It’s a hard question. I think you do have to give a chance for the country to reflect on what’s happened,”Richardson reasoned. “It gives you a chance to stop and understand that sometimes, the world is not about you. It’s about other people.
“I understand when they say we need a diversion, but there is a time when we need to reflect,”he added. “Once we have a little bit of space to do that, then we can move on to some other things.”
Richardson met with reporters on the Livingstone grounds Wednesday while the school’s students attended the second campus-wide event in as many days.
After holding an all-day prayer session Tuesday, Livingstone students continued to be supportive of those in need. A release from the school said many of the students planned to donate blood through the American Red Cross and will be volunteering to help Red Cross workers.
The campus will hold a blood drive in conjunction with the Red Cross, as well as a bone marrow registry, on Thursday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Old Trent Gym. While the blood drive comes two weeks from now, the Red Cross will need to restock its supplies, many of which are being sent to New York and Washington, D.C., this week.
“One pint of blood can save three lives,” said Livingstone nurse Pam Henley in the release. “We can all be heroes by donating just a pint.”
No make-up date has been announced. The Blue Bears play host to Fayetteville State on Saturday, Sept. 22.
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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4287 or shanf@salisburypost.com
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